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Hawkmoon
16th March 2008, 00:10
There's a small, local gun & antique shop just down the road that has a Remington-Rand M1911A1 in the display case. It has been there for quite awhile, and nobody seems interested in even making an offer. Probably because it has been nickel plated, and the surface prep prior to plating was, err, "less than optimal."

I was chatting up the owner this afternoon, and he asked me about UNplating the nickel, so he can have the pistol refinished in a more historically correct Parkerized finish. Does anyone know if it's difficult to remove nickel plating at home? Every part of the pistol needs to be stripped -- whoever plated it did not only the external parts, but also the barrel, the recoil spring (!), the guide rod, the magazine (he missed the follower, though), and all the small parts on the outside. I field stripped it but I didn't detail strip it, so I don't know if he did the sear and trigger bow.

Any advice will be appreciated.

treesandhills
16th March 2008, 01:13
I dont know about doing this at home but Robar advertises that they can chemically strip the chrome and then parkerize the weapon. I have dealt with them for their NP3 coating on an Hk Expert and the result was outstanding.

I found this information in their website in the FAQ's http://www.robarguns.com/q_and_a.htm

Im not sure if this was exactly what you were looking for but it is an option.

Hill
16th March 2008, 21:38
Well, you can reverse plate it in special 'stripping fluid' by using the part as the anode and a piece of stainless steel as the cathode and plugging the two connected wires in.
Or you could strip it by immersion in pure nitric acid. So long as the humidity of the location doesn't pollute the acid with water the iron or steel parts will remain intact, but once any water gets in solution the entire piece will quickly disapear.

Or you could obtain about a gallon of Brownell's solution #1082 stripper and follow the directions. Make sure to use #1082 and not #778 unless the gun was originally plated by Brownell's electroless nickle plating process. If it was then get #778.

log man
16th March 2008, 22:30
Hawkmoon, I would only consider a specialty plater who really knows his stuff. I've heard horror stories about over stripping and lost parts.A little research in your area should turn up a good shop, just don't be afraid to shop around for a quality shop.Good luck!

niemi24s
17th March 2008, 00:24
. . . once any water gets in solution the entire piece will quickly disapear.
Nitric acid and the disappearing handgun. Bet the BATF would have fun with that! :D

David Rose
17th March 2008, 01:54
Oops! Yep, and watch the serial numbers. You don't want to lose those... even if you *want* to. :scared:

David

Hill
17th March 2008, 02:59
:D That'd be a challenge for the FBI lab - deliver the liquid and tell them it's a gun.