Questions about Stainless steel Pistol and ordinary pistol~~~~~~~~

ImtheNut

ImtheNut

Member
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
10   0   0
Location
Halifax
:confused::confused::confused::confused::confused::confused::confused::confused:
Hello Folks,

I heard someone said that his gun is made of carbon steel, never heard of that before, except for knifes. I got confused about the material....

Is it all the pistols (non stainless one) are made of "carbon steel"?? Or just some of them? Or they just want it sounds better by calling it "Carbon steel" instead of "steel"?

What’s the difference between stainless steel pistol and ordinary pistol?
Does ordinary steel make pistol stiffer? More Durable? Last longer?
Or stainless steel makes pistol better in some way but not just for the look.

Do those companies make two-tone pistol for any reasons? Other than the look of “two-tone”.

Thanks a lot for you time. Any help will be appreciated.
 
There is no question that SS is easier to maintain and lasts longer than blued when it comes to finish.

But, I was told by an old timer shooter that for his colts, the blued always out shoots SS. I have also noticed that for the same make 1911s, normally the action of blued is tighter that the SS counter part but this is barely noticeable. My shooting skill is not that great to distinguish between the two performance wise.

I hope that the above helped.
 
All Steel is carbon steel. Steel is Iron that is alloyed with carbon and possibly other metals. Pig iron or wrought iron has very little else except iron. Steels are designated with a 4 digit number like 1015. 1015 is a mild steel-- soft and easily worked also called hot rolled steel. 1060 is a common tool steel also used in knives, it has a higher carbon content as is 4150. Stainless steel has metals like chrome and nickel with varying carbon content and are designated with it's own numbers. Ask your buddy Google for more info and help.
As for what is used in guns, I don't know. Stainless guns are easier to maintain and should last longer because of that.
 
From a limited study of metallurgy I gather that Stainless steel used in most firearms is more brittle than standard carbon fiber. The stainless has Sulfur added to it to make it easier to machine or chip.The real SS is so tough that it ruins most tooling steels and is near impossible to make bbls with. Chromoly steel used by bbl makers is said to have 10-12% more yield strength. The SS is much easier to maintain (stains less) but many bbl makers refuse to flute the light weight SS bbls due to possibility of failure. SS is also much more likely to fail in freezing temperatures which is a slap in the face of where it is most commonly used and relied upon (extreme conditions). I think most revolver cylinders are not SS but Nickel plated 4140?. I hope this is of some use to your Qs.
 
Last edited:
by any chance are you reffering to reading about sigs that have carbon steel slides ,where the newer slides have stainless steel slides ?

sorry first thing to come to my mind when you said that .

...... maybe i just have sigs on my mind more than i think.
 
Stainless is not more brittle. If anything, it is more ductile than regular steel, especially when cold. But is yields more easily (is less stiff) and has a lower tensile strength (less strong). So, it may fail under less load (you need more steel to hold up to a load). It is more difficult to machine but that is not because it is harder. Stainless steel also have a tendency to gall so is may wear faster when SS parts rub together. Manufacturers have to choose their SS carefully to avoid those problems. Personally, a like properly manufactured SS guns as they are much easier to maintain and will not rust and degrade in the field when wet.
 
Stainless steels in general are not brittle but lack elasticity found in properly heat treated carbon steel. Blued barrels are carbon steel and is referring to the colour of the exterior which is oxidation and shows the maximum temperature it was raised to during heat treatment, not all "blued" barrells are necessarily raised to the same temp therefore may not be a bright perfect blue you see on others. Stainless for barrels would indeed be a careful recipe as the pressures would stretch the barrell and then require it to come back to size 10's of thousands of times, carbon steel does this well. Stainless would tend to work harden and crack. Cheaper stainless barrells could be made quite heavy like my neos 22, bypassing more expensive steels and manufacturing processes. Adding too much carbon to stainless would make it harder and lose elasticity and work harden quickly. The most common stainless is kitchen stainless is 18/8 and is a 300 series alloy, it would be useless as a barrell material.
 
Stolen from a metallurgist: 885 degree embrittlement of #416 SS, being tempered in the range 750-1,050 Deg F a region where its resistance to impact markedly decreases, along with ductility, electrical resistivity and corrosion resistance. Martensitic SS as #416, show pronounced brittle behavior at low temps. All steels of martensitic or ferritic pass through a transition of ductile to brittle as temp falls. The ductile to brittle transition of #410 and #416 SS tempered to Rc 30 go from 200 Deg F to-50 Deg F. In contrast #4130 chrome-moly steel shows a ductile-brittle transition at -100 Deg F or lower. The relatively brittle behavior of SS at cold to sub-freezing temps is not widely known. Krieger barrels refuses to make sporter weight bbls from #416 via metallurgic advisors(2001). #416 contains @ 12-14% Cr, 0.15 or more Sulfur, 0.15% Carbon, 1.25% Manganese, 1% silicon, 0.06% Phosphorus, and the rest Iron. The Sulfur was first added in 1928 and was found to make SS easier to machine giving easily removed brittle chips and better cutting rates and tool life. Unaltered SS (Martensitic)is very difficult to machine.-------Now weather this makes you change your mind about carrying a SS arm is up to you. I still use a light weight SS rifle but it is interesting to know the facts about SS. I haven't heard about a failure but saying "well thats never happened before" doesn't help if there's a piece of SS sticking out of your eye.
 
I have a Rossi Puma 92 16" in .454 Casull, and a Ruger Super Redhawk in the same caliber.

The SRH has a six chambered cylinder which is unfluted, and made of stainless steel.

The SRH is designed for higher chamber pressures than the .44 Mag. generates.

Both are strong guns IMHO.

__________________
Jack

Keep yer Powder dry Eh!
73 de VE7DT
 
-50 celsius eh.

Since my poorly heated, Cheapa$$ club rarely approaches 0 celsius I'd say that a barrell rated close to -50 would be well within tolerance. Why would I be outside at -30 or -20 c am I retarded? Shooting elk in winter up in Canada's north will never even be a bad dream. Whether you want a stainless gun for any reason is perfectly valid for you and would not want to discourage you for it. I believe my stainless plinker is fantastic and the stainless feature adds an aire of distinction and more importantly makes these guns easier to own so thereby less likely to be discouraging to newbies like myself.
I work with metal as a welder and machinist daily and understand the jargon on the other posts but really it comes down to what I can afford and maintainablity. Stainless is more expensive or is it really? Time will tell for each person I think, don't forget to add the value of your time to properly maintain a carbon steel gun you MUST take care of regularly.
 
yudonsay said:
Since my poorly heated, Cheapa$$ club rarely approaches 0 celsius I'd say that a barrell rated close to -50 would be well within tolerance. Why would I be outside at -30 or -20 c am I retarded? Shooting elk in winter up in Canada's north will never even be a bad dream. Whether you want a stainless gun for any reason is perfectly valid for you and would not want to discourage you for it. I believe my stainless plinker is fantastic and the stainless feature adds an aire of distinction and more importantly makes these guns easier to own so thereby less likely to be discouraging to newbies like myself.
I work with metal as a welder and machinist daily and understand the jargon on the other posts but really it comes down to what I can afford and maintainablity. Stainless is more expensive or is it really? Time will tell for each person I think, don't forget to add the value of your time to properly maintain a carbon steel gun you MUST take care of regularly.
Click to expand...

Are you saying anyone who is outside and armed at -20 or lower is retarded? Don't forget what country your in. I wouldn't discourage anyone from using SS but don't ignore the facts either. They were simply put forth for the interest of anyone who cares to read. I'm sure there are millions of testimoanials on fired shots in sub zero temps with no problems. I've done it myself.
 
You're right fingers and toes

It could be interpreted that way but I was only speaking for myself and dislike of severly cold weather and how I would not want to be out there in those temps for anything, especially something that requires walking around in the open. SS can be shot at these temps as you mentioned and I want to agree with that. The facts do state that carbon steel takes severe cold better, no doubt. I was not saying anything against that. But, apart from the extremes, SS by now is a proven technology and I was heralding it's virtues. For pistol owners who shoot at indoor ranges the safe operating temperatures of their SS gun will not be an issue. I hope this clears up any rude phrases or poor attitude anyone believed I was trying to transmit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom