Model 29-2 Stainless?
- Thread starter Model29-26.5
- Start date
This topic comes up every couple of months now since it is likely the hard chrome guns are changing ownership. Back in the 70's and 80's there were a couple companies that specialized in this process. Makes for a durable finish but tanks any collector value.
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2008
- Messages
- 952
- Reaction score
- 886
The SS used by various gun makers contains enough iron that it WILL rust, if in nasty conditions long enough.
The original "hard service" finish for firearms was nickel. It was a tad on soft side but much more rust resistant than blue. Often seen up into the 1960's on S&W pistols used in law enforcement.
Hard chrome (HC) imparts a RC70 coat to a steel gun. It is electrically applied in a thin coat. It is a hard service coating that resists corrosion. It will mirror the metal finish underneath it. If a surface below is highly polished, that is how it appears. If the surface is matte, then that's how it looks. It takes lots of skilled labor to get the highly polished look; read that as expensive. HC will undesirably build up on sharp surfaces. Skilled labor required to reassemble a gun post HC. HC has a slightly blue cast to it.
Electroless nickel (EN) is about RC50. More rust resistant than HC, so often used for hard service service on/near to water. Some think EN has a goldish color cast to it.
A blued gun can be made more rust resistant by applying a good coat of non-abrasive paste wax. It was often done to blue LE guns pre-HC and EN days. For pistols often carried, reapplication of the wax was required frequently if in rough service.
The original "hard service" finish for firearms was nickel. It was a tad on soft side but much more rust resistant than blue. Often seen up into the 1960's on S&W pistols used in law enforcement.
Hard chrome (HC) imparts a RC70 coat to a steel gun. It is electrically applied in a thin coat. It is a hard service coating that resists corrosion. It will mirror the metal finish underneath it. If a surface below is highly polished, that is how it appears. If the surface is matte, then that's how it looks. It takes lots of skilled labor to get the highly polished look; read that as expensive. HC will undesirably build up on sharp surfaces. Skilled labor required to reassemble a gun post HC. HC has a slightly blue cast to it.
Electroless nickel (EN) is about RC50. More rust resistant than HC, so often used for hard service service on/near to water. Some think EN has a goldish color cast to it.
A blued gun can be made more rust resistant by applying a good coat of non-abrasive paste wax. It was often done to blue LE guns pre-HC and EN days. For pistols often carried, reapplication of the wax was required frequently if in rough service.
Model19man
Member
I think laws enforcement used revolvers, both blued and nickel plated, well into the 1970's and 1980's. The SA pistol became the norm in the 1990's with many departments selling off revolvers to make way for the high capacity nines.
Jim Watson
Member
I should think so. Type 416 is common in the gun business and it contains 12-14% chromium, several low level alloy constituents, balance iron, at least 82%.
I once had a gun come in with rust flecks on the stainless slide, NIB. I accepted it because it was a model being discontinued. The rust cleaned off but left little flaws in the matte finish.
hkcavalier
US Veteran
Back when I was pretty new to all of this, I thought I might have found a stainless 34-1. Funny thing, I actually connected with the original owner some years later who had it converted to RB and chromed. Other than the front sight blade, it's a dead ringer for a 63.
It was common for me to see stainless Springfield Armory 1911's shipped to my store with thumb safeties and grip safeties already discoloring from poor stainless alloys...
...BenSimilar threads
