Nickel plated or silver plated Marlin Deluxes

[palabra]

I have a question. I have owned several plated Marlins including a 27 and a 1984. Both had a nice shiny silver finish. Some finish loss that showed as plum colored. I am looking at a deluxe Marlin with some engraving, B grade checking on upgraded wood. It is plated also, however, the finish has turned a flat finish, same as an old silver coin. It is plated on the receiver, butt plate and magazine take down release button on the end. How can I tell the difference between nickel or silver plating if the factory records do not express which? My guess is that nickel never dulls, and, silver does. What do you think? Thanks.

[Regnier (gunrunner)]

Jerry;

Marlin did offer both a silver and nickel plating, but there was also an "antique silver" plate as well. Silver plate will tarnish (oxidation) over time (turn black), and the antique silver will too, but slower for some reason. I have an engraved 1891 with the antique silver plate, and over the years, it very slowly is tarnishing, unlike some of my Marlin handguns that had the half-plate finish where the barrel and cylinder were blued and the frame silver plated. The silver on the frames of the handguns will tarnish much more quickly that has the antique silver plate on the 1891. The thing about silver tarnishing, is that when people know it is silver plated, they will polish it to bring the luster back. The bad thing is, that every time it is polished, some of the silver is removed with the tarnish. I never polish the silver on my guns, just let 'em turn black. I know what they look like after I clean them just once to see what original finish is remaining. If you want to maintain the bright appearence on a smooth surface after polishing it, give it a coat of wax to seal the surface from the oxidation process
Nickel plate will, under nominal conditions stay bright and shiny. But, under other conditions, the nickel will take on a "frosted" appearence and look dull. The good news is, that the shiny surface can be brought back by polishing it with a product like Flitz. Polishing nickel with Flitz or something similar does not remove the nickel like it would with silver. Most of the polishing products (like Flitz) are not abrasive but will clean and polish the surface back to it's original luster. Usually, after a one time cleaning, it will not have to be cleaned again, so no harm will come to the surface. The product may even have a protective quality built in to help protect the surface from oxidation later.