My Detective Special has an orange epoxy insert in the front sight which was installed by a good gunsmith who was local at that time. It helps a little, but not much.
If I were considering applying hard chrome to a Detective Special, I would first completely replace the front sight with something better.
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Any legal information I may post is general information, and is not legal advice. Such information may or may not apply to your specific situation. I am not your attorney unless an attorney-client relationship is separately and privately established.
Rather than replacing the front sight, another possibility is to have the front sight serrated before sending it off for the hard chrome. When it gets back, you can do the paint/nail polish thing. I had the front sight serrated on my 3d issue DS and then applied the Birchwood Casey paint and it works well. I've also applied the paint to my 67 and 642, and even with the 642's stainless rear sight, it works pretty well.Originally Posted by BillSWPA
I've had both of my 1911s hard chromed, and while it does help, it doesn't eliminate the possibility of rust. I've had rust crop up in the checkering. It may be due to faulty application, but my 1911s spend most of the year buried in the safe unmaintained and that could be the reason.
25ish years ago, I had Accuate Plating hard chrome a German police trade in P-7 for me. Shortly thereafter, I traded it for my second round with a new Glock 26.3 and a bunch of extra mags and ammo. Another regret on a long list, sadly.
Here’s the pictures from @DoubleD:
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Mahovsky's Metalife in Pennsylvania offers hard chrome or electroless nickel. His prices and return shipping are most reasonable. His work is excellent. Mr Mahovsky and not a secretary usually answers his telephone.
Research in this area indicates that hard chrome can have micro pores or micro cracks in the finish. In this case micro refers to cracks not visible to the naked eye. Electroless nickel, though, covers the entire surface without these micro cracks and offers better corrosion existence. That said, hard chrome is an excellent finish. Wiping with an oily rag from time to time should resolve corrosion issues. Applying electroless nickel first and then coating this surface with hard chrome might be the ultimate finish. I mentioned Mahovsky's plating. On aluminum surfaces he applies electroless nickel first and the applies hard chrome on top of this.
Most know that before a different or new finish is applied to a handgun, bead blasting areas to be coated occurs. Unfortunately, when done to hammers and sears on an already customized weapon, bead blasting can negatively affect "trigger jobs". I would be more precise if I said that bead blasting and/or the new finish can have this effect. Light single action pulls become much lighter or too light. Of course, this poor outcome does not always occur. Several variable exist. One is slickness of the new finish. Another is skill of the refinisher. A third might be type of weapon. Anyway, I urge all to keep his in mind. I have an unfired 4 inch Model 10 that I plan to give to a young man. Mahovsky will hard chrome all parts but hammer and trigger.This fine revolver will see daily use by a Kentuckian who farms, hunts, fishes, and spends as much time as possible outdoors.
I can't imagine what somebody at Taurus did to piss off Bob Cogan, but he is both a very skilled gunsmith & refinisher, and a curmudgeon who does not suffer fools. He has done nearly two dozen projects for me of the last 3 decades, I haven't single complaint.
I don't know if Virgil Tripp is still doing chrome but he would be my other choice.
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I am so glad that you posted that photo. I bought a hammer shroud for mine just before the pandemic and had forgotten all about it.
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worthy addition for any D frame IMO, I got Karl Sokol to install mine simply because I know the alignment is critical, else wise they can crack at the thinnest part of the assembly if they are under too much tension or compression
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