greenhorng
Member
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2012
- Messages
- 31
Why do you see case hardening on some stainless revolvers within the same model and others seem to have a stainless finish? For example, I've seen S&W Model 66's both ways.
Yup, they flash chrome the hammer and trigger so it blends betterIf you see a S&W with a silver hammer and trigger, it's flash chromed, not stainless.
Flash chromed, not stainless.I just bought a 66-4 that has the stainless trigger and hammer
Most of the older Smiths didn't exactly have the best triggers, either.
My late grandfather's 10-5 has an awful one that's only made slightly better with a reduced power hammer spring.
Case hardening is specifically applied to steels that lack enough carbon to form martensite structures. When you case harden something, you introduce carbon to its surface (around .05" deep before final polish) then complete the hardening cycle. If you grind through the "hardness" you will not have enough carbon to harden the soft metal underneath.Easily remedied by re-hardening the sear engagement surfaces.
Case hardening is done to modern steels to reduce wear on parts like hammers and triggers. Like I said, re-hardening the sear engagement surfaces is a common procedure.Case hardening is specifically done to steels that lack enough carbon to form martensite structures. When you case harden something, you introduce carbon to its surface (around .05" deep before final polish) then complete the hardening cycle. If you grind through the "hardness" you will not have enough carbon to harden the soft metal underneath.
Hardenability is not based on the vintage of steel, it's based on carbon content. Even common alloy steels such as 4140 cannot be fully hardened because they only contain .4% carbon and that is too little carbon to convert the entire steel structure into the hardened crystalline structure of martensite. This is the reason mild steel (.18% carbon) can hardly be hardened, medium carbon steels (around .3-.4% carbon) can be hardened into the mid-50's on the Rockwell Rc scale, and only high-carbon steels can be (almost) fully hardened into the high 60's Rc.Case hardening is done to modern steels to reduce wear on parts like hammers and triggers. Like I said, re-hardening the sear engagement surfaces is a common procedure.
Kasenit.
Who said they do that???Now please tell me why S&W would begin with an expensive and difficult-to-machine steel, heat-treat it with a very expensive process, to end up with a brittle part?
No, for the third time, they re-harden the sear engagement surfaces, not the whole part.If gunsmith's are actually re-hardening these parts after substantial material removal, they are sending them out to be re-case-hardened.