Is there such a thing as a black or dark colored hard chrome finish?

[Jack19]

Is there such a thing as

a black or dark colored hard chrome finish?

I'm thinking about having one of my handguns refinished and I would have sworn I read something about a dark colored hard chrome finish some time ago, but now can't remember where.

Anyone?

 

[El Tejon]

Yes, that place down in Florida still does it. May be others.

 

[ksnecktieman]

I have never seen it on a pistol, but Zippo puts out a black chrome lighter, it is a very impressive finish.

 

[Preacherman]

From Accurate Plating & Weaponry's Web site:

Black Chrome Facts

Black Chrome is the second hardest black finish available for firearms and the hardest finish available at a reasonable price. It is the premier finish when concealment is the first priority.

Black Chrome has many of the same properties as regular chrome. However, in changing the plated deposit from a Light Grey color to Jet Black, we diminish two major properties of regular chrome, hardness and abrasion resistance.

Black Chrome is slightly harder than Nickel. It was never intended to be a highly wear resistant finish, like Hard Chrome. It has much greater wear resistance than any form of Bluing (Black Oxide) and due to the presence of Nickel, or Chrome, as a base coat, a greater corrosion resistance than a single coating of Chrome, or Nickel the to the base metal.

Some of our clients are adamant about Black Finishes. This is the best bang for your dollar, if you are stuck on Black. For technical reasons we only offer this finish in a Matte surface texture and suggest the use of a wax impregnated oil on the exposed surface. Brownells offers a water soluble oil “Pro-Sheen†that is wax impregnated and works well on Black Chrome at two parts oil to one part water.

 

[Jack19]

Preacherman, thanks very much.

 

[Kamicosmos]

Didn't Sig have a blackened stainless steel finish? Haven't seen one for a few years, maybe they discontinued it.

Looked very cool though.

 

[Drjones]

Desert Eagles now come in a Black Chrome finish.

I haven't seen one in person, but from the pictures I've seen, I do not like it.

 

[Bart Noir]

Believe that ROBAR used to have a dark finish, and it sounded like it was even more protective than their well-known NP-3 finish. This might still be available. Sorry, don't have a link.

Bart Noir

 

[VictorLouis]

How about Boron Carbide via Colorado School of Trades, and several gunsmiths?
Here's a couple of shots with it showing the contrast between matte, and high-luster surfaces.

The matte surfaces are a dull, deep gray, while the polished surfaces are a very dark gray approaching black. When you oil the finish, it darkens considerably, as does parkerizing/phosphating. It goes on thinner than hard-chrome so that there's no concern about re-assembly or re-fitting.