My writing skills are somewhat impaired, to do a severe sickness 15 years ago. So excuse any mistakes in gramma and spelling.
Since I read the post of "rwnblack " about his Sharps , I tip my hat to him. He is excellent!
The method he outlined in his resent post is the same as I use. All the older guns, produced until the 1920,s can be cch this way.
Our heat treatment with the modern equipment ( hardness tester, electronic controllers, digital measuring devices ) is superior to the methods of our forefathers. The heat treatment until the 1920,s was by eye and gut feeling. I measured Mausers between 8 and 44 on the C scale of my hardness tester. 24 till 30 is ideal for non magnum cartridges. Cloudy days could throwd off the temperatures by 300 till 400 F, if done by eye.
My standart numbers for Winchester, Marlins, Rolling blocks and all the guns of this vintage is:
annealing : 1450 F for 1 hr. dropping the temperature 100 F per hr. untill 400 F. Then you can remove it.
polished : 400 grit
degreasing : 1/2 hr in boiling water with washing soda, then 15 minutes in clear boiling water to remove residue.
charcoal mixture: 1 part bone charcoal and 2 parts wood charcoal always works
kiln time : 2 hrs. at 1350 F , dropping to 1150 F and holding it for 1/2 hr.
water: rainwater at 50 F , the air hose startet when kiln reached 1350 F , remove 5 min. before dumping the parts in water
This will give you a case of ca. 4 th. The core stays soft and takes the energy when firing the gun.
Since I started this hobby 50 years ago , I always hang my parts into frames which go into the crucible. The
way I place them , lets me to a certain extent control the colours. After doing it for so long, I still get excided
every time I take it out of the water, because you never know what to expect.
tempering: 400 F for 1 hr.
finishing: Nikolas bake on laquer, baked for 1 hr at 300 F.
After cleaning up the mess, which takes quite a bit of time, open a bottle of red wine and admire your work.
I hope, this takes some of the mystic and voodoo out of cch. It is as easy as bluing a gun, but it takes about 9 hrs, from start to finish.
"gnmontey", I do not know how to post pictures in this forum, but if you send me your e-mail address with private message, I could send you some pictures if you are interested in posting them. Thanks!
Cheers, Oskar