I finally got around to building my home-brew 228R today. Having the armorers course DVD really helped...I knew how to do most of it but never had worked on the hammer or sear before. Turns out...it's actually not difficult at all.

Anyway, I'm going to go shoot it tomorrow but everything function tests fine...assuming that goes well, I want to have it refinished.

My current thought is to send the pistol to Robar for a full NP3/NP3+ nickel treatment...frame, slide, all controls, etc.

The idea is kind of an homage to the old school nickel guns in a more modern package.

Currently, everything on the gun is original to the 228 but some upgrades may be nice, such as crosshatching the controls (legion style) before the refinish.

the plan is to finish it off with some AL grips; i have some of the old style in clear aluminum that I had considered having refinished in sig black.

Wondered if anyone else here had any other ideas? Looking for the kind of thing that looks like sig might have built it at some point during the 228s production...kind of an OEM+ approach or something of the sort.

Looking forward to some ideas!

Figured i should add a pic. Here it is next to a real P228R.

The frankensig 228R is built on a .40 229 frame and has the 229-1 magazines which work beautifully for this application. was thinking of nickel plating those too for a complete package feel.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: quantum13,

Good looking project , give us a range report !

I kinda like the way it looks now

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
I kinda like the way it looks now

I can see where you are coming from here. I had considered leaving it alone. from what i can tell the function is excellent, so this certainly is an option.

but then i also want to deck it out and make it awesome. I have some 228 nills that would work nicely on this frame but didn't think those nice grips made sense in this context - without a refinish, i mean.

decisions, decisions.

i'm open to ideas, just wanted to see what YOU all would do

Get that white AL grip changed to black! The white one looks good on nothong, imo.

Btw, it's a FrankenP228. Refinish it to your heart's content.

Maybe in FDE? Sort of like the SIG combat (220, 226) series (frame), you could have the only one in a 228R...that is until someone else does one as well...the grips...have to see what would work.

http://www.hogueinc.com/store/...rooves-od-green/7774

quote:

Originally posted by quantum13:

Wondered if anyone else here had any other ideas?

While I have never handled an NP3/NP3+ pistol, I have nothing but great praise for the CPII from CCR. The P225 in the photo below has CPII everywhere but the frame (they have a different Nikote treatment for aluminum but my anodizing was in good shape so I left it alone.). I had all the internals plated as well, which went a long way towards smoothing the action/trigger pull.

According to the current price lists at each site, the cost for a complete CPII refinish (including the Nikote for the frame) is just about the same as for the NP3 ($319 vs. $330). NP3+ runs about $100 more ($415).

http://www.ccrrefinishing.com/information.html

Note: I have had multiple handguns refinished, including Mahovsky's Metalife (x2), AP&W/Cogan (x2), Clark hard chrome, and Colt's hard chrome. While they are all acceptable and functional, none holds a candle to CPII. The next time I need to do this, CCR will get the call.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: rbmcmjr,

That's a cool 225! I've always liked two-tone SIGs with Nill grips.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Get that white AL grip changed to black! The white one looks good on nothong, imo.

agree! i think a nice sig black would look great up against a nickel pistol

quote:

Originally posted by rbmcmjr:
The next time I need to do this, CCR will get the call.

This is extremely helpful information. Does the CPII look pretty close to the classic nickel plating found on the WG Sigs?

it definitely looks great in your pics...and the way those Nills look have me wondering if i should go that route instead...I have a brand new set of 228 Nills that might be just what this project needs.

The only thing with the CPII is they won't do anodized alloys....i've seen the jobs where they then do a different type of coating on the frame but it's obvious that it doesn't match.

Was hoping to find a nickel plating that would actually work on the frame just like those old school german guns

quote:

Originally posted by rpm2010:
Maybe in FDE? Sort of like the SIG combat (220, 226) series (frame), you could have the only one in a 228R...

This is an interesting idea. I don't have any pistols in FDE. The fact that it has a rail kind of makes that work.

I'm not a huge fan of FDE, but variety is good and it DOES make sense in this application.

Perhaps those old AL grips could be given a complementary darker color that would go with the FDE finish. Going with the FDE would also make the Trijicon TFOs I bough a while back look right on the gun.....not a bad idea.

Had also bought a P-SAIT...same thing...could be neat to have that coated and install it.

Looking around a bit I see that CCR has a color they call Tri-Tanium. That could be a really neat color that's not quite FDE but would have that modern feel....

found some pics of a rail-less 228 in CCR Tri-tanium - https://www.ar15.com/forums/t_...28-finally-back.html

Here's my P229 in tritanium. Cpii barrel. House black controls.

Thats a nice looking pistol Chowser.

quote:

Originally posted by Chowser:
Here's my P229 in tritanium. Cpii barrel. House black controls.

It looks great. I wonder if it would look good with CPII controls?

in any case...i was wondering how it is wearing. I assume the finish is on the slide and on the rails...does the finish tend to come off of the frame rails and then you're back to the anodizing? just trying to figure out what to expect with that coating. I wouldn't think it would be a wear material itself, would it...more cosmetic?

This is how the gun was when I bought it



CCR did their magic in November of 2015. I sent it in with all new springs and night sights which they installed for me after refinishing.
This isn't a carry gun, but it's stored in a leather holster and I shoot 60 rounds a month through it (5 range mags). So about 1000 rounds through it, no wear on the rails or finish. The barrel will show some smiles but it's still coated.



I was originally going to get it CPII/Nikote but decided I needed a TriTanium finished gun. My next beater SIG or Beretta will get the CPII/Nikote treatment.

The small section I circled is where they clamp it while refinishing, it's not visible when the gun is together. The red stuff is old gun butter grease. I've had that syringe forever now. When it runs out, I'll switch to slide glide

I must say...that is quite the improvement. I appreciate the detailed answer.

I am debating between this finish and Robar NP3 (on the whole pistol) as CCR won't do CPII on alloy frames but NP3 is said to be appropriate for that.

I don't really consider CPII on the slide and the nikote on the frame to be an option as those are not the same finishes and i'm not into the finishes not matching, especially if it's close. I know it's close but if it's not the same it's almost better not to try.

i am encouraged by the fact that you are not seeing any finish removal even on the rails.

I wonder if CPII controls would look good up against the tri-tanium...

OP, keep in mind that ROBAR will remove/strip the anodizing from the frame that may weaken it.

im trying to figure out if this is an issue or not. i've read on the one hand that the frame is ruined when you do this but then on the other hand that NP3 is just as hard as the anodizing. And why would Robar do it if it really ruined the frame? on factory nickel guns I would think that the gun would have never been anodized in the first place so....i dont really know what to make of this. Is it really that Robar ruins the frame or more that CCR just doesn't have the right finish so all they can do is coat it?

Range update....

I took it to the range today and found that it functioned flawlessly. It even ate up a few steel-case rounds my buddy brought which was nice.

I wanted to post a target as requested but to be honest, I was off my game with this gun today. I think it's the grips but not sure. In any case, i shot it consistently as did my buddy who was with me. I feel confident that it is functional that this point and OK to refinish.