A while back, I think a company in Arkansas named Metalloy, I think, was discussed. As I recall the guy did hard chrome plating. I have a couple of barrels that are candidates for it. Can anyone describe his hard chrome work? Does it resemble stainless steel, similar to SSK's work? Anyone have the phone#

thanks,
Rick

It comes through a "matte" or Dull sheen type finish. Will not reflect like a polished blue job. They do a very good job.

The guy's name is Steve Davis

PH 870-423-4225

Metaloy
3430 HWY 143
Berryville, AR 72616

Price will run about $35 for a TC Barrel but he may work a deal with you on multiples.

I think SSK at one time had their plating done by them. I have an SSK Khromed barrel for about 11-12 yrs. now. Just had my 358 Bellm barrel done over the summer by Metaloy and it came out good.

If you want, strip the bolt/extractor and parts off the barrels first before sending them and oil the bores well with a preservative grease or oil. Plating will run into the chamber but not the throat/bore area unless specified otherwise. No problems with frame fit either after the plating.

Here is a link to an earlier thread on the subject:

http://www.serveroptions.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=35;t=000647

Regards

exactly what I needed to know.

thanks a bunch,

Rick

It comes through a "matte" or Dull sheen type finish. Will not reflect like a polished blue job. They do a very good job.

Can you post a pic of the plating job on your barrel??

fireball

Did TC do the Armour Alloy or was that done by someone else?
Greg

Headstamp,

Do you know off the top of your head what his prices are on doing an entire handgun, like an S&W 29?

FB,

I would say that it looks virtually like a stainless TC Barrel when put side by side. Any Internet picture wouldn't really show the necessary detail.

You could also have the gun bead blasted prior to plating to change the texture and thus shine of the finish after it is applied. My 358 was blasted by necessity to remove the scummy Teflon coating on it but I really like the finish with the chrome on it.

My 1991 barrel job and the latest job are virtually identical with the 1991 job a hair more shiny due to the fact that it was plated over a relatively smooth metal blue finish. I believe an acid is used to slightly etch the surface to aid adhesion of the plating. It is very durable.

We are really just talking about a standard industrial hard chrome which is used in many industry processes on parts and tools. Very durable and has a degree of self-lubricity.

With regard to the Armour Alloy of TC, it was either done in house or contracted out. My guess is the former as there are many companies doing this work. With regard to fit problems associated with TC, I'm thinking they applied a very thick layer of this coating which to me was unneccesary but that is only my opinion.

Sean, I would say the biggest part of the job would be competently dis-assembling the gun and re-assembling it after plating. This is where all the time is taken up as the plating is really a batch process and pretty straight forward I would think. Here, I would go with someone which has very good knowledge of a revolver assembly like say 300 Gunsmith Service. A number of these outfits will disassemble and then send the pertinent parts out for plating to someone else.

Honestly, I have no knowledge of Metaloy's abilities in that area so a call to get info/prices from Steve is warranted.

Regards

The fellow that owned Metaloy before Davis was a guy named Jim Kelly, if I am remembering correctly. I have used Metaloy off and on over the years, and at the time the owner told me they did SSK's chroming for them.

The Metaloy plating is nothing at all like the gobbed on thick stuff that TC used in the first vintage of Armor Alloy. Armor Alloy II is much thinner, closer to Metaloy type of plating.

Mention of acid..... I am not well versed in plating, but I believe there is a "pickling" step in the process, ie., light acid etching to memove any impurities on the surface.

Metaloy does have outside sources they use to do detail strip and reassembly or so I was told by a friend of a friend who knows a fellow who does the work. I lived about 45 minutes or so from Metaloy when in Missouri, and it is something of a "small world" there where word travels well.

Tip: Want an instant improvement in the smoothness of your Contender trigger pull? Metaloy the trigger and striker, BUT I would recommend also first undercutting the sear notch on the trigger as shown on my online store pages for the Diamond EZE Lap, under Tools in the store menu. Pix on those pages demonstrate how to cut the angle. Undercutting helps a lot when the trigger and striker contact surfaces are smoothed up by honing or by plating and the trigger return spring lightened. Under these conditions, the striker is more prone to "bumping off" if you snap the barrel shut quite hard.

Bottom line is that the plating does in fact smooth up the trigger pull by reducing friction a bunch.

In Sean's case, if something is beyond him, he has access to a pretty good 'smith.

For the record, Metaloy also does bluing and will reblue barrels pretty reasonably. Likewise with frames. You can either have them bead blast the parts for a matte finish, or you can hand sand parts with sandpaper. 320 grit or finer produces a nice finish. Just keep the "grain" of the sanding marks running in a consistent, esthetically pleasing direction. I don't know if they will do a bright polish or not. I don't remember for sure what they had for polishing wheels. I did use them for some barrels before moving up here to Oregon, and they did a nice job.

Steve only runs one batch of parts upon heating up the tanks, which produces the best finish. Unless you "doctor" the hot tank carefully on successive batches run in the same session, funny things start happening sometimes, like all of a sudden barrels come out looking like old rusty pipes.... no horror.... just a pain in the butt having to card off the brown residue. This is one of the problems you can run into more often with smaller tanks that are harder to control the temperature of. I mention this just to point out that Steve is pretty meticulous about his work and does not take any chances with his bluing. He heats the tanks, runs one batch of parts, and then shuts it down.

Why all the fuss about Metaloy? It is a good, reasonably price resource for all of us.

I have only had one poor experience with Metaloy while Kelly owned it, and Steve explained to me that it was due to Kelly not taking barrels off of rifle actions when he plated them. In my situation, the receiver rusted through the chrome, and Kelly did redo it ok though.

If you want either chroming or bluing done, I do recommend Metaloy.

Mike

[ 11-03-2002, 09:44: Message edited by: Mike Bellm ]

Gents,

Here is a link to Metaloy's Website.

Metaloy

Dave

Very good Dave!

I see they have a website now. That's a new for me.

Regards

Headstamp, The process of hard chrome starts by reversing the leads and "deplating" which removes oxide and other stuff to give a chemically clean,not just a 'soap and water' clean surface .In the process some steel is removed giving an etched or mat surface.Hard chrome is Hard.All plating is dependant on a clean surface otherwise the plating will peel.I saw a 45 jam in an IPSC match, the plating in the trigger area peeled and jammed the trigger. Agood quality hard chrome job is extemely durable.