Silver Plating

[Griff]

Found a Colt 2nd Series 1851 that sorta matches matches one I bought from a fellow Leverginner.  AFAIK, these ALL had silver plated square-back trigger guard and backstraps.  It was the standard verson, no box, etc, but looked... except it appears someone stripped & re-blued those pieces; and not a real good job, either.

I'm thinking of making an offer but have idea of what it costs to refinish those parts properly with a factory like re-plating.

Any clues?

[St. George]

Before you do anything - take the backstrap and triggerguard off and look for evidence of plating 'under' the protected grip area.

You may find that oxidation has turned those parts a dark blue-black, and all you need to do is to polish them lightly to remove it.

I bought one at Italian repro prices because mine had done that - and then, the guy had the box, papers and the presentation case and accessories...

What tipped me off to the piece was the distinctive 'red' grips...

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Griff]

That's I thought @ 1st.  "Cold blued" over raw steel; poorly done, looked AWFUL!

[St. George]

Well, Hell...

It was a thought, since it happened to me.

At any rate, now that you know - remove them, and use a fine Emery Cloth to claen off remaining traces of cold blue - though 'Simichrome' or 'Wenol' works equally well.

Wash the parts thoroughly to remove traces of oil and polish.

Take them to a manufacturing jeweler in your city - the kind that 'makes' jewelry - or take them to a plating shop that worls with antiques.

By telling them what you have, you'll generally spark some interest and they can re-plate the two parts pretty easily, since silver's easy to work with, and folks are always having work of that nature done.

(If you take it to a 'smith - he'll do the same thing, but will charge you more for it, and keep it longer, since he'll want to preserve a 'mystique' of his abilities.)

Tell them to plate it heavily - but not 'too' heavily - usually a double-plate is fine - and that way, the thickness doesn't become a problem in replacing the screws.

Good Luck!

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Griff]

Thank you, Sir.  Now all I have to do is negotiate that Italian repro price!

[St. George]

'That' was pure, unadulterated serendipity...

The unfired weapon - the cardboard box, sleeve, papers and brochure - 'and' the presentation case - complete with the little Colt 'Blackpowder' pin...

I was pretty satisfied with my purchase.

I wish you the same Luck.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Dick Dastardly]

Pardon my ignorance, but why not a high quality nickel finish instead?  Silver tarnishes too easy to my way of thinkn'.

DD-DLoS

[St. George]

Because the original was silver-plated and the 2d Generation followed suit.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Dick Dastardly]

Well, there ya go.  Now I know.  I was just tryin' to improve history again.

DD-DLoS