Mahovsky's Metalife. They had it for about 2-1/2 months. I'm sure the holidays cut into their schedule a bit. Got it back today and I'm happy. $175 for all the metal. They did a good job...definitely worth the cost. And it's slicker than snot. They did get the complete firing pin and all inside the bolt. This was an SPS action with bolt work by Kampfeld and 700 Ti SS Rem factory barrel installed by Redneck.

There was a thread on what coating is the best...can't find it now, but I promised to post pics when I got this one back. I'm definitely a fan.

Hard Chrome beats cerakote. You OWN the homeowners assn.......

I like the looks of that.

That turned out great!

Very Nice

I don't know about the coating but that is one slick rifle Heaven. You have such good tastes in rifles. powdr

Looks really good. Is it actual chrome like the S&W revolvers were plated with back in the day?

Looks great! Please let us know how it holds up.

I have a custom 5 shot 45 Colt Ruger Bisley that they did and it is as good as it gets. Great company.

Excellent ! Thank you for the pics. I was always worried that it would be more glossy / polished. That finish would be fine for hunting...

That’s really sharp, thanks for sharing that with us.

I know it will sound silly, but I have an old Mossberg pump shotgun that I’d like to get hard coated one day. I’ve had it for about 40 years. The original wood stocks and ribbed barrel are long gone as at some point I put a slug barrel and pistol grip on it and carried just about everywhere I went in AK. it was a constant companion when I ran bear baits. I think one bear even ate a face-full of buckshot. It’s an old friend that I’d like to give a facelift.

How was the bore handled?

S&W’s were nickeled. This is hard chrome. Hard chrome is much better than nickel or just about anything else.

The bore does not look to be chromed.

Looks good.

I like it.....

I've had several done a few years ago, prior to Remington offering S/S guns, by Metaloy in Berryville, Ar, who Wilson Combat had used at the time. The stuff's so good, it doesn't even wear off the back of the bolt lugs. hardly cost effective any more.

I've looked into Mahovsky's in the past as their prices were pretty good compared to Metaloy. Seems like the only pox on them was lack of communication. Have they gotten better?

Jealous here. Post a pic in this thread if you can. I’d love to see it.

They are still old school. I just left it and didn’t bother them. But I’m ok with it knowing how long they’ve been in business and also the price difference makes up for that as far as I’m concerned. YMMV.

Thank you for sharing. I've been considering Matte Chrome, but the cost ($400-$500) turned me off. I'm glad you're happy with this one.

Excuse my naiveté -
I'm assuming the prior SPS finish was on the course/pebbly side? The finish on the final product here appears to be rather sleek.
Do they blast the metal as part of the prep work prior to the hard-chrome process?

I sent a check for $185 and that took care of plating and return shipping.

Nice. I saw that comment. That’s the same/cheaper than Cerakote.

It's still pebbly.....but not bad. I wasn't sure what they would do. The barrel is smoother, and I wish they would have media blasted it to make a closer match....but I don't have much in the rifle. $75 shipped for the Ti barrel. Redneck spun the barrel on and checked headspace. I had the action sitting in the safe with the Kampfeld fluted bolt for a loooooong time. The Ti stock was a take-off from a GAP rifle.

Looks really sharp. Let me know when your ready to sell it😁😁

I have a Model 70 in .458 that is Hard Chrome finished. The finishing quality and color hue is identical to the Leupold Stainless mounts it wears.
It is both handsome and practical for any climate and I have carried it in both torrential downpours and snow.
I have both Micky and Winchester walnut stocks for it so adapt to the need.
John

I too sent my gun, a Ruger American .450 Bushmaster off to Mahovsky's about a month ago and just got it back a couple days ago. They got the inside components of my bolt too and not the rifle bore. I asked them to get both the brake and the threads under the brake. They asked me to leave it loose, I did, and they did. $185 return shipping. This is my first long gun with them, I've had 3 handguns done too.

They look nice!

Not trying to upstage 257heaven here, but here are a couple handguns they did for me...

Kel-Tec PF9 immediately after 200 rounds straight to break it in..


After it came back..


Taurus 1911 aluminum frame before..


After (and the best part is that it STILL looks like this after riding in my trunk year-round for about 6 years and has about 2,000 rounds thru it..

Tag. These guns look beautiful

This custom 480 from Jack Huntington has been ridden hard and put away wet quite a bit. Hard chrome is the way to go.

Do they offer a "black" hard chrome?

No. Link to their website. (IIRC, prices are about half of what other hard chrome shops charge.)
http://www.mahovskysmetalife.com/index.htm

Edited to add: I want to get my 870 Express's finish better protected, at a reasonable price, but want it to stay black. Can't recall for sure, but in researching that, I was marginally in the market for somebody who did black chrome just to get a ballpark idea on price and couldn't locate anyone who still does it. IIRC, seems like I read someplace else that the black chrome finish turned out not to be such a great thing, but I can't remember why.

When you say "slicker than snot", I assume you are referring to the cycling of the action?


X-VERMINATOR

Yes sir.

No....that was my intention. I love seeing hard chrome guns.

Mahovsky's does not. No idea if anybody else does that.

What about some kinda gray? Would love to have my Ruger 1911 hardchromed in something similar to their Target Grey finish they had.

Exterior surfaces only or is the bore chromed as well?





Nitride is black.

Negative on bore.

Man that looks really nice I’m happy you’re happy. I need to send another rifle down there as the Mauser I had them plate went up the road.

Looks great!

Looks great.

I'm happy to note that some of the 24HCF are starting to come around. I mentioned SS Metalife about 10 yrs ago and about got hissed and booed off the 'fire. 'Course back then Cerakote was all the rage. Down side of Metalife is that it only comes in one color; Flat grey! What a lot of folks don't know is that it is harder than S/S (IIRC, about 68 Rockwell) and more impervious to rust. Actually it looks quite like French Grey. I have a B-78 Browning in .300 H&H with the action Metalifed and the rest blued. I think it looks quite handsome.

They did a fantastic job and it looks great. What are the pros and cons on hard chrome vs cerakote?

I had 10 Remington actions Satin Hard Chromed in 1989, they still look brand new today, been rode hard!

Two great products

Satin hard chrome

Black Chrome

you will not wear them off, and impervious to a lot of Salt water

Great looking rifle, thanks for the post and info. When you say Redneck "spun the barrel" what does that mean?

hard chrome is the toughest finish i have ever seen BY FAR. i had an old tang safety ruger done and used it for years. there wasnt a single mark on it after all that time......

He screwed the barrel on. It was a 7-08 Ti takeoff and he installed it with a factory lug and it headspaced fine. It's not indexed the same as factory, but he stamped the cartridge for me and all is good. The Remington factory stamping is pretty much directly 6:00, so you can't see it when it's in the stock.

I ended up lucking out on that.

My understanding is there is nothing better than hard chrome for toughness and pretty much impervious to rust.

Yep you sold me on it when you brought yer 338-06 to my place.

Bro you gonna make the get together???

Thanks, it's reasonably priced for that level of protection and looks nice too. I'm surprised it isn't more popular. I'm going to send one in and check it out. I've got some parts sitting on the kitchen table for a buddy's build that would make a good candidate.

That looks great.

Tag this one.

Marker machine used to do the black industrial chrome on fire arms but not sure they are in business anymore. Many will do black nickle and call it black chrome but no where near the durability. Here is one place: https://www.arlingtonplating.com/capabilities/black-chrome-plating/ and another where Jay Leno takes his cars. https://www.calchrome.com/black-chrome Let me know what you find out as it has applications for springs screws and small parts not suitable for some other finishes.

I was going to have this done but now think Melonite is the way to go at least for the larger parts.

That looks awfully good and durable sounds great to me. Nice gun......

That thing looks great!

Looks good. Has anyone painted over the hard chrome? Does it hold paint(ceracoat etc.)?
Would be nice to cut back on the bright finish for some applications.

I like it looks good

It’s very slick. I wouldn’t think anything would stick to it for long.

I have a remington 870 with the 18 1/2 inch barrel and extender tube that rusts if you look at it the wrong way. I think this one is headed to PA

Thanks 257, what I figured, but thought I should ask anyways.

Lots of nice looking hard chrome finishes in this thread, I like them.


What extended magazine is that in the American?

Nice!!!

I have an old Schultz and Larsen 358 Norma Mag someone else put hard chrome on and then put it a MPI synthetic stock... good looking and tough to boot!

Hope you don't mind if I tag this too!

Cool rifle

Yondering, that’s the factory magazine on a .450 Bushmaster, as is the brake.

Edited to add: Now the Weatherby style cheek piece and color.. I did myself. Oh, and I added a Glade Armory longer bolt handle for more leverage.

Nice stuff guys..

Very nice!!

Very nice looking rifle, they did a nice job on it.

Do you guys think Hard Chrome is way more durable and rust resistant than Cerokote or some of the other coatings?

Did they do the entire trigger group as well?

Everything I ever read says hard chrome is way better.



I took my trigger assembly off before sending my barreled action in. So no for me.

Ceracoat is a bad joke. Hard chrome is the real deal. When this one was my everyday carry gun I hung it on the inside door panel of my Dodge truck and drug my muddy boots across it on the way out the door. Mud, and gravel, every day. Wipes off and looks new.

Yes. No doubt.

Yes, they did. I don't believe they chromed the inside. But all external surfaces and parts and the sear bar....or whatever it's called.

How does it compare for slickness to NP3? I used NP3 on some custom molds for my last company. Came back slick and produced packaging that looked shiny it was so smooth. I always thought a bolt/raceway would be a good place for sacrificial coating like NP3. The Hard Chrome I imagine never wears but in extreme ( i.e., not sporting arms) it might eventually flake because of CTE mismatch.It would seem if a consistent coating of Hard Chrome could be done after an NP3 coating inside action and trigger components it would be ultimate including the bore like SPRs. Then again I have to look at NP3 again because while it doesn't change much dimensionally sacrificial coatings will wear in minute levels. If a trigger design relied on a slight amount of friction that may be bad. I was thinking full NP3 but now this thread has me considering Hard Chrome. I like Material Science though am only lightly versed so interested to see if anyone has both coatings and what they think.

NP3 is nickel impregnated with teflon flakes for anyone not familiar. Instead of teflon flaking off if coated its semi-encapsulated in nickel. As nickel wears it exposes more teflon flakes creating a more slick surface. It's closer in CTE to other metals and soft enough to expand when heated. It will eventually wear through but not in a sporting arm. It's great for high temp greaseless bearings in dirty environments as it was designed for from what I have read.