Anyone Know Which Cost More to Apply in the 19th Century, Blue or Nickel

[btvarner]

Trying to find out if anyone has information on, or can point me in the right direction, to answer this question. Not which is prettier. Not which is better.

If I was a gun manufacturer in the last half of the 19th century & I manufactured two guns exactly the same. As the manufacturer, would it be overall less expensive for me to produce the gun with a nickel finish, or a blued finish?

Seems intuitive to me that the nickel might be cheaper overall, because less time would be required to produce a smooth enough finish on the metal of the gun to be nickeled, than the one to be blued. I may be way off base. Hoping someone in this group used to do this at a gun factory and would know for sure…….

Thanks!

 

[Protocall_Design]

Nickel costs more. The prep takes the same time for both. Any imperfections will show through either finish. For the nickel, there is the extra cost of metal (copper and nickel), which would be more than bluing salts.

 

[ruggyh]

...Seems intuitive to me that the nickel might be cheaper overall, because less time would be required to produce a smooth enough finish on the metal of the gun to be nickeled, than the one to be blued...

Thanks!

Your assumption is incorrect- nickle follows the surface of the metal being plated- if the finish is poor before the plating the plated finish will be poor after.

As pointed out above the surface most be able to except and have the nickle adhere- for steel this can be a challenge with plating solutions available typically a intermediate in this case copper is plated to the steel prior to the nickle adding addition work and resources.

Plating is considerable more costly than plating even today.

 

[btvarner]

Ok, so if that is the case, it leads to my follow-up question.

If in the last half of the 19th century it was more expensive to finish a gun in nickel than blued, why were almost ALL "Suicide Specials" and other inexpensive pocket revolvers nickeled instead of blued?

Seems like the manufacturers of cheap weapons would have blued them all instead of nickel to save money?

Thanks!

 

[PALADIN85020]

In the first half of the 20th Century, Smith offered the same price for nickel or blue finish on its M&P revolvers. Note in this advertisement that they do charge extra for target sights, but no extra charge for nickel - either finish could be had.

John

 

[thadheth]

The Sears Roebuck catalog from 1902 lists the same price for nickel and blued Colt and Smith & Wesson revolvers.
However, for their less expensive revolvers (either the ones made for them, or the ones they sold that were made by Iver Johnson and Harrington Richardson) the prices were slightly higher (about 12%) for blued steel.
Here's a picture of the advertisement for their "Hammerless Automatic Revolver."