55/56 SKS reciver cover faded area question

BeaverMeat

BeaverMeat

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I just purchased a 1955/56 SKS from Westrifle the other day and I was wondering what the lighter area on the receiver cover is from. I noticed that some Tula's have it, and some do not.
 
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Anychance it is part of manufacture. I'm wondering if the rear of the receiver cover is dipped for heat treating or something and that make the blueing look different.
 
bscout said:
I have a 50 and a 53 with the faded marks.
Someone said they could be from the crates they were in.
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That is what I thought at first. If you look at how they are crated, the straps lay over the stock behind the receiver. That pretty much rules that out.

haretrigger said:
^^^^ AFAIK this is the reason. The steel is not hardened as much in that area to allow the stamp that never happened in '56 to take nicely into the steel.
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That seems the most logical explanation. Thanks. Just an insignificant detail of the SKS, but something to ponder.
 
I'm guessing by not quenching by dipping the hot metal in a oil bath or something similar on that portion of the part is what the color difference is from. The cover looks as though the forward and rear portions are darker on both my refurb and non refurbed SKS. I've never noticed if that same discoloration exists on the dated receiver covers, but I seem to have an addiction to 1956 models because I kind of like them without the marking on the cover, so I'm not a good resource for information.

Curtton will probably be along shortly to shed some light on the subject.
 
The only hypothesis I can contemplate is that, this might be a symptom of the arsenal environment at a certain time of year. Since these are milled, the metal has already been tempered. As haretrigger pointed out they must have heated the steel to soften it for stamping. Then it was most likely off to the bluing process after the stamp.

Think of a post war Russian factory's cool environment in winter. It would take a shorter time for the steel to cool down after being heated. As with summer time, the factory environment was most likely hotter. So it would take much longer for the metal to cool after stamping before. So the fade is a result of the steel remaining marginally heated while being blued. But this is just speculation. I know nothing of the effects of heated steal during an electrochemical reaction.
 
The steel could have been heated by electric induction, just prior to stamping. Steel is probably in the 4140 range, I have worked similar steel alloys in the trade. Prior tempering of the steel is not required before machining, as 4140 grade is usually extruded bar stock, one of the qualities is its malleability, read easy machining characteristics.
 
c1a1 said:
The steel could have been heated by electric induction, just prior to stamping. Steel is probably in the 4140 range, I have worked similar steel alloys in the trade. Prior tempering of the steel is not required before machining, as 4140 grade is usually extruded bar stock, ts one of the qualities is its malleability, read easy machining characteristics.
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I can't remember anything from my metallurgy classes from draftsman school. I must be thinking of carbon steel, I think it is time to pull out the texts and do some reading. But the question still remains.
 
Why don't you guys ask me what is that. :)
In any case when the rifles are stored it is the part on which wood and metal is holding them in place on stand or in the box. This is why there is that kind of mark there.

Sergey
 
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