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Post by alias on Apr 7, 2022 3:29:04 GMT -5
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Post by jonnyc on Apr 7, 2022 6:51:57 GMT -5
That is one pistol I would leave completely As-Is. It would be a shame to loose any bits of the Thai stamping. I would love to know the history of your pistol.
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Post by alias on Apr 7, 2022 8:46:03 GMT -5
That is one pistol I would leave completely As-Is. It would be a shame to loose any bits of the Thai stamping. I would love to know the history of your pistol. If I re-plate it, how much of the stamping/ roll mark would I lose? I too would love to know the history of the gun especially as to how it got here. The registration, กท๑๙๕๘๘๒, which translate to KT 195882 with KT being Krung Thep or Bangkok. I did ask a friend in Bangkok to see if he can find out who the previous owner was and may be know a little bit as far as how it came to be. |
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Post by ToddSig on Apr 7, 2022 9:49:19 GMT -5
That is a really cool "A" series High Power. I would be inclined to leave as it is, just because it is so unique. Refinishing will make it look new, and for a 80+ year old High Power, and for such an old and unique marked High Power, in my opinion it should show some patina and signs of wear. It seems some of the roll marks are already a bit on the light side, at least from the images (Browning Patent Depose area). Depending on what they have to do to remove the chrome or chrome over nickel finish, you might lose more of the stamping. And, I would not wish to mess with the Thai registration mark unless you were sure it would not be compromised in the process. If you decide to go the refinish route, perhaps the best refinisher for both bluing and nickel if Fords. I would give them a call and see what the process is, and the potential for loss of stampings and roll marks. fordsguns.com/Let us know if you find out more about the Thai history and what you decide to do with it. |
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Post by sams1 on Apr 7, 2022 11:24:06 GMT -5
My humble opinion... If it was mine and this kind of wear was on a blue finish I'd agree with the other comments and keep it as is. However, this is a simple (as in improperly done) nickel layer finish over the raw steel, and this is why it wore/rubbed/flaked this way. Correct Nickel finish is done over a 'barrier' under-layer and nickel on top of that which makes the nickel last for many, many years with no visible wear. The Thai markings appear to be well stamped onto the steel so the makings will not be affected by refinishing. To remove nickel, it'll be done in a chemical bath to strip it. Then using fine grit bead blast to clean the rest of the metal. Regarding the markings - I had one done (Israeli Surplus) recently with thin markings and after the refinishing process (black Cerakote) the markings were as visible as on the old finish. To me, the rough and wore out, cheap looking Nickel finish looks (lets just say) unattractive... To the puritans/historians among us the above is a sinful act and I do understand their perspective. However, my personal opinion is that this HP is very unique and will look spectacularly gorgeous refinished in Blue... Just my 2 cents (actually 5 cents, adjusted for inflation  ) |
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Post by alias on Apr 7, 2022 18:31:32 GMT -5
You guys don’t make it easy, haha. I’m leaning towards re-nickeling it. Initially thought about bluing but then it would never be original post war or original anything except for what it presently is. The Thai stamp is fairly deep, if anything I’m more worry about the roll marks. I’ll contact Ford and see what they have to say. Looking at their pricing and I’d have to say that they’re not cheap. I’ll keep bugging my friend about the Thai serial number and post what I find out.
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Post by tnorris on Apr 7, 2022 23:46:28 GMT -5
You guys don’t make it easy, haha. I’m leaning towards re-nickeling it. Initially thought about bluing but then it would never be original post war or original anything except for what it presently is. The Thai stamp is fairly deep, if anything I’m more worry about the roll marks. I’ll contact Ford and see what they have to say. Looking at their pricing and I’d have to say that they’re not cheap. I’ll keep bugging my friend about the Thai serial number and post what I find out.
Reality:
It will never be original anything, other than what it is now.
The best you can do is restore it to a representation of a point in time. Or alter it completely. Or leave it alone.
To restore it to a blued state or a nickle state will be expensive... far more than it is actually worth. The restoration to any point in time will never increase its current value, as is. Whatever you do will be because its new appearance pleases you. And I think I already wrote "it will be expensive".
Cheers,
Tim
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Post by sams1 on Apr 8, 2022 0:19:16 GMT -5
If I am not mistaken, FN never nickel plated their HP pistols (accept perhaps much later on presentation pistols).
Just to 'complicate' things... I ask, what is meant when we say "Original"? Do we mean original as it originally left the factory when it was new in a blue finish (I believe it was blue, not paint), or 'Original' when someone in Thailand decided to Nickel plate it and did a poor job of it...
It's all up to the OP (alias), of course.
Please do keep up posted.
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Post by alias on Apr 8, 2022 7:12:15 GMT -5
I guess what I meant was that it will never be original again, as in factory blued. So I think I might want to properly re-plate and restore it to its former glory at a point in time, nickel plated Thai registered HP.
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Post by ToddSig on Apr 8, 2022 7:45:00 GMT -5
When to restore a pistol is a personal choice, and is a great topic for discussion. Some folks prefer all of their pistols to be in pristine, unblemished condition, other prefer some wear and signs of use, while others have no issues with a lot of wear and loss. No right answer. When to restore a finish is based on the individual owners acceptance of the degree of finish loss, and that is different for each owner. Other variables would be the rarity of the pistol vs the amount of finish loss, and also if and at what point refinishing enhances or detracts from the value of the pistol, cost of restoration. A rare/valuable pistol with minor wear and finish loss should probably be left as is. While that same rare pistol with a lot of finish wear and potentially metal pitting etc, would be a better candidate for full finish polishing and restoration. Where ones position falls on that spectrum is variable based on the owners acceptance of the degree of loss to the existing finish, cost of restoration, impact on value etc. A while ago I purchased a 1967 Browning marked Tangent T series off a local gun board. The bluing was dull and worn and frame and slide with some intermediate pitting. An excellent candidate for restoration. I think Browning (not FN/Surplus) T series Hi Posers should be in very good condition, with a deep dark lustre blued finish. It went off to Fords for a polish and re-blue, and they did an amazing job. Added a spare set of blonde walnut grips, and I think I came out on the plus side. Before    |
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Post by CXM on Apr 8, 2022 8:01:46 GMT -5
I'd send it to Ford's in Crystal River Florida... they can not only re-finish it, but they can restore the roll marks as needed... basically make it look like the day it left the factory. Here is a pic of a 1912 vintage Colt's Government model 45 I bought some years ago... it had had a "Bubba" bumper shop chrome finish put on it... the poor old thing looked really sad... like it was embarrassed to be seen in public... A lot of the roll marks were polished down and the chrome job wasn't even a good one. I sent it to Ford's for some work and here is how it looks now.  This photo does not really do it justice... I need to get my shadow box set up and get some good pics of it, but it gives you an idea. They fire blued the small parts as on the original finish, but it does not really show in this photo. BTW, I found Ford's prices to be pretty reasonable compared to a lot of others... Some of the big names can run up into the $5k range. Ford's was quite reasonable. Anyway, I would take the HP back to it's original finish... FWIW Chuck |
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Post by alias on Apr 8, 2022 13:37:05 GMT -5
Wow, those are some beautiful pistols. Thank you for the inspiration.
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Post by alias on Jun 14, 2022 20:42:17 GMT -5
After several months, a friend in the Royal Thai Police responded back in regards to the Thai registration number on the front strap. He said that cannot find the record for that particular registration number. He checked both Firearm Record Division and Criminal Division and turned up nothing. Now they are more puzzled than ever haha. I’ll post more if I find out more from him.
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