What a find,Type I Polish Radom P-35

[Red Hat]

Welcome to the forum, kenf. You inherited a family heirloom and a piece of history. Keep it, shoot it and keep it clean. Pass it on later in life.

[kenf]

Yes,

I the Radom is well worth keeping with it coming from a family member.

One unfortunate item about this unit is that my father-in-law many, many years ago had the gun nickel plated. As it turns out the plating was applied very cheaply. Also, the hammer and safety strap that you have to squeeze to allow the gun to fire have been chromed.

My intention is to reverse this process. I want to remove the nickle and chroming of the pieces in question and return the gun to a blue finish or black or what ever it's supposed to be.

Regarding the finish. Is there a specific grade and color that I should use in restoring this historical piece. I'm not a gun expert and know very little about this. I just want to restore it to it's original state. I would appreciate the input from all of you in this regard. I do realize that a restored gun is not nearly as valuable as an original; it's just a shame to see it in it's present conditon considering what it represents.

Many thanks and keep safe.

kenf

[XD-Fender]

It would be very interesting to know the history of the specific pistol--was it captured from a German soldier? How did it come to be here? Very interesting collector's piece there.

[J. Connery]

To Kenf,
Welcome. I hope you will shoot with it? It is a very nice pistol. According to the info, your pistol would be from a ''Type 2" (second version) manufactured between 1941 to 1943.
About restoring it, if you could find a process to remove the nickel plate without grinding out the surface it would be the best. About redoing the blue finish... I, personally would not do it. During the manufacturing of the Radom's, they had a problem with the process and it produced a poor quality of the finish product, so the blued finish wore off very easy. It is very rare to find a P-35 with an original finish in very good condition. So if you manage to remove the nickel plate, I would suggest you to leave it in its rough finish.

J. Connery

[kenf]

JC and XD,

I do want to shoot this gun and use it from time to time. Internally there doesn't appear to be a lot of wear and tear. Barrel lands (sp) are crisp, no rust, etc. Just the outside is really sad looking.

My biggest problem is who to trust to to have the nickel removed? I have no issue with spending the money; what I don't want is more damage. Do any of you have recommendations that you would mind sharing?

Another question. Is there a way to remove the nickel & chrome plating that will not damage the finish? Are these coatings removed chemically or by bead blasting or some other method?

Also, J. C., your point is well taken about not rebluing the gun, but wouldn't that expose the externals to rust, etc.

I'll ask my mother-in-law about the history on the gun, but I'm not sure if "mom" knows.

Thank you for the input; it's been helpful.

Keep safe.

Regards,

kenf