Mahovsky's Metalife Finish

[Kagnew]

Has anyone had this "metalife" finish applied to a handgun? Would you recommend it for a pocket-carry pistol? Is it better than electroless nickel plating?

 

[DocIndy]

Had a Beretta 92 refinished by them years ago. The finish was awesome and very wear resistant. My dad liked it so much, he bought a used 92 Centurion and had them refinish it too. The finish I had done was the SS Chromium M.

 

[Kagnew]

Sounds like a good recommendation to me!

 

[PGRChaplain]

I have a 1911 Commander I built years ago. I had the frame electroless nickel plated and nearly 35 years later it is blemish free. It was a Ranger aluminum frame and I'm still happy with my choice.

 

[Sagamore - One]

Mr. Mahovski's MetalLife finish is without a doubt the toughest, most corrosion resistant finish you can put on a firearm. Just got my Sig P245 back form him and it is fantastic. I already have a 1911 that he finished over 20 years ago. The only blemish is where I Tig welded the front sight in place. Daily carry for over 20 years and NO rust, no noticeable internal wear, and still looks great.

 

[Kagnew]

Sounds like a Metalife brushed chrome finish, a pair of Marschal wood grips, and a Robert Mika pocket holster and my little P64 will be good to go!

 

[indygamerguy]

Wow, I never even heard of it before this.

They offer electroless nickel plating for cheaper, what's the difference between the electroless and the metalife? Is the metalife more like the "Nickel Boron" coating from WMDGuns and NiB-X?

 

[Kagnew]

Wow, I never even heard of it before this.

They offer electroless nickel plating for cheaper, what's the difference between the electroless and the metalife? Is the metalife more like the "Nickel Boron" coating from WMDGuns and NiB-X?

Metalife is hard chrome.

 

[ghitch75]

I have a 1911 Commander I built years ago. I had the frame electroless nickel plated and nearly 35 years later it is blemish free. It was a Ranger aluminum frame and I'm still happy with my choice.

i would like to see a pic of your Commander if you wouldn't mind?.....

 

[88E30M50]

I've been toying with having my CZ 75 Compact done by them in a brushed hard chrome. I might just go for it seeing that my chances of finding a stainless CZ 75 Compact are about the same as finding a logical thought at a liberal think tank.

 

[PGRChaplain]

Ghitch, here it is;

 

[WeeJ]

This is the best finish you can get. The old guy is, well, old, so do it now before it is too late.

If any local gunsmith is interested in setting up a refinishing shop, contact Metalife and they may just set you up in business.

Metalife was developed for use in the tool and die business - mold tools last forever when plated with Metalife. Look them up online and you'll get a lot of info on the process.

Nickel is nice, and very corrosion resistant, but it is much softer than Metalife, so you gotta baby it some

 

[daveyjones53]

Be careful I have recently had some work done by his company and it has not turned out so well I sent back a couple of pistols already because of problems with the finish bubbling and chipping. Of course there was some nice pits left in the finish afterwards. The Beretta I just sent back I asked him to buff out the pits in the aluminum and he left some of them and added some scratches on the frame that weren't there before I am trying to contact him now to get this resolved, but so far I am extremely disappointed. It looks like they just decided to just run a Dremel over it and ended up scratching it up instead. I will try to post some pics. Maybe he was good in the past, but something has definitely changed in the quality of his work.

 

[WeeJ]

The product and process are excellent but, like all of us, he is getting old. Perhaps too old. We needsome youngster to contact Matalife and get into the business. Be nice to have someone in Indiana.
Here is the parent company
http://www.metalifeind.com/

And here is his gun plating business.
Hard Chrome Plating & Electroless Nickel Plating, Armalloy & Gun Bluing by Mahovsky's Metalife

Metalife plating is extremely thin, so any imperfections, even minute ones, will show through.

If the anodizing on an aluminum frame is good, probably best just to leave it and have only the steel parts Metalifed.

 

[WeeJ]

For any ambitious young gunsmith out there, here is contact info for Metalife HQ
President:
Andy Kockler
[800] 327-9413
akockler@metalifeind.com

 

[usp45]

If you want some chroming why not use Ionbond? they have a shop in indianapolis near 71st and georgetown rd.
I have used ionbond locally to have them chrome nitride (CrN) a few bolts and bolt carriers for my AR's.
they don't PLATE they do PVD. PVD is not gonna bubble or chip off. I would use them BEFORE ANY plating shop no matter
how well they have done in the past. i have been in Ionbonds shop and seen how they do this, in a vacuum chamber.

 

[WeeJ]

Now we're getting somewhere. Always good to consider new things.

Ionbond seems like an international company - possibly franchise based.

Here is some blurb about PVD
Ionbond International  - PVD

Thing that worries me is the temperature mentioned - 600C is very hot, and would negate any heat treatment previously performed on the gun parts (assuming the parts reach that temp, and not just the deposition material).

Ionbond have other processes too, and some may be worth considering:
Ionbond International  - Technology

 

[Kagnew]

Be careful I have recently had some work done by his company and it has not turned out so well I sent back a couple of pistols already because of problems with the finish bubbling and chipping.

I saw where you posted this same information on another handgun-related forum (TheHighRoad). In that post, I believe you stated that you had one gun (not two guns) done by Mahovsky's and that you noticed this bubbling problem six months after you got it back. I have to ask - what would cause hard chrome to "bubble" - especially six months after it was done?

I'm not accusing anyone of anything, but it does seem odd that your first post on this forum, as well as your third post on the other forum, were both complaining about Mahovsky's. On how many other forums have you posted the same "information"? And why would a resident of Dallas, Texas register for the INGunOwners forum just so that he could post some rather "questionable" information about Ron Mahovsky's work?

 

[WeeJ]

Some good points / questions from Kagnew. I seen a Metalifed pistol that was done a few months ago, and it looked very nice. Some pics from daveyjones53 would clarify greatly

 

[daveyjones53]