I need to get a (fool's) gold trigger replated. That must be a fairly simple procedure; do I need to send it out? It's off a Citori and for some reason, almost every bit of the gold color is gone and the rest of the gun looks really good. thank you!

Polish off all of the fake gold plating & leave it in the white or blue it. IMHO that would improve the appearance of all guns with "Gold" trggers considerably.

I'm sure not in love with the color but I don't know if this metal would blue. But you're right; it might be worth a try. Leaving it in the white might be OK too.

Try something like Oxpho-Blue on it. If it takes you should be able to blue it with any of the conventional methods.

I've always wondered if the marketing geniuses that started the gold trigger craze had a "Rap Star Front Gold tooth" installed on their women to improve their smile as well.

Agree. Start with some 400 grit wet-or-dry to remove the gold, then polish with successive use of 600, 800, then 1000 grit. Don't worry about removing too much metal with these grits.

If it's good steel underneath the gold, a fire blue would look good and wear to a nice patina. Not sure if a plain field grade Citori is worth all the trouble though.
JR

Gil,
A Citori will likely have a trigger not made of steel. I beleive they are commonly either an aluminum, or possibly a zinc, die cast alloy.

You might call Midwest Gun Works for a replacement.

Put a magnet to it to see if it's steel or not.
Then decide if you want to do anything with the current one.

My 1976 citori definitely has a steel trigger and a stout one at that. The gold came off muy pronto! No gold on my triggers. It has been in the white since 1985 and never tarnished or rusted, protected by a thin wipe with CLP.

If you insist on gold plating steel it is a two tier process, copper plating first because gold plating will not adhere to steel.

Some people claim they can feel the difference between steel and gold, claiming gold feels softer, thus justifying the plating procedure. It might be true for all I know.

It's likely the triggers went to some alloy construction in the later generation Citori models. A 1976 Citori would have been the earliest model of at least 4 generations. Frankly I think there are more variations lately with the investment cast guns instead of the earlier forged guns. My 525 is almost all investment cast internal parts as well as the frame. I have owned only models from the early 80's to the 525 models. I know the 525, and I think the 325 I had were both alloy triggers. My BSS is an alloy trigger as well. Like Kutter said, a magnet will reveal it.

Gil,
answering your question.

Gold plate trigger = $60.00

http://artsgunshop.com/price-list.htm

Gil, you could always get some gold paint from a hobby store and go at it.

JC

P.S.: in the white would work for me. jc

Many thanks for all the replies. I started out by stripping then polishing down to 500 grit. That was an improvement but I didn't really like it. I put some rust bluing solution on it just to see if it would rust; it did. So I blued it; it looks much better now! Thanks, Gil

Or you can do what someone did with my old Model 21 that I use as a beater. Someone masked it off and spray painted it with gold paint. I've always been surprised that the paint has been on there for years and has never worn off.

I think that if you touch the trigger with Oxpho-blue, you will be married to that finish unless you take the metal down to bright again. I'm pretty certain Oxpho is a phosphate treatment and does not play well with other bluing methods. Any thoughts on this?