I'm in the process of plating one of my BC's receivers right now.
Keep in mind, with certain final surfaces, you must plate base metals first. Example: final=silver, must be on top of copper and/or nickel. I do believe chrome needs a nickel base first. Sorta works like paint and primer. Also beware that some plating kits require cyanide for an electrolyte.
Cheap electroplating on puts on a thin, really thin, layer. Besure to invest in a package that will coat a wearable surface several microns thick.
My BC's reciever, trigger guard and forearm spacer will be mirror polished at the copper stage, then coated nickel if needed, then silver as thick as I can. The silver will then be mirror polished. My trigger, hammer and action lever will be plated 18-24K gold.
Wood work will be a custom thumbhole stock and target forearm made out of the finest walnut I can afford.