[Electric Factory]

Regarding firearms refinishing, is there anything inherently more complicated[ read more expensive ] in refinishing a nickled gun to blue [ and subsequently case coloring the frame ] ?

From this,

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t57/electricfactory/100_7795.jpg

to this

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t57/electricfactory/100_1415-1.jpg

[jimmyraythomason]

It's only slightly less complicated than achieving lasting peace in the middle east. I don't know of any way to case color nickle plate so it will have to be removed. I don't know the exact process but I think it involves electric current and a sulphuric acid dip.

[1KPerDay]

Just buy a new gun. It'll be cheaper and easier, and you'll have 2 guns when you're done. :D

[N.Schafer]

The nickel just has to be removed. I use a room-temp nickel stripping solution from Brownells. Works great, removes nickel in about an hour depending on thickness. Then it would be regular polishing and blueing/case coloring. So not to much extra work.

[dfariswheel]

You can make a change from bright nickel to blued and color cased.
The "trick" is stripping ALL the nickel off.
Fail to get every bit from every pore and when you blue, the metal will have what appears to be tiny white freckles.
That's the remaining nickel that wasn't totally removed.

The best way of getting the metal totally stripped is to have a plater de-plate the gun.
They simply reverse the plating process and the nickle is removed.

This is best done by someone totally familiar with GUN plating, not the local motorcycle shop.

[Jim Watson]

I have been looking at a similar project. Nickel strip only adds $30-$40 to the cost for refinishing but the blue-case job will be $200-$300.

[Electric Factory]

" I have been looking at a similar project. Nickel strip only adds $30-$40 to the cost for refinishing but the blue-case job will be $200-$300 "

Wow, compared to someone like Turnbull that's cheap. Who does similar quality bluing/ case coloring at that price range ?

[Jim Watson]

Perhaps I was optimistic on the cost of case colors, largely because they do not turn me on and I do not track costs. Turnbull charges $150 to case the frame, $200 to blue the rest. Allow $50 to denickel, $400 total. Assuming you are redoing a pristine nickel gun and it does not need polishing.

[Electric Factory]

Yea, that sounds about right. Someone mentioned that one could as easily buy another gun, and on a certain level that's true.
But if you want true rust blue and authentic bone charcoal case color, that isn't going to be found in a $400.00 Italian import.

[Jim K]

If that is a factory nickel finish on a SAA Colt, I think I would leave it unless it is peeling somewhere I can't see it. Nickel finish SAAs are not common and bring a premium from collectors.

A note on nickel plating. Since the plating takes up space, guns with closely fitted parts are specially made if they are to be nickel plated. This applies mostly to areas like sideplates, but some other parts are specially prepared as well. When the nickel is removed, the space left where the nickel was removed shows up as a gap.

Jim