This is from Ned Schwing's Model 21 book, page 57
When Winchester decided to build a double barrel side by side shotgun it wanted a set of barrels that were strong and accurate. The result was barrels forged in the Winchester Plant from specially heat treated alloy steel having a tensile strength of 115,000 to 120,000 pounds per square inch and an elactic limit of approximately 105,000 pounds per square inch. This was more than twice the strength of the usual barrel steel. Without the use of the special aloys and proper heat treatment the figures would be significantly less: 75,000 pounds per square inch for tensile strength and 60,000 pounds per square inch for elastic limit.
Then two paragraphs down:
Each Winchester barrel forging had a large long surfaced integral lug. While the idea for interlocking barrels was not new it was an idea that was not employed at that time among other American double gun makers. In addition to this interlocking system, Winchester used soft solder, a mixture of 50 percent lead and 50 percent tin, to join the barrels togeth. Becasue of the strength and reliability of these barrels Winchester was proud to place th Winchester Proof Mark on them. As Edwin Pugsley so aptly put it, "the mark 'Winchester Proof' simply guarantees that it is a heat treated alloy steel of special analysis which is the best that we know at the presnt time for the particular purpose for which it is used."
The footnote to the Pugsley quote says it was in correspondence from Pugsley to Colonel W. F. Sigmund on March 10, 1932.
I was right! I was right!
Pardon me, happens so seldom when I disagree with the guys that really know something.
Best,
Mike
Last edited by AmarilloMike; 01/04/12 10:20 PM.
