Removal of nickel from antique gun barrel

[chaspip]

I posed this question to Mike Caswell, to which he replied with a suggestion to enter the problem here on a forum, figuring there were gun enthusiasts out there: I have an 1900's vintage smooth bore rifle, that has inadvertently been damaged by someone trying to fix a piece by using a nickel welding rod. I had an idea where I could use the barrel, with the nickel weld, as an anode, and through electrolysis, remove the offending nickel form the barrel, and depositing it onto the cathode in a plating fashion. I realize through the electrolysis process it would require a nickel "salts" bath, and would probably take quite a while to remove the nickel entirely from the metal, but the piece is basically garbage now, and rewelding and reblueing the barrel would bring back some of the original value. With the nickel obviously exposed on the surface, I have little alternative other than to try and grind it out. Mike thinks the steel of the barrel would also dissolve along with the nickel. I was thinking it would basically "pull" the nickel out of the surface, to replace the nickel in the electrolyte during a plating process. Would a nickel stripping solution be more appropriate? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

[muskie]

I guess blasting it is not an option? have seen various grits of media used to blast gun barrels with alot of sucess. if not shoot me a pm and I can set you up with some people who could help.