Well Mr EDM, as I approach 70 yrs old in a couple of months, one thing I have learned if nothing else is the least effective way of learning useful information is to "Read Advertizing". I once read "Advertizing" in the gun magazines about an "Amazing" new method of making shotgun bbls, which was done on machinery costing "Millions" of dollars, but it created bls of such superior quality to the old method, they were willing to "Spare No Expence" to give the customer the best possible bbl. I then had opportunity to read an article in a machining "Trade Magazine" where this exact same co wrote an article explauning how their "New Method" of building shotguns was saving them "Bunches of Money" due to increased production ""&"" by alloying them to "USE LOWER GRADE STEeL" while Mainting the "SAME QUALITY" of bbls. Except for the fact they carried the same Co name one simply would not have recognized the two different prospective viewpoints as applying to the exact same bbls.
I repeat, I see Absolutely No Reason the Parker Bolt plate needed to "Wait" on the development of Vanadium Steel. A piece of SAE 1070 should have sufficed quite well. One wonders why Parker continued to use a low carbon, case-hardened steel for action bodies, while Bragging so about a "Superior Steel" for the bolt plate. Since you got personal, Just To set the record straight, while you were reading & writing, I was busy "Cutting Steels" of many various alloys & also was engaged in classroom work on the various grades & heat-treatments of such, but written by people other than Advertizing Specialists.
Now understand I am not saying the Vanadium steel was Bad to use there, I am just saying there were plenty of steels capable of giving good service for the purpose prior to it. It was undoubtably co-incedence the bolt insert idea was conceived about the time they began using some V-steel & Advertizing then made a big deal of it's use which was really immaterial to the final results for that particular part.
Interestingly enough I have a couple of 100+ year old guns (Not Parkers) which have no inserts, no wear compensating angles cut into the bolts, Top Levers designed to siomply stop at center & both are tight & on face & both appear well used.
Last edited by 2-piper; 01/07/08 12:40 AM.
