Apparently the Russian did know much of components of Krupp's Spezial Gewehr Lauf Stahl, patented in 1896???:
0.61% Carbon
0.04% to 0.43% Phosphrous
0.65% Manganese
0.65%(??) Silicon
0.04% to 0.43% Sulphur
And I'm sure other countries did also.
Sure Chief it is a pretty wild guess but with some foundation. As Geno posted earlier, when the craftsmen of Suhl, of those who were left, expended/extinquished their stock, where else could they turn for tube steel? Also I'm sure Russian was a big client and many have prefered Russian steel??? First of all it's always about economics and just like the hypothesis of the Belgians making Krupp steel scattergun tubes for the American market, as long as the composition, or percentage of components, of the tube steel is very close to the same, I don't know that I would devalue the post WWII German examples without knowing the same. If an example is made by the same craftsmen with the same components as pre-WWII examples, although maybe with components from a different facility with a different stamp, how does that make it a cheap product? The same techniques apply today as it is much easier to build a plant manufacturing your product in another country with the same components and with their labour as it is to import the finished product or import components and make the product. One doesn't really know what they have until it is broken down into it's primary components.
Kind Regards,
Raimey
rse
