Nickle Plating vs. Hard Chrome

Mad_Mikee

Mad_Mikee

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I have an older Remington 700 blued ADL that has a few miles on it. I'm planning on having it rebarreled with a stainless barrel but thought before I get that far I'd attend to the bolt and action.

The bolt and bottom half of the action had a few surface rust spots on them which I've cleaned up. Today I took off the old rings and bases and found a bit of surface rust which should clean up okay as well.

Now to the question. I'm trying to decide what sort of plating/finish to do to the action, bolt and bolt shroud. The bottom metal I have is stainless so I might do something with that as well (plate or beadblast to be a similar match).

I'd like a matte type of end finish so whatever finish I end up choosing, I'll probably bead blast everything first.

Its a rifle I plan on hunting with and shooting so it needs to stand up to average use.

Is there one or the other I should go with or any advantages or disadvantages of either? I've doing a ton of reading from other CGN posts but nothing that really gave me a solid answer of which way to go.
 
Hard Chrome is extremely durable but not that friendly to work with. If you are referring to the same hard chrome process that I am familiar with you would not want to put it on the outside of your gun. I have machined quite a few parts that had hard chrome on them it is not a treat. Keep in mind that there is a big difference between hard chrome and decorative chrome. That being said there are some finishes advertised as hard chrome that are quite durable, but are not true hard chrome.
 
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Electrolysis nickel plating works very well on a beaded surface... I would not recommend electro plating...


oops... I spelled it correctly but it was the wrong word... I meant "Electroless" nickel plating...

ahhhhhhhhh :redface:
 
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Do you mean "electroless"? it makes a very nice finish.
Very fine beadblast or sandblast actually helps it stick to the underlying metal.
There's also a proprietary electroless nickel finish which combines Teflon within the nickel structure but I don't remember the name brand of that process.
PP.
 
Tuftriding? Commonly done on camshafts - had one done years ago by a shop in Hamilton for my 750 Norton. Would be an interesting application for a rifle bolt - color is a matt olive grey.
 
One of the issues I'm worried about is the plating adding too much material. I've read that the electroless nickel plating adds such a small amount of material that it really doesnt matter.

Since I'm going to be rebarreling my action I'm not too worried about plating material increasing the headspacing. I'm sure if I find some places that do plating, they'll be able to better help me choose which plating is right for the job.

I dont plan on doing any of the plating myself so I'll leave it up to someone who knows what they're doing. For my own interest, when bolt body and action are replated, is anything protected (inside of the action, bolt lugs, etc), or is the whole thing just dunked and plated?
 
While doing some more reading, I ran across a coating called NP3 from Robar. Looks pretty good and sounds durable. The color fits what I'm looking for but the only issue is the shipping of the parts down to the US and back.

Im going to be at the Easter gun show in Calgary tommorow so we'll see what other types of magic coatings/plating are available.
 
Mad_Mikee said:
One of the issues I'm worried about is the plating adding too much material. I've read that the electroless nickel plating adds such a small amount of material that it really doesnt matter.

Since I'm going to be rebarreling my action I'm not too worried about plating material increasing the headspacing. I'm sure if I find some places that do plating, they'll be able to better help me choose which plating is right for the job.

I dont plan on doing any of the plating myself so I'll leave it up to someone who knows what they're doing. For my own interest, when bolt body and action are replated, is anything protected (inside of the action, bolt lugs, etc), or is the whole thing just dunked and plated?
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Electroless is the only way to go... you won't have a build up problem and it goes in every nook and cranny...

Have your action and bolt trued up first, you don't want to plate on top of errors that may need fixing later...
 
Dennis....and others....

any sources for this "ELECTROLESS" process? sounds like an interesting finish.
Also, anyone have pics or links to pics?

Thanks,
LeRoy
 
I've seen the home do-it-yourself kits but I think I'll leave it up to a pro.

I know I can drop my action and bolt off at a smith and have it done but Im sure they just take it apart and ship it out to be plated.

Yesterday I purchased a few Rem 700 specific tools, and a few spare extractors from Brownells.
Im pretty new to the Rem 700 but I'm looking forward to using my new tools, tearing it apart and having it all cleaned up and plated.

I've found a few places in Calgary that do the plating and they both seem really good. They specialize in smaller parts and suggested I bring the parts by for an estimate.

I'm hoping to go for a matte fininish on the parts so everything will be beadblasted before the plating.

Still not sure if the plating will appear the same on different types of metal as I have stainlesss DM bottom metal. Just a question I'll have to ask the plater when I meet up with them.

Anyone know how the nickel plating holds up for wear if I have a couple of detachable mags plated as well?
 
I hadn't even thought about truing the bolt face and action until Guntech mentioned it to me. I thought I'd take a quick peek around the local Calgary area where I live to see if I could find someone to do it for me. I dont have any problems with Guntech just thought I could save a few dollars on shipping by having it done locally. After the email headaches I had going back and forth with a local smith I gave up all hope. Once I get the barrel off, it will be going via snail mail to Guntech for truing.

I have minimal dealings with gunsmiths but the suggestions, advice, quick response and offer of service from Guntech has been nothing less than fantastic for not even being a client.

It's really people like him that make me really want to spend time reading, posting and learning new things about firearms.
 
cosmic said:
Tuftriding? Commonly done on camshafts - had one done years ago by a shop in Hamilton for my 750 Norton. Would be an interesting application for a rifle bolt - color is a matt olive grey.
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+1 I suggest Melonite QPQ. We could do the finishing with a batch for about $20. Same process used by S&W, Glock, SIG, Walther.
 
Who is Caswell Canada??? That link wouldn't open for me.

And.....anyone suggest somewhere in southern/eastern Ontario to send an O/U to have it dismantled......nickel plated....and re-assembled?
 
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