I'm thinking about buying a 1911 and I'm only interested in bright nickel pistols. My dealer ordered an RIA for me to check out.

I don't see many pics posted of nickel plated 1911s. If you've got one please share some pics for inspiration.

Nickel plated guns are for city boys and gangsters... Yeah I said it.

But, free country and all, buy what you want.

I remember when Springfield custom shop offered nickle plating for less than $200. Now they don't offer bupkis.

Potato pic but it's an RIA in old school .38 Super.

Attached File


The BUL is a .38 Super too, 21 rounds worth.

I’m not that sort!

Even SS is a push.

If you ever visited the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame you'd see how wrong that is. A lot of those old badass Rangers liked shiny guns.

https://www.texasranger.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Artifacts-Colt-Combat-Commander.pdf

https://www.texasranger.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Artifacts-Ranger-Flores-Chiefs-Special.pdf

if you want to actually shoot it you may consider Hard Chrome instead. big in competition circles because it takes abuse and you don't need to baby it.

This is my Glock 40, this is my problem solver right here.

It's so they can blend in with all the Messicans.

A couple years ago l was at the lgs as he was unpacking a nickle plated RIA.  It was in .45 and didn't do anything for me.

Now had it been .38 Super I'm pretty sure it would have come home with me.

I've got a safe full of Glocks for serious work. I just want a blingy pistol for a conversation piece/BBQ gun. I really want a nickel Python too but not bad enough to pay for one.

I hate to admit it, but I have a thing for Cartel inspired 1911s. Gold grips, all shiny, even the mags are engraved... I can't imagine ever owning one like that, but still I enjoy looking at them and wish i was cool enough to get some.

Every one I've ever seen was owned by an older "good ol' boy" who was into BBQ guns. YMMV I guess.

OP hard chrome is what you want if you want to use the gun and have it hold up. My STI DVC Limited has been used hard and cleaned little, and it still looks pretty good other than a few scratches from banging it into my aluminum race holster. It also cleans up extremely easy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALveW3PVGkE

In all fairness I do have a brace of polished stainless Vaqueros but that's not exactly nickel plating

Are we talking "nickel" only, or are we including chrome  (or hard chrome plated) in this here picture thread? Because I carried this 5" 1911 OWB today for no other reason than I felt like something a bit flashier than my much more plain-jane daily carry (a blued 4-3/4" officer 1911). As far as the nickel vs. chrome discussion, if you're interested in getting one; from a functional performance perspective it's VERY hard to beat the corrosion resistance, lubricity, and surface hardness of hard chrome over stainless. A good shop can get you that nickel-look using hard chrome without some of the downsides nickel might have, too. For a purely BBQ/Ornate gun, I wouldn't mind nickel plating... but if you plan to use or actually carry the gun I'd recommend chrome. When I had this gun made I had planned to use mine for USPSA limited-10 and occasional carry, so I opted for chrome.

Hard Chrome Plated over carbon steel Les Bear HW Monolith...







My typical daily carry is comparatively quite subdued... but I wouldn't mind having it plated, too: