Gun steel ?s

[RobertHankins]

Questions for the techies...
What type of steel (1084-1095 whatever) is used in 410 shotguns and 22lr?
What rc (Rockwell hardness) are the recievers taken to?
Thanks for your help

 

[redneck]

These guys will probably have to correct me, but to my knowledge most guns are made using 4140 steel that is hardened prior to machining. It only gets to the mid 40's RC.
Stainless guns/barrels seem to mostly be 416.

If your thinking of forging an old gun into a knife, better stick with fittings. Or mix some high carbin in there with it in damascus.
If your thinking of making a gun, I've read that you can get by with mild steel for some stuff, but your better off with the 4140 if your doing anything high pressure. And of course other peices like hammers, sears etc. should be hardened quite a bit more.

 

[RobertHankins]

Wonder if 5160 might work???

 

[c_yeager]

A whole lot of .22s have aluminum receivers. I have no idea what hardness they are though but i bet it isnt all that much.

 

[redneck]

I think 5160 would be fine, its just not as practical. For the job your trying to do you don't need a very hard steel, it has to be tough. 4140 is easily machined at its target hardness which means you won't have to deal with any warping or refinishing. You machine it to its final dimensions and finish the first time rather than do the 90% , HT , final fit like you would with steels like 5160.

 

[Jim K]

I don't know what steel is used in .22 LR barrels, but in my experience it is pretty soft, both to keep expense down and because it will be used with lead bullets at low velocity. This is one reason why I discourage folks who want to use .22 LR barrels to build rifles in .22 Hornet or even hotter cartridges. It is not only a question of strength, but also the fact that a few shots from a .223 would strip the rifling from the average .22 LR barrel.

Jim