removing chrome plate from barrel

[altankhan]

Anyone have any experience removing chrome plating? Against my better judgement I bought a plain, massive 8 gauge single barrel "market" type shotgun, back action percussion lock, in the flea market this morning.  The barrel (it has been half-stocked) is covered in thick chrome -- flashy -- but I'd like to remove it if possible.  A file barely scratches it. Any ideas?

altan khan

[JTR]

Call a chrome plating shop and ask if they can remove it.
Way back when, I had some car steel bumpers rechromed. They came back looking like new so I suppose they removed the old chrome somehow before re-plating.
John

[ironwolf]

  It can be done at home with a glass tank and a car battery.  It's the same as chromimg with the polarity reversed.  Can't remember the exact process, but you should be able to google it up.

  Kevin

[Acer Saccharum]

To get something re-chromed, the object must be stripped, then buffed, then copper flashed, and finally, re-plated with chrome.

So I wouyld say that it is absolutely possible to strip the bbl, but I don't have a clue how. I would take it to a chrome shop, since I don't want to have any more chemicals around than I already have. 

Tom

[Mike Gahagan]

I know that you can remove chrome plating from screws with muratic acid,but I don`t know if it will work on gun chrome.

[T*O*F]

It may not be chrome.  If it's a gun, it's probably nickel plated.

[RobertS]

I'm inclined to agree with TOF, thinking it is more likely nickel and not chrome.  Brownell's has some kind of nickel plating remover, but it sounds pretty nasty, and it's not cheap.  On a barrel, you might try removing it mechanically first, since the surfaces are long and somewhat consistently straight or round.  I haven't tried it, but I would try drawfiling on an octagon, or if it's round, try using abrasive paper in a shoeshine fashion.  I may be all wet, but I'll bet some of these guys who have done it will chime in with some real experience. 

[Ben I. Voss]

 Nickel should file or sand off without much problem. If a file won't touch it, it's probably chrome and you'll need someone with experience and "knowhow"- good luck!

[hawknknife]

I just had some chrome/nickel removed from a CW musket by a local plating company.  The metal came out perfect, no buff marks and was the original color.  It was pretty expensive to do but will work fine.

[K. Moyer]

Check this place out online www.caswellplating.com lot's o'stuff to look at and read on plating and stripping.

[ironwolf]

  It's called electroplating because it's done by passing a current through the part while submerged in the plating solution.  To de-chrome something, you do the same thing in the opposite polarity with a copper anode in the tank for the particles to attach themselves to.
  One may find the procedure in many of the old gunsmithing books.  I know it's in the original Roy Dunlap book.

  KW

 Chrome, nickel.. makes no difference.