Gold Plating
I am thinking about buying a presentation gun that has gold plating. I do however want to shoot it.[8D] Does anyone know if after shooting do these weapons discolor?
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ag,
I have a couple of limited edition pieces (but not gold plated). My first was a NIB Bushy 20th anniversary. I deceided not to shoot either one but to buy a similar model to shoot. If your presentation piece is new, why don't you keep it that way and buy another (much less expensive) non-presentation model to shoot. Gold is almost as soft as Puffs tissue. If you use it much you will (as a very old commercial went) "wonder where the yellow went"!
Just my opinion.
cbxjeffIt's too late for me, save yourself.0 -
WELCOME TO THE FORUMS: ...Gold itself will not Tarnish...the rest of the Gun might Rust and Ozidize, But the Gold will always stay Gold in Color, wither it be Yellow Gold or Red Gold or Green Gold, etc.....Gold can and has laid on the Ocean Floor for 500 years or more, and when brought to the Surface is just as Shiney as the day it was Minted....
Captain Kirk, Tech Staff0 -
The problem is, gold PLATING is applied in microns (millionths of an inch). And, it is extremely soft. So, the slightest touch can wear it off a gun. When I was young & foolish, I ruined a Colt Lord derringer by wiping it a couple of times with a clean cloth.
You have to make a choice: shoot a gun, or look at it.
Neal0 -
On this subject, I need some plating advice. I have a presentation piece that was improperly stored; the barrel plating has been damaged by subsurface oxidation. I would like to re-plate it. Can I do this myself? Can anyone recommend someone to do it for me?
redcedars0 -
Yes, you can do it yourself, but the results will probably not make you happy.
Colt refers plating requests to Pittsburgh Handgun, 1330 Center Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15229, telephone 412-766-6100. They do outstanding work, but it won't be cheap. The gun will have to be disassembled, inspected, repaired, stripped, replated, reassembled, tested, & adjusted; that's a lot of time (by skilled technicians) that you will have to pay for.
Neal0 -
Neal:
I only need the barrel done, and I can take it off myself. (I'm far from a pro, but I'm a decent hobby gunsmith. I at least know what I can and can't do, most of the time.)
I'll give them a call. Thanks for the tip.
redcedars0 -
It's not hard to electroplate something in gold and do a good job; you just have to have the right equipment and chemicals for the job. I've done it myself, hundreds of times, while employed in a plating shop. But that equipment is expensive, and the home versions are inadequate. The chemicals are toxic as all-get-out, too. (You have to dissolve gold in water, what do you use? That's right, cyanide.) Your best solution is to find a small job shop that will do it for you, a large city should have several. Take your gunparts you want plated in and ask for am estimate, you might be surprised how cheap you can get it done for. Look under plating in the phone book. Minneapolis has at least 30 such shops, not all will do gold.
"Go to Lakedaemon, stranger passing by;
And say there, that in obedience to her law, here we lie"0
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