Robar NP3 applied to a levergun

[foxtrapper]

I'm thinking about sending my blued Marlin 50AK to Robar for their nickel NP3 coating. Anybody know if the coating will fill in lazer engraving? I will call them later when they are open but if you know chime in Oh if you had the coating done how is it holding up?

[CowboyTutt]

Fox, don't know about the engraving question but I have a custom Puma with internals coated in NP3 and my friend Jim has a couple of custom leverguns with the entire rifles plated in the stuff. Its slick as can be and I have seen no wear and tear on the material on my own rifle or on Jim's to date. All of these rifles are shot regularly but they are not "truck guns" or bashed about in the woods as hunting guns. Still, the material does seem VERY durable to me.

-Tutt

[Old Savage]

Saw a 99 coated with hard chrome - seemed a great idea to me.

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

I'm thinking about sending my blued Marlin 50AK to Robar for their nickel NP3 coating. Anybody know if the coating will fill in lazer engraving? I will call them later when they are open but if you know chime in Oh if you had the coating done how is it holding up?

NP3 is not very thick so shouldn't fill it in. I have a first gen glock that was worn so I sent it to them for NP3. It had no effect on the markings.
Here's one of the TTN Hammer SXS's I sent out and had them do the reciever and lock plates. I did the fire blue hammers, trigger guard and scews here.

[foxtrapper]

Thanks all! Nate thanks for the picture just what I wanted!!

[Warhawk]

I have a Marlin 336 that I'm thinking about sending out for Ron Mahovsky's metalife finish.

[1886]

Drop Mic a line, he uses NP3 quite often. See what he thinks. 1886.

[CowboyTutt]

I have to agree with 1886 on this. I think that 1886 is a "repeat offender" er, uh, "repeat customer" of Mic's as I am. Mic is very particular about what he uses and he makes a living reviewing free samples of gun associated products and services. The fact he chose Robar's NP3 over all other's and uses it in his personal gunsmithing practice is quite an endorsement! The fact that Steve Young also uses it renders the choice sort of a "no brainer" in my book.

-Tutt

[gak]

Sounds like a dandy fate to particularly befall an early post-64 M94 mess. Can't screw it up any more, there's zero real collectibility value otherwise and bound to be a 1000% improvement. I'm thinking of having a 1911 done, a prospective DW CBOB...just can't abide the stainless--not a SS guy on autos--on an otherwise stellar piece.

[NonPCnraRN]

Fox, don't know about the engraving question but I have a custom Puma with internals coated in NP3 and my friend Jim has a couple of custom leverguns with the entire rifles plated in the stuff. Its slick as can be and I have seen no wear and tear on the material on my own rifle or on Jim's to date. All of these rifles are shot regularly but they are not "truck guns" or bashed about in the woods as hunting guns. Still, the material does seem VERY durable to me.

-Tutt

Didn't you have the chamber done thicker than normal on your 454 Puma to correct the fact that it was oversized? My rememberer goes on the fritz sometimes. With the action parts coated in NP3 do you still need to lube the parts? When you had the front sight done did you have the sight in place when done or take the sight out first? Does it make it more difficult to drift back into place?

[CowboyTutt]

NonPC, we originally used a thicker coating on the bolt to correct for headspace, but the chamber was OK. After we discovered that the ejector was so proud that it was taking all the case head thrust and was getting battered (thus creating a head-space issue-again), the rifle went back to Mic to have the barrel set back and the entire gun hand-fitted for tight tolerances. It works very well now and has proven to be very durable. Its going to be the subject of a full-blown article in the near future.

-Tutt

[AJMD429]

Its going to be the subject of a full-blown article in the near future.

I'm looking forward to that. I have a .454 Puma and want to know its potential and limitations .

[CowboyTutt]

AJ, I'm actually looking forward to writing about it. It took me over two pages of hand-written notes to list everything Mic did to the rifle!

-Tutt

[NonPCnraRN]

AJ, I'm actually looking forward to writing about it. It took me over two pages of hand-written notes to list everything Mic did to the rifle!

-Tutt

It would be easier to make a list of what he didn't do to your gun. 10:1 you spent more on mods than the original rifle! Yes, no? Not a put down as I don't think I have a stock gun that doesn't have a change planned for it.

[CowboyTutt]

NonPC, my good friend, I have spent probably overall 3-4x's sum total the price of the original rifle. I'm not embarased to say that I originally bought the rifle with the intention of it being modified by Mic to be the best it could be (it was Paco himself who refered me to Mic), and it was more affordable to pay for the modifications over time then to pay the total price up front. Yes, its a lot of money, but its become a darn fine rifle, and it's one-of-a-kind until someone else builds a 454 levergun that can actually withstand the pressures of the 454 on a continual basis. The stock Puma's are borderline in their reliability and I think I have enough information to substantiate that fact. It's a rather plain looking rifle overall as it does not have much "bling" to it as I could not afford it. But the proof is in the pudding and the rifle does work phenominally well.

I just wanted a special levergun in what was going to become one of my all time favorite cartridges and I already had a handgun in the same cartridge, so it made sense to me to purchase the Puma in the first place.

Somehow, someway, the creation of this rifle led me to Mic McPherson via Paco Kelly himself, and has also led me to meeting Dick Casull directly on two separate occasions, so I guess you could say that the rifle has been sort of pivotal in my life and has been worth every single penny.

-Tutt