doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Engraving pictures

It is my understanding that bbl steel was bbl steel. As an example, 4140 is the prefered steel for bbl's today. If two different co's. use the same steel to bore for bbl's, wherein lies the difference ? Perhaps there may be some difference in heat treating to bring the steel to its best toughness. That being, wouldn't all the different bbl makers use the same method ? I ersonally don't see the difference --- maybe it was a gimick to raise the value/cost of these bbl's. ????? Ken

Researcher may be able to provide more accurate info, but I thought the actioners fitting the higher grade guns were of higher experience and more skilled than those fitting the lower grade guns. No?

I was under that impression as well. I thought all the internals were fit and finished to a higher degree.

I agree that fit and finish was superior the higher the grade and that you got better wood and more features for more money, but I'll stick by my assertion that the Sterlingworth is the same gun, part for part as the high grades. Same with the field grade Smiths, Ithacas, Remingtons and Lefevers. The Parker Trojan was a different gun, of course and the Ithaca Long Range and Lefever lines were to, but the A-1 was the same gun as the VH...Geo

Don't you wish there was a Purdey field grade!

When you buy a melt (50 tons) Mr. Ken you can specify to what degree you want to hold the ingredients and to what degree you wish to hold the tramp elements. The cleaner and purer the more the melt costs. This is why for the sake of difference not all 4140 is created equal. The nasties show up as blemishes in highly finished metal, as I'm sure you've noticed in your many years of metal working.

Again, I think Researcher may have some insight as to what went on way back when these old guns were made. But, my understanding was that makers like LC actually procured different barrel blanks for the higher graded guns and labeled them as such when the source was well known like Whitworth steel, Krupp, etc.. Possibly the lower grades of guns had some ficticious names of the barrel steels?

Remember, this was all before any SAE/AISI or other standards were being used for metals. Each maker had proprietary formulas which may have been close to some alloys today, but not because of a industry standard like today. A lot was based on reputation and customer specification.

I suspect Big Al has some insight into today's metal industry. He's right. 4140 could be open hearth or Vacuum-electro-remelt or probably some other processes I'm not familiar with. We, in the US enjoyed a long honeymoon of extremely good metal supply for many years after WW2. But lately, imports and scrap recycling have brought new problems to the metal supplies here. No longer is the usual "certs" from the supplier good enough for important things. Independent testing is becoming more prevalent out of the need to assure quality.

For a good discussion about metal used for barrel making, I'm pleased to report that the link supplied can answer any questions about the issues and question regarding these metals.

They love to talk steel, I like the fact that you talk to a metallurgist when you talk to them.

crucible service center Enjoy!

If we're all done fight'n alligators here's a few pictures of the swamp.

These are a few quick pictures of Glenn's Fox. It's a 1920 vintage AE, 16 gauge with 28" barrels. I've also included a picture of some upland game engraving that I think would look REALLY nice on this Fox.

Doug, I never thought of that but Song of the South should be just right for Mr. Glenn. I haven't seen those pictures since I cut the gun.

Big Al, thanks for that education ! Obviously I stand corrected and rightfully so. Ken

go to F.E.G.A.com lots of great engraving.my favorite is the jerry fisher stocked winston churchill engraved parker 28. perfect mc