From Nickel to blued/CCH finish?

[rWt]

I am looking at a couple of SAA revolvers with nickel finishes, which I don't care for. They are 3d Generation Colt SAA's in 38-40 caliber.

I'd prefer to have a deep blue and charcoal case hardening finish.

Is it straight forward to have a revolver stripped and then blued/CCH? Will the metal need extensive preparation to get it ready for bluing/CCH?

[Professor]

I think the nickel can be removed relatively easily but the biggest issue is surface pitting. Might be hard to ever get a polished blue. Ive been of the understanding that its best to start with blue guns.

[gregs]

Three processes I believe, reverse electrolysis (plating), acid and abrasive blslasting. For the finish desired, I'd opt for the least destructive to keep edges and roll marks in better shape.

I once parkerized a rear sight on one of my heavy rifles that had a stainless barrel. The rear barrel mounted sight was either matt chromed or nickel but still was quite reflective. I blasted and parked it three times because I didn't get all the plating off in the blast cabinet and left a hello flag after parkerizing.

[handgunhuntingafield]

When I was doing bluing still…. I had a product from brownells that I could just soak nickel guns in for a couple days and it would remove the finish completely.