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Gun steel tempered/hardened?

breechman
Just a little doubt. Are normally the gun main parts tempered or hardened as barrel or frame?...As I have worked with some rifles/ pistols the steel doesn't feel hard or brittle rather soft. Tanfoglio/ Witness frame or slide is very difficult to work on it, but it is just an exception?
When trying to solder a sight or any device is there any chance to ruin some tempering?
Thank you.

Breech
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Comments

7 comments

Date Votes
  • allechalley
    I don't know for sure, but I think most frames/recievers are stress
    relieved and either case hardened or tempered. Barrels are generally stress relieved as rifling, however it is done, usually puts stress
    in the material(maybe not cut rifling). Modern guns, especially at or after WWI are made from an alloy, generally a nickel chrome and/or molybdenum steel, generally 4140 or similar. These steels aren't always hard but are tough and resilient to repeated stress. There are a couple guys on here that are more backed in metallurgy than I and may give a better answer.
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  • Ray Boone
    The process is as varied as the number of types of steels/metals used. Several use castings, some use sintered, some actually use forged steel, while others use bar stock that is machined, generalyy with a computer telling the machine where to cut. And metals use as aluminum and titanium are also used instead of steel. Generally the metal or polymer is setup for the hardness/strength/wear factor that will be needed by the part involved.
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  • badlandsbutch
    Modern gun metals are of different alloyed steels that contain the properties that are desired for a particular part. Older gun metals depended on a hardening process that required heating and quenching to change the carbon structure. I don't know what alloys your frame is made of but if it is basically carbon steel, and you use only the small amount of heat needed for soldering there should be no problem.
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  • breechman
    My question is about how much can I heat a barrel in order to place a sight by silver soldering it. I have noted by working with some arms most of the alloys used are pretty easy to work with but it doesnt means I couldn't damage a barrel by overheating. Any way the shotgun barrel I am instaling the sight is still straight and true. The Tanfoglio frame slide is so hard that even a file just slips.

    Breech
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  • badlandsbutch
    It depends on the type and brand of solder used. I don't believe any require enough heat that will actually change the base metal. Once you pass the recommended soldering heat range though, you'll destroy the solder first. The type heating equipment used (propane torch or oxt-acet)is the biggest factor that determines how much heat is generated and at what rate. Other factors are cleanliness of the metals, fluxes, experience and skill.
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  • Alpine
    If you are just putting on a bead on the front of the shotgun barrel you should be fine. I have done this a few times. Be advised that you will lose the bluing where the heat is applied so take that into consideration. Depending on the percentage of silver (my personal favorite is 45% silver) you will have to heat the metal to red. And you will have to use a silver flux (available at most welding stores), and have a clean place to do the weld. Keep in mind that a little silver does a lot, and it is very strong.

    Your mileage may vary.
    "Every time a system is made foolproof - a new class of fool emerges."
    Prod Harris

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    "If you ain't got pictures, I wasn't there."
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  • imakechips
    If you are heating the metal to red hot you are NOT doing the steel(usually 4140) any good at all. 4140 heat treat temperature(for through hardening) is 1550F and tempering temperature ranges from 400F to 900F depending on the hardness you want. Red hot is around 1000F if I remember correctly. Essentially you are annealing the steel back to the nonhardened state. Provided the heat is concentrated in one small area and is not subjected to high pressures(such as the chamber area of the barrel) you will probably be fine. My advice is to puchase some temperature indicating crayons in the heat range(s) appropriate to the solder(s) you use.
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