What happened to the shiny nickel revolver???

[dandyrandy]

Do you prefer nickel or polished stainless? I like polished stainless better. It seems to hold up better and last longer. It dosent flake off like nickel does. Once nickel starts to flake it cant be fixed, the whole gun finish needs to be redone. Good luck finding someone to do it that wont charge you a fortune of money. Also stainless seems way easier to maintain and a lot easier to fix scratches. Once a scratch in nickel is through the finish it cant be fixed. Only downside is that it seems stainless is way easier to scratch!

 

[muddocktor]

Iggy, can I have the right of first refusal when the time comes?

If you wave enough money and twist his arm a little, he will relent and let one go every once in a while.

 

[Iggy]

I think it has to do with the barometric pressure at the time..

 

[Rpg]

Nickel is my favorite Smith finish.

I've carried a nickel M38 for years.

Very durable, easy to maintain, stunning looks.

What's not to like?

 

[Drm50]

I think the biggest market for nickel plated revolvers were piano
players. Due to the advent of music CDs a lot of piano players are
out of work. Thus the demise of Nickel plated pistols.

 

[stansdds]

Nickel (and chrome) plating requires some pretty nasty chemicals, which are expensive and tightly regulated. To make plated weapons shiny, they must be given a perfectly polished surface before plating, then a very even plating. This is time consuming and therefore, expensive.

Stainless requires no chemicals, only someone who knows how to polish metals, much cheaper to produce and much easier to maintain by the owner. No flaking or frosted plating, scuffs and scratches can usually be polished out by the owner.

 

[DRYHEAT]

There is just something about a great nickel S&W revolver.

Since the shiny nickel is pretty much consigned to the past, shiny now is mirror polished Stainless Steel:

(polished by S&W, engraving by Wayne D'Angelo)

 

[mike from st pete]

https://www.nickelinstitute.org/~/media/Files/TechnicalLiterature/NPH_141015.ashx

For those wanting an in-depth look into plating nickel.

 

[BigBill]

I purchased a h&r 22 revolver that the PO called nickel. It looked yellow it was tarnished so bad. I took out the simi chrome polish and found out under the yellow was a shiney chrome finish. The chrome looks awesome.

 

[soFlaNative]

You can't nickel plate plastic.

From St. Pete Mike's link, page 34.
Who knew?
Plating on Plastics Materials


The traditional method of preparing plastics for electroplating includes electrodeposition of a ductile acid copper layer, before electroplating with nickel plus chromium, to meet thermal cycle requirements. The thermal cycle test (refer to Chapter 8) assesses adhesion and monitors the effectiveness of the process.


Although this traditional copper layer is still the most widely used, the substitution of a highly ductile nickel coating may be specified where it is necessary to facilitate the reclamation of electroplated plastics at the end of the product-life cycle.


[FONT=Myriad Pro,Myriad Pro][FONT=Myriad Pro,Myriad Pro]Table 4f*


[/FONT]

[/FONT]

[FONT=Myriad Pro,Myriad Pro][FONT=Myriad Pro,Myriad Pro]Plating on plastics materials - nickel plus chromiumcopper plus nickel plus chromium


[/FONT]

[/FONT]



[FONT=Myriad Pro Light,Myriad Pro Light][FONT=Myriad Pro Light,Myriad Pro Light]Service Condition Number[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Myriad Pro Light,Myriad Pro Light][FONT=Myriad Pro Light,Myriad Pro Light]Nickel plus Chromium
[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Myriad Pro Light,Myriad Pro Light][FONT=Myriad Pro Light,Myriad Pro Light]Classification Number[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Myriad Pro Light,Myriad Pro Light][FONT=Myriad Pro Light,Myriad Pro Light]Copper plus Nickel plus Chromium
[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Myriad Pro Light,Myriad Pro Light][FONT=Myriad Pro Light,Myriad Pro Light]Classification Number[/FONT][/FONT]
1
PL/Ni20dp Ni7b/Cr r
PL/Cu15a Ni 7b/Cr r
2
PL/Ni20dp Ni10b/Cr r
PL/Cu15a Ni15b/Cr rPL/Cu15a Ni10d/Cr mc or mp
3
PL/Ni20dp Ni15b/Cr r
PL/Cu15a Ni25d/Cr rPL/Cu15a Ni20d/Cr mc or mp
4
PL/Ni20dp Ni20d/Cr rPL/Ni20dp Ni20b/Cr mc or mp
PL/Cu15a Ni30d/Cr rPL/Cu15a Ni25d/Cr mc or mp
5
PL/




Plating on Plastics Materials


The traditional method of preparing plastics for electroplating includes electrodeposition of a ductile acid copper layer, before electroplating with nickel plus chromium, to meet thermal cycle requirements. The thermal cycle test (refer to Chapter 8) assesses adhesion and monitors the effectiveness of the process.


Although this traditional copper layer is still the most widely used, the substitution of a highly ductile nickel coating may be specified where it is necessary to facilitate the reclamation of electroplated plastics at the end of the product-life cycle.


[FONT=Myriad Pro,Myriad Pro][FONT=Myriad Pro,Myriad Pro]Table 4f*


[/FONT]

[/FONT]

[FONT=Myriad Pro,Myriad Pro][FONT=Myriad Pro,Myriad Pro]Plating on plastics materials - nickel plus chromiumcopper plus nickel plus chromium


[/FONT]

[/FONT]



[FONT=Myriad Pro Light,Myriad Pro Light][FONT=Myriad Pro Light,Myriad Pro Light]Service Condition Number[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Myriad Pro Light,Myriad Pro Light][FONT=Myriad Pro Light,Myriad Pro Light]Nickel plus Chromium
[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Myriad Pro Light,Myriad Pro Light][FONT=Myriad Pro Light,Myriad Pro Light]Classification Number[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Myriad Pro Light,Myriad Pro Light][FONT=Myriad Pro Light,Myriad Pro Light]Copper plus Nickel plus Chromium
[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Myriad Pro Light,Myriad Pro Light][FONT=Myriad Pro Light,Myriad Pro Light]Classification Number[/FONT][/FONT]
1
PL/Ni20dp Ni7b/Cr r
PL/Cu15a Ni 7b/Cr r
2
PL/Ni20dp Ni10b/Cr r
PL/Cu15a Ni15b/Cr rPL/Cu15a Ni10d/Cr mc or mp
3
PL/Ni20dp Ni15b/Cr r
PL/Cu15a Ni25d/Cr rPL/Cu15a Ni20d/Cr mc or mp
4
PL/Ni20dp Ni20d/Cr rPL/Ni20dp Ni20b/Cr mc or mp
PL/Cu15a Ni30d/Cr rPL/Cu15a Ni25d/Cr mc or mp
5
PL/