Removing chrome finish

[20thpzgr]

I have been looking at a WWII pistol brought back by a GI and he had it chromed, as was common. Pistol is in great shape, except for the chrome finish, which both ugly and in poor shape. Is it possible to have the chrome removed, and if so, what would the finish be like underneath? Could it then be refinished?

 

[BriMac]

Any plating shop that does firearms would be able to remove the plated (chrome) finish.

 

[BriMac]

The gun then could be blued or have it parkerized .I have seen a few guns that have had that done and the look very good but they were not buffed before plating.

 

[dnepro-mike]

i think caswell sells electro-de-chroming kit if you decide to DIY

 

[45collector]

I have a nickel-plated WWI P.08 that I bought for real cheap. There are some fairly nasty rust spots on the finish and when I first got the gun it was so caked with rust and verdigris from sitting in a WWII holster for presumably most of it's life, that I could barely move the toggle train, and the magazine was seized in the gun. After soaking it in CLP and finally getting most of it apart, I found that the firing pin was seized by rust in the breech block. Soaked that in CLP too and it eventually worked free. I spent several hours de-rusting and cleaning the hell out of the gun, completely disassembled, and got everything working freely and functioning. Took it to the range the following day and fired 32 rounds through it without any malfunctions amazingly. Pretty accurate too all things considered. I thought of stripping it down and bluing, but for the time and money that would cost, I think I'm just going to leave it as-is and let it show it's painful journey to my hands.

It's a 1917 that was originally an Artillery model but had been rebarreled at some point prior to WWII. All parts match except firing pin which is one digit off. Came with WWII holster, two WWII era mags and the loading/ takedown tool. Cool, although ratty, piece of history that shoots beautifully and was dirt cheap.

 

[Sweeney]

The gun then could be blued or have it parkerized .I have seen a few guns that have had that done and the look very good but they were not buffed before plating.

After removal of the plating the metal surface could easily be restored to original (abrasive blasted, brushed, sanded, etc.) the properly finished.
I recently restored the finish on a 1944 Colt 1911A1 after it had been polished then blued. I gave it a light abrasive blast after removing the bluing in a vinegar bath and then parkerized it.

 

[Greg Derr]

What king of pistol? I do maybe two 1911's like this. The chrome or nickel can be stipped off. It usually is a good result since the chrome protects the underlying metal from abuse. I think I have some photos on NES of a project like this if you want to do a search.

 

[20thpzgr]

It's a Beretta Model 1934....I would like to have it stripped and parkerized if need be......