![]() It has about 1 percent chromium, 0.25 percent molybdenum, 0.4 percent carbon, 1 percent manganese, around 0.2 percent silicon and no more than 0.035 percent phosphorus and no more than 0.04 percent sulphur. Numbers such as 1060, 4140 or 5150 all designate how much of what is in them.Ĥ140, also known as ordnance steel, was one of the early high-alloy steels, used in 1920s' aircraft frames and automotive axles in addition to rifle barrels. The Society of Automotive Engineers uses a simple designating system, the four numbers you see bandied about in gun articles. Those alloying agents add useful things to the mix, such as easy machineability, corrosion resistance, abrasion resistance or tensile strength without brittleness to the steel grade in question. Steel can be alloyed with other metals such as nickel, chromium and tungsten-as well as non-metallic elements as molybdenum, sulfur and silicon. The crystals of steel are described by their sizes and shapes, and they have actual names such as austenite and martensite, cementite and ferrite. (Brief rant: Had I any hair left, I'd be pulling it out every time I heard of yet another lubricant that "gets into the pores of the steel.") The shape, size and alignment of those crystals determine the mechanical properties of the steel in question. Steel does not have pores it consists of crystals. What is steel? And why is it so important in gun building? Simply put, steel is iron with enough carbon in it to allow hardening-but not too much because that makes the resulting alloy brittle. ![]() ![]() If you're in the dark about what it all means, read on. Gun metal terms get bandied about in product literature and the firearms press as if everybody knew just what the hell they were talking about. ![]()
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