Hard Chrome Finishes: Matte, Brushed, Satin?

[Vodoun da Vinci]

I don't think they re engraved the serial. I have 4 of these and have seen a number of them and, as a general rule, all of the numbers and markings of the gun are deeply cut and very clean. Here's a pix of this exact gun before refinishing....



This gun had the bluing removed and had apparently been some time without bluing as it was *full* of really hard and nasty cosmoline and you can see the hacked safety/slide lock lever. Part of the reason I bought it was that it was abused and I got it for a fair price *but* it was not ruined or destroyed...no really deep or fatal gouges and the bore is pretty good as is the interior of the gun. I doubt it was shot much.



Some fairly deep pitting near the muzzle seen in this shot and near the Pony as well....there is a pretty deep gouge that you can *just* see in this photo on the top of the gun just in front of the slide serrations. I'm not able to find even a trace of this gouge on the final product but I'm sure some serious metal had to be removed near the pony so it probably needed re engraved.

I memorized all the flaws I thought would leave some trace after refinishing but the surface of this gun is fantastic now...I dunno if they can fill some deep cuts with a Tig welder or if it is all done via stock removal. To address your initial question I'd say, based on my limited experience, that if your serial number is faint or not deeply cut, there is a good chance the gun has been tampered with somewhere along the line. In my studies they didn't leave the factory wanting for anything in those days and nothing "semi" finished or not quite right ever left the factory that way as far as I have seen.

VooDoo

 

[B!ngoFuelUSN]

Thanks for the detail in your follow-up posts VooDoo. You've filled in everything I was looking for and more. And the orthographic shot you added clearly differentiates between the two finished. I can imagine a brushed finish would be excellent for the project I have in mind, except for the decocker and backstrap perhaps (I believe that is the proper term) which are finished differently than the rest of the gun, need a more roughed up surface for a handgrip and should remain differentiated.
The cost seems reasonable, and the total that you were billed for, in light of all the work done seems very fair. Somehow in your first post it wasn't clear whether the same person/company did the gunsmith work along with the plating/finishing. It's great to know that it's one-stop-shopping for all of the work.
Finally, I too am a 'brand' guy. Once I find a place/company/brand that I like, I tend to be a repeat customer to the exclusion of most other offerings. Whether it's Sony, Apple, Porsche, or their restaurant, airline, credit card, ammo or handgun equivalents I lock on once I've had more than one great experience.
Thanks again,
B

The contrast between brushed flats, which is a semi reflective (not mirror like) finish and the Matte finished rounds which is frosty and very dead/non reflective is hard to capture in a photograph with my skills. This one kinda illustrates it a little better as the flats on the slide and frame picked up/reflected the darkness of the room while the rounds like the top of the slide, trigger guard, front strap etc stayed dead silver/blue and thus contrast a lot in this pix....



In this pix the dark areas are brushed finish flats - the white/silver areas are matte finished as is the inside of the lettering which is why they "pop" like that in this photo. It's very nice looking and precise in the hand but very hard to capture (for me) in a picture.

I think AP&W will do hard chrome refinish with flaw removal/dis assembly/re assembly for $200 so if one had a gun in good mechanical condition and wanted hard chrome only I think they are extremely competitive and the work well executed and precise.

Price wise I paid $475 for everything including the hard chrome finished, re cutting/re engraving , new springs, "Street Tune" which improved the action and trigger of this pistol to a level I never thought possible, and the repair of the safety lever and associated gun smithing needed to repair the damage/hack job. Including the price of the gun, shipping and transfer fees, etc. I have just shy of $1000 invested in this pistol. I have no idea what it's value is now...obviously zero to a collector *but* I have priced an awful lot of these guns in similar original condition without the performance enhancement that are basically NIB condition (without the box) and $1000 would not touch them. Guns in 98% condition without the box seem to go in the $1500 range at Rock Island Auction and GunBroker. And those guns would be/have been (obviously) Safe Queens..nothing wrong with that, I have a lot of heart for guys who collect and preserve. But I wanna shoot 'em and experience them and a pistol like this I have no problem shooting, showing, and loaning and letting others experience this. I don't think I'd do that with a collectible Colt Pocket Hammerless in say 98% condition that was NIB condition and virtually unfired. This pistol handled 50 rounds of my hot .32 hand loads pushing a Rim Rock 75 gr. hard cast flat nose at almost 1100 fps and never missed a lick. It's a fantastic shooter and I'd *never* do that with a collectible pistol...run 200 rounds of factory Fiocchi, S&B, and hot hand loads thru a 90+ year old gun in one session? Piece of cake...not gonna happen if it's a Safe Queen.

So it's a value for me since the original gun as it came to me was almost junk...shootable but with compromised safety, nicks and dings, some rust and pitting, a recoil spring that looked like a pigs tail/cork screw etc. and I now have what amounts to a custom tuned Pocket Hammerless with super hardcore hard chrome finish as a range and carry pistol. The conversation and "Show and Tell" factor alone is unbelievable.

You should have seen the eye pops and gathered group at the LGS when it came back...all those guys sniffed at the gun when I bought it and drooled on it when the project was complete.

Way too much fun. We'll be doing this again...the "Win/Win" is that we literally saved a gun headed for the part pile. Certainly it would not have survived as a shootable pistol for the next 50 - 100 years and now it's good to go for my life time and then some.

VooDoo

 

[bannockburn]

Vodoun da Vinci

WOW!!! Absolutely one of the finest refurbished guns I have ever seen. Could easily go into a museum as a true work of art. Thanks for sharing all of the story line with us and especially for the outstanding photos.

 

[BSA1]

There is something special about owning a one of a kind custom gun.

 

[Vodoun da Vinci]

There is something special about owning a one of a kind custom gun.

True that. It's just fantastic if one is into that kind of thing. The whole trip of spending weeks finding the right gun for this project and bidding/negotiating and reviewing the pix and descriptions trying to find just the right candidate, the interaction with the various sellers and craftsmen, selecting *what* we wanted to do with the gun and who was gonna do it plus the whole "wait and see" thing has been a whole trip that was worth it.

Now I'm gonna do it again...this is worse than crack. I have another pistol waiting and now that the first one is under our belt I think I have my Wife on board with this whole "rescue" concept so the "Special Envelope" that holds funds for these projects in the gun safe suddenly got a little something extra added to it.

The next one will be after the first of the year and I'm struggling to not do *exactly* to the next one as I did with this *but* this one came out soooo good I can imagine a pair of them.

Gotta let it settle a bit.

VooDoo

 

[horsemen61]

Wow that's awesome it has given me some food for thought that is for sure an idea I will consider maybe with something like a baby browning or something who knows yet but thank you for the pics