Nikel plating webley's question

[daveh]

I have a preww2 nickel pated tin plate Junior. When it came to me it had the original nickel plating [which was a bit rough] so I stripped it and had it replated for the princely sum of £10. If you decide to replate yours a few points to remember. be very careful not to damage the stampings by cleaning with emery paper, after plating holes are smaller and diameters are larger so be sure to ask your plater to blank holes threads and in particular the barrel joint mating faces. It should look quite spectacular when finished, mine is on permanent display and is a regular talking point.Regards Daveh

[vbull]

greasemonkey, very nice looking gun ? Thanks for the replies, definitely going to get it done. The other thing I've seen done to these old Webley's is colour case hardening, end result, stunning on the one I saw.

[45flint]

greasemonkey, very nice looking gun ? Thanks for the replies, definitely going to get it done. The other thing I've seen done to these old Webley's is colour case hardening, end result, stunning on the one I saw.

Would love to see one case hardened!

[--ped--]

just had one of my Sheridan pgp pistols done which was in a pretty p**s poor condition
had no issues with any thread and the valve retaining nut screwed in with no issue
I have a few Dans and Bengi's that have had there original finish polished off so may have more plated
https://i.imgur.com/AwVfInu.jpg

[ccdjg]

Would love to see one case hardened!

I would imagine that a Webley would have to be case-hardened coloured by the "cheating" method, where they use an oxacetylene torch played over the surface to produce a colour effect that can look almost as good as genuine case-hardened colour, but is not as durable. Proper case-hardening would not be feasible for a Webley, as it involves packing the pistol in powdered charcoal and heating at a dull red heat, and at those temperatures any brazed joints on the pistol would be ruined.

[vbull]

The case coloured Webley I saw I believe was done properly with bone ash etc. I bought an old Marlin from the same guy which has had the treatment, looks great but costs a lot due to the ingredients used so I don't think he would cheat on the Webley. I'll ask him though. Here's a couple of pictures.

https://flic.kr/p/22rseid
https://flic.kr/p/23tnWd7

[45flint]

The case coloured Webley I saw I believe was done properly with bone ash etc. I bought an old Marlin from the same guy which has had the treatment, looks great but costs a lot due to the ingredients used so I don't think he would cheat on the Webley. I'll ask him though. Here's a couple of pictures.

https://flic.kr/p/22rseid
https://flic.kr/p/23tnWd7

That is very nice

[ccdjg]

I suppose you might just get away with conventional case hardening on a Webley if the spelter used for the brazing was at the higher end of spelter melting points, but it would be risky. But however it was done it looks great.

[chieffool]

The case coloured Webley I saw I believe was done properly with bone ash etc. I bought an old Marlin from the same guy which has had the treatment, looks great but costs a lot due to the ingredients used so I don't think he would cheat on the Webley. I'll ask him though. Here's a couple of pictures.

https://flic.kr/p/22rseid
https://flic.kr/p/23tnWd7

This gun Smith has a good gallery of example images. They clearly work on any type of gun, but I see why it might be a difficult task to do on the thinner metals of an airgun vs the more robust sections of a firearm.
http://www.gunrestoration.co.uk

[ccdjg]

This gun Smith has a good gallery of example images. They clearly work on any type of gun, but I see why it might be a difficult task to do on the thinner metals of an airgun vs the more robust sections of a firearm.
http://www.gunrestoration.co.uk

It's not so much the thickness of the metal that is the problem (although it can be), but where components have been brazed together they risk coming apart if the temperature of the joint gets above the temperature of the alloy (spelter) used to make the joint. Bone ash/charcoal case hardening is carried out at about 800-850 degrees C (red heat) and spelters melt at about 800-900 deg C so there is not much room for error. On the Webley Senior pictured, the raised ramp that the cocking link rides over is brazed on,and so could have been dislodged. Same for the barrel attachments, although in the example shown the barrel does not appear to have been given any case hardening treatment.