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Nickle-vs-chrome
- Thread starter Rembrandt
- Start date
CastleBravo
New member
Nickel plating was a MUCH older process, hard chrome is an electroplating developed for industrial purposes that was later applied to firearms.
With modern nickel plating you can get a thinner and more even/complete plating than you can with hard chrome. So it is a bit better from a corrosion resistance point of view, depending on how it was done. Both reduce metal-on-metal friction, but nickel is a bit slicker. But hard chrome is alot, well, HARDER... Say 70 RC for hard chrome vs. 50 RC for nickel.
Hard chrome should not be confused with cosmetic chrome (like is put on car bumpers and Harleys). Hard chrome is much tougher, provides better corrosion resistance, and won't flake or peel off. Older types of nickel plating would flake and peel off over time, hard chrome won't.
With modern nickel plating you can get a thinner and more even/complete plating than you can with hard chrome. So it is a bit better from a corrosion resistance point of view, depending on how it was done. Both reduce metal-on-metal friction, but nickel is a bit slicker. But hard chrome is alot, well, HARDER... Say 70 RC for hard chrome vs. 50 RC for nickel.
Hard chrome should not be confused with cosmetic chrome (like is put on car bumpers and Harleys). Hard chrome is much tougher, provides better corrosion resistance, and won't flake or peel off. Older types of nickel plating would flake and peel off over time, hard chrome won't.
Older types of nickel plating would flake and peel off over time, hard chrome won't.
Wasn't that due to the thickness or unevenness of the copper base layer?
Walt Sherrill
New member
I think it could ALSO have been the wrong materials getting on the finish and getting through cracks and attacking the underlying copper surface. (When stuff like Hoppes' (or anything with ammonia in it) gets to the copper, the copper goes away, and the nickel over it goes away, too.)
The same thing CAN happen with hard-chrome, depending on what's used for the underlayer. Some hard chrome shops copper (and sometimes copper AND nickel) plate the gun before hardchroming, some apparently don't.
The same thing CAN happen with hard-chrome, depending on what's used for the underlayer. Some hard chrome shops copper (and sometimes copper AND nickel) plate the gun before hardchroming, some apparently don't.
Tamara, yes and no. Yes the quality of the prep work and plating certainly play into it. The no part being nickle underlayment, typically copper, is subject to being attacked by some solvents when chrome is virtually impervious to any possible solvent used on guns. Even sissy ol' Hoppe's #9 will eat copper eventually, and bubble it up bigtime only to flake off. I would suggest most if not all flaking factory nickle is a result of mistreatment, not a flaw in the plating process. The same can be said for good platers in the aftermarket. Plating isn't rocket science, and plating houses can do it right in their sleep if they need to on steel. Aluminum alloys are a little harder, but still a slam dunk for a good plater.
Sean has it right: nickle is more corrosion resistant, nearly corrosion proof. Hard Chrome isn't quite as corrosion resistant, though it is certainly better than the stainless steels common in handguns, but it is much harder, slicker and more durable. The nickle process is MUCH older than the chrome process. It is only in the last 60 years or so that industrial hard chrome has been understood and controlled well enough to be used in firearms, and common use outside military chambers has been quite limited until the last 40 years, nickle has been around for well over 100 years and has been accepted by shooters for as long making nickle guns more saleable.
Sean has it right: nickle is more corrosion resistant, nearly corrosion proof. Hard Chrome isn't quite as corrosion resistant, though it is certainly better than the stainless steels common in handguns, but it is much harder, slicker and more durable. The nickle process is MUCH older than the chrome process. It is only in the last 60 years or so that industrial hard chrome has been understood and controlled well enough to be used in firearms, and common use outside military chambers has been quite limited until the last 40 years, nickle has been around for well over 100 years and has been accepted by shooters for as long making nickle guns more saleable.
I believe electroless nickel has better adhesion properties than chrome which means that it's actually less likely to peel.
In addition, electroless nickel can be plated onto aluminum without an undercoat. Chrome requires an undercoat for plating onto aluminum.
Nickel is also more corrosion resistant as already pointed out and the plating process is very controllable which means it can be very thin and doesn't tend to soften features or cause problems in close tolerance areas.
Most of the perceived durability issues of nickel go back to the days before electroless nickel when nickel was electroplated over copper.
In addition, electroless nickel can be plated onto aluminum without an undercoat. Chrome requires an undercoat for plating onto aluminum.
Nickel is also more corrosion resistant as already pointed out and the plating process is very controllable which means it can be very thin and doesn't tend to soften features or cause problems in close tolerance areas.
Most of the perceived durability issues of nickel go back to the days before electroless nickel when nickel was electroplated over copper.
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CastleBravo
New member
e-nickel is a whole different animal from older nickel plating. Better coverage and adhesion than old-style nickel plating... but still alot softer than hard chrome.
Alot of the complaints about hard chrome are almost as archaic as the complaints about old nickel plating. Hard chrome is being plated around .0003-.0005" thickness now... hardly the point where you will see visibile feature changes or significant "tolerance stacking."
Nickel is also more corrosion resistant as already pointed out and the plating process is very controllable which means it can be very thin and doesn't tend to soften features or cause problems in close tolerance areas.
Alot of the complaints about hard chrome are almost as archaic as the complaints about old nickel plating. Hard chrome is being plated around .0003-.0005" thickness now... hardly the point where you will see visibile feature changes or significant "tolerance stacking."
Crimson Trace
New member
corrosion resistance: Both will last 1000s of hours in salt spray. Argueing over which is more corrosion resistant is silly.
Where there is absolutely no contest is in wear resistance. Hard chrome has it all over Nickel in terms of resistance to holster wear, being dropped and bashed against barricades, buildings, etc... All the stuff that a real working gun is subject to. Any comparison as to real-world durability is a joke.
My own hardchrome pistol has been abused far more than any pistol has a right to and the skin is flawless. I cannot say the same for other pistols which I have worked with that were nickeled (even advanced nickels). They are just not as resistant to abuse.
-Z
Where there is absolutely no contest is in wear resistance. Hard chrome has it all over Nickel in terms of resistance to holster wear, being dropped and bashed against barricades, buildings, etc... All the stuff that a real working gun is subject to. Any comparison as to real-world durability is a joke.
My own hardchrome pistol has been abused far more than any pistol has a right to and the skin is flawless. I cannot say the same for other pistols which I have worked with that were nickeled (even advanced nickels). They are just not as resistant to abuse.
-Z