Nickel vs. Stainless

[dao]

Saw this picture of a K9 with Elect. Nickel on the box label, and the gun looks grayish without any apparent sheen to it. Anyone know if this is Electroless Plating vs. Electrolytic Plating? And why and for how long Kahr's been doing this?

[ripley16]

Early K9s were carbon steel, not stainless, and coated in a variety of finishes. Those finishes were usually black but a few were nickel plated. These are somewhat rare. Kahr switched to stainless and I believe few if any after that were plated.

[dao]

So the one in the picture is early, and somewhat rare?

Do you know if they were electroless, or electrolytic nickel finished?

[ripley16]

The pictured K9 is an early one. You can tell by the frame. Rare may not be exactly the term but nickel Kahrs are not numerous and fairly hard to find. I don't know which process was used.