Nickel Plated Tell3 Air Pistol.

[ccdjg]

I know nothing of how air pistols specifically were nickel plated, but nickel doesn't NEED a copper layer unless it's designed to live outdoors. The copper gives it more corrosion resistance, can fill imperfections, and is easier to polish than steel, but it also gives a soft layer that can damage easier.
Not all copper plating types can go direct onto steel either. Some need a nickel strike plate first. If it was done that way, and the base nickel peeled, you wouldn't see any copper traces.

As I say, I know nothing of how vintage air pistols were plated but lack of copper layer wouldnt imediately strike me as odd.
The only reason I put a copper layer on my motorcycles plating was due to it getting used outdoors in rain etc and put away wet. For something steel, that lived indoors, and didn't need the same finish perfection as a rolls Royce grill or to last 30 years, I probably wouldn't bother with a copper layer.

I only mention this as I have a bit of a hankering to do some kind of nickel plated pistol and I had already been considering if I would do a copper layer or not. I came to the conclusion that it would probably look better if I didn't.
Just need to decide what pistol to do.

I'm assuming you have a fair bit of experience of vintage nickel plated guns? At least way more than my complete zero experience. Do they normally have a copper layer?

Thanks for your comments. It is always better to get information straight from the horse's mouth rather than books. I have only done a small amount of nickel plating myself, (electro and electroless) so my experience is very limited and most of my information came from books. I do know that you can of course plate straight onto steel if you want, if it is well prepared,and I have done it myself, but the general message I get from the literature is that for a top quality product, and to cover over surface imperfections an initial thin copper plate on the steel is generally used. I always assumed, perhaps wrongly, that companies like Venuswaffenwerk, Webley etc. would have gone for the quality option, especially as the extra cost involved is pretty minimal.

It is a good point you make about the nickel flaking off with the copper still attached.

Whatever the plating technique used, I would still be very suspicious of the originality of any vintage airgun less than 100 years old if it has lost most of its plating, as this suggests that the original plating process was an amateur job and not something sanctioned by the manufacturer of the gun.