This was asked on another board this week and here are portions of 2 of my replies:
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Case colors quickly wear off. It has become a fad in th epast few years to color case everything on a gun. Much of it is a very unsound move from an engineering and safety standpoint just to gain some very fragile colors that will wear away in just a few years of use. Much less durable than even matte hot bluing.
But the case colored steel is more resistant to rust than un-case hardened steel. Even though the colors wear off, the garder surface underneath resits corrosion better than the bare steel. I for one will be glad when this case coloring fad is dead and gone.
I know that a lot of big names case color tool steel and Mauser actions, but that does not make it right. Even as an undergraduate mechanical engineering student, I knew it was not kosher. After i worked a few years I went back to graduate school and really looked into it. After taking several graduate engineering classes in materials, mechanics, and failure/fatigue, I had the nitty gritty detail on why it was a bad thing to do.
I also corresponded whith the man whom I considered to be the "authority" on color case hardening, and he totally agreed. Dr. Oscar Gaddy was an electrical engineer by education, but was a man whose heart was also in color case hardening. He was the only person color case hardening who went beyond experiementing to get the best colors. Oscar spent a great deal of time researching the mechanics of what happened to the steel during case hardening and color case hardening.
I would have to dig out some mechanics, theory of elasticity, inelastic deformation, and soem fatigue textbooks from engineering graduate school to give you exact reason that is is a bad idea to go around color case hardening any and everything. I have posted it here before and gotten hate PM's, but I will post it again. It is an usound engineering and safety move to color case harden Mausers and tool steel. I know people do all the time, but it is still a bad thing to do.
Hell, I used to ride bulls-another unsound thing to do from a safety standpoint. I would tie myself to a bull and then stick sharpened spurs in his side at th esame time someone else hit him in the ass with a hotshot and hape a rope cinched tight around his tool. I would do that, but i will not color case harden a Mauser action under and circumstance. Does that give you an idea of bad I think it is to color case harden anything for looks?
I have had prospects and clients ask me to color case harden Mausers and I tell them it is an unqualified "no."
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I will be happy when this case color fad has passed and folke will look back on with the same disdain with which we now look at white line spacers, ivory stock inlays, and 45° contrasting fore arm tips.
Not only are the colors often gaudy and in artisitic contrast with the rest of the arm, at times they compromise the integrity of the components and even make th earm unsafe to shoot. THis fad cannot pass soon enough for me!!!
OH yeah, to directly answer your question Homer-CC'ing tool steel produces an inferior product and does not make the mechanical properties better. It is being done purely fo rcosmetic reasons, no matter how unsound of anengineering decision it is
SOme steel are incredible when case hardened. If you make an action out of 8620 and case harden it, then that thing is incredibly tough. you can make a Mauser action from 8620 and case harden it and it will be almost impossible to destroy with just a loaded cartridge. Now you can't color case harden it and have the good properties. THe temps requires for maximum strength will not produce the colors.
For a shotgun, 8620 can be color hardened and it sure is not the end of the world. It is not the best product, but it also worlds different from CC'ing 4140 or a similar alloy. Something like 4140, 4340 or anything along those lines should not be case colored.
Also, recasing an old shotgun frame for strictly cosmetic reasons is a bad idea from my point of view. If you have filed it, annealed it, or whatever, then of course it needs to be recased.
Last edited by Marc Stokeld; 08/26/07 08:14 AM.
