Gold OEM Rekord Trigger Blade Disappointment

They've been that way forever with the flaking. The rollers are the same on the silver ones that I have. Both seem hard enough to me? No diff that I can find. 

Just buff the gold stuff off the rollers and you'll be set till your new one comes in. 

Hi Bo. I've read about this happening with the gold triggers. Unfortunately, I can't remember if there was any mention of it causing any issues like the trigger feeling gritty or being inconsistent. But I've also seen pics somewhere of gold triggers where the plating has just worn off smoothly, which would definitely be preferred over having it chipping off. I've wondered if maybe those that had the plating wearing off smoothly had more lube on the contact surfaces than those that were chipping off. Or maybe it's just luck of the draw as to how well the plating had taken hold to begin with.

Either way, you've got me curious about the triggers in my R7 & R9, lol. Will have to pop them out and have a look. If they're still looking ok I'll give them a little dose of some lube and hope it works as a preventive measure against the plating chipping off.

Hope you have a good holiday weekend!

Howdy Jim!

Yeah, I've not seen the OEM silver blades do this. If this is only after a hundred shots or so, I imagine the coating would have worked itself off completely on its own? Still, after finding the flakes in the cage I feel like that crap could migrate in the trigger. I may have overstated with my statement of "several mils thick" but it is easily felt with the finger rubbing over the area and will 'stop' the fingernail dragging across it. Wouldn't bother me along the first stage but I gots to know where the second will release or I'll lose sleep over it ? If I were to stick with the gold blade I would personally completely remove the coating from the rollers and relube.

Anyway, seems like a good opportunity to buy another Rowan straight trigger. I think the R7/30s might be a good candidate for that style...or maybe I dare to be different LOL

Odd thing, everything I've ever bought from the UK (a lot) or afar, always went through Chicago customs. This one is hung up in LA customs. Your tag line from Jeremiah Johnson may apply on this one...

"You've come far, pilgrim."-------"Feels like far."
"Were it worth the trouble?"-----"Ah, what trouble?" ?  LOL

@straitflite 

I could be wrong, but I don't think the silver triggers are plated. They look more like bare metal to me.

Sure wish we had aftermarket craftsmen on this side of the pond making parts for springers like the Brits do. They have a lot of little AG goodies available to them that would be nice to have.

Lol...Yeah, those lines from Jeremiah Johnson can apply to a lot of things. Like the airgun hobby in general. But they seemed especially perfect for a springer shooter like me. ?

@jim-in-swmo 

The silver ones are anodized, and the rollers have to be installed after. The flash plating on the gold allows  for the pins to be installed before. 

@jim-bentley 

Hi Jim. Thanks for that info. The silver ones being anodized before the rollers are installed would explain why there is a difference in the look of the metal between the trigger and the rollers. But it makes one wonder, why not anodize the gold triggers as well? Unless maybe the gold plating holds up better to use than the anodizing would.

@jim-bentley 

That is good intel to know. Thanks for that Jim.

@jim-in-swmo 

It is definitely a shame we don’t have more business churning out so many bits & bobs in the states. Parts and such would cost half as much due to shipping. I look at the UK as a big ‘ol candy store. I even went through the trouble of learning their native tongue.? 

Bet the Germans have much to offer as well but not even Ebay understands the language. LOL I have learned they aren’t big on shipping to the ?? anyway….oh well 

Posted by: @straitflite

Took my new Beeman R7 down for proper home tune and to drop in a JM kit. When I disassembled the trigger for my usual thorough polishing, I found this:

I have somewhere around a 100 shots on this R7 and found the trigger had chips of finish coating missing from the blade rollers, several mils thick. The flakes were found in the trigger cage. I personally find this unacceptable for a trigger of the Rekord’s reputation. I had a set of port cleaners next to me and began filing off the coating.

 

Probably could have got away with removing the coating from the rollers but finish quality isn’t as good as the standard silver OEM blade. Rollers appear to me to be soft on the gold blade even after removing the coating compared to the standard Weihrauch silver blade. Anyone else encounter this or am I just being “nit picky”?

EDIT: In the end, I ordered a brass Straight Setback blade from Rowan Engineering in the UK. I figure since correctly polishing a Rekord to be a painful ordeal, why keep a weak link in the chain?

Interesting because the trigger blade and adjusting screw of my Beeman R9 appear to be "gold anodized" and not plated. Also, I've never had any "plating flaking" in years of use...........

A few years ago I had intended to install a set back trigger so I made a short trigger adjusting screw. I never did replace the factory trigger but I did use the short adjustment screw.............

@nced 

yep, yours definitely has a different appearance. My newer blade looks more gold'ish as opposed to your more brassy looking one. Could be me but this trigger feels lighter in weight than the silver ones...I wouldn't doubt the base metal is a complete different alloy. If Weichrauch was trying to improve appearance they succeeded in my eyes but failed in integrity. Have you had yours out of the cage to inspect the rollers?

Here's the Rowan (straight setback). Clearly solid brass and steel rollers. Clearly not cheap to get here either:

Posted by: @jim-in-swmo

@jim-bentley 

 Unless maybe the gold plating holds up better to use than the anodizing would.

Gold is between 2.5 and 3 on the Mohs Scale, and anodize is 9.

Anodize is applied directly to aluminum (a bit of misnomer, since anodize is a penetrating conversion, but I digress)

Gold plate on aluminum would go over nickle or copper, BUT these rollers are steel, so HOW does that work?

Apparently, it doesn't.

@gratewhitehuntr 

And steel in an anodizing process would be destroyed. I do not believe that it is a true “gold plating” but rather another material. I have a Huntsman trigger guard that was gold plated and it wore off to the copper in no time. 

Just as a guess...since the Chinese own the Beeman brand maybe they have found a friggin "cheaper" way? Do any of the modern HW30/95 variants come with a gold trigger?

@straitflite 

I just removed the old Rekord trigger blade from the R9 and it looks like this.............

As you can see, the whole assembly is coated gold color and after years of shooting the coating was worn away where the rollers contacted lever 3a, however I never noticed "flakes" of anything in the trigger unit. Still, after actually looking at the gold colored trigger blade I think I'd rather have the plain uncoated blade.

Posted by: @jim-bentley

@gratewhitehuntr 

And steel in an anodizing process would be destroyed.

Along with your bath.

DOH! Why does my anodize bath look like it's on the rag? Fark...

I was thinking about OP's gold color. It looks 24K yellow, but that can't be right.

I'm not really familiar with the pigments used in metallic paints, but I strongly suspect that this is just metal flake in a hardening carrier.

Perhaps colored mylar in clear? Powder coat?

Ed's picture shows the lack of colorfastness with time, which clearly excludes actual gold.

@gratewhitehuntr 

Never thought that it was real gold plate. You can tell by looking at it that it's simply "gold colored" plating. If it were actual gold plate then you can bet that the manufacturer and the vendors would make a big deal of it. And no doubt the price would reflect it as well.

As for how it holds up, the plating "should" hold up better than the anodizing since it's a thicker coating. But it obviously doesn't do so well in this instance.

@straitflite 

Hey Bo. I have read on one of the Brit forums about some who got an HW95 Luxus (fairly sure that's what it was) that had a gold trigger. But I'm guessing that it would be a special order type thing from HW, as requested by the distributor/importer. But most of the 95 Luxus guns that I've seen pics of looked to have the silver trigger.

BTW, from what I understand, Air Venturi (PA's parent company) owns the rights for the German made Beeman guns, not the Chinese.

Posted by: @nced

I think I'd rather have the plain uncoated blade.

Yeah, me too. Thanks for going through that work. Makes since the first stage roller would show greater wear. I'd say you are no doubt well broken in and just fine by now. From all shown in this post, I'd have to recommend anyone with a new 'gold' trigger to strip the coating off the rollers. Maybe not a big deal but if one is taken down might as well get it off while you're at it. Just a 2mm pin, drive it out from the non-swaged side of course. Also, I take back what I said about the Chinese...this time LOL

I have Rowan variants on 4 Weichrauchs now. Only my R10 has the OEM silver just to keep the 'ol San Rafael cuss original.

Posted by: @jim-in-swmo

@gratewhitehuntr 

As for how it holds up, the plating "should" hold up better than the anodizing since it's a thicker coating.

I could point out that we know neither the thickness or chemistry of the plate, nor the depth and pore size of the anodize, so we cannot make a judgement here.

I can guarantee that almost all anodize will be thicker than all most all gold plate. The aluminum already exists, much cheaper to convert aluminum than to add gold.

Then again, we've not defined "hold up", and while gold may fall short in abrasion resistance, it excels in corrosion prevention.

To further muddy the waters, ACTUAL plating over aluminum results in hydrogen embrittlement, thereby rendering the finish (LoL) temporary.

In the last case, the gold, real or imagined, would have little say in the matter.

Or... I could just tell you that you're wrong. ?  This IS the internet, after all. ? 

aaaaand the more you know... the less you know.

If I were OP and wanted to test the paint theory (I'll bet you a dollar it's paint) try taking the harshest solvent available to DIY guy, see if the "plate" softens or turns to a shiny booger/puddle ect. MEK or acetone?

edit... I have gold anodize dye, and considered doing my silver trigger JUST for this thread... but gold is ugly as sin. I swear... must be something wrong with people's eyes. Sorry guys.

@gratewhitehuntr 

About all this poster knows about metal & it’s allies ( or is it alloys?) is that some are stronger than others and dissimilar metals will corrode eventually.

For example the exchange rate between the US dollar and sterling pound. Would that be galvanic corrosion or simply erosion? Oddly enough however, it solved the trigger deal in my ignorant case. (Did I spell ignorant correctly?)

edit: ? 

@jim-in-swmo 

Jim, I missed your post. Thanks for clearing up who owns the Weihrauch Beeman brand.

I couldn’t personally remember seeing an HW stamped gun with that trigger but now that you mention it being possible, I do recall seeing on UK vendor sites HW90 carbines offered there with gold colored triggers, although those are not Rekord units of course. Guess they can show up anywhere LOL

@straitflite  ? 

@straitflite 

Ooof. My pounds of sterling (.925) have appreciated. That would be erosion, of the dollar.

But we're discussing money, vs debt, and the inflation resulting from airdropping cash onto the population.