Gunsmithing Barreled Action worth using after going thru fire?

[montgomery627]

House burnt about 6 months ago. Had a 700 SPS 270 in the closet cause there was not room in the safe. It got burnt pretty bad. Figured that the barrel is ruined but, was wondering if the action would be worth trying to save and use on a custom build. Don't have a REAL SMITH within a 50 mi radius of the house so, hard to get it checked out.
Talked to a gentleman yesterday about cerakoting it and he said that you would always see some kind of pitting in the finish unless you do a ultra matte finish.
Have a lot of knowledge here on the Hide and wondering what everyone thinks.

 

[Hink]

Re: Barreled Action worth using after going thru fire?

Give Louisiana Precision in Haughton a call. Roscoe will take care of you.

http://www.louisianaprecisionrifles.com/contact.php

 

[Temp9]

Re: Barreled Action worth using after going thru fire?

Sorry to hear about your loss. Fires can be devastating.

Was in a similar situation where my uncle's home burnt down in a forest fire with about 15 firearms in it. I talked to the fellow at James River Armory about it. He told me to check the heat treat by trying to cut the receiver with a steel file. If you can cut it, the heat treat has been ruined and is no longer usable.

Best of luck, and be careful. These things are dangerous, so if you're unsure, just scrap it. It isn't worth the associated risk.

 

[RADcustom]

Re: Barreled Action worth using after going thru fire?

This is not really the best way to check heat treating. Most receivers can be filed when they are new.

To the OP, take the rifle apart and look at the springs. If the springs still have tension then the chances are good that the action didn't get hot enough to change the temper of the steel.

 

[Dracozny]

Re: Barreled Action worth using after going thru fire?

a springs heat treat is usually done when the metal just hits red, that's roughly around 350-400F the lighter the spring the more likely it has been altered by the temp. assuming the tolerances are still to spec the parts can be heat treated again. even the springs can be reheat treated, although it takes a bit of finesse.

 

[montgomery627]

Re: Barreled Action worth using after going thru fire?

Thanks for all the advice. I'm just going to give Roscoe a call and see what he says. I think I should do that to be on the safe side. I do know that the trigger spring feels a lot lighter than it did before.

 

[Cesiumsponge]

Re: Barreled Action worth using after going thru fire?

You would need to know if the manufacturer uses a surface/case hardening or through hardening heat treatment, or even differential heat treatment.

A Rockwell tester will work on steel that is homogeneously hardened but can give erroneous readings on case hardening due to the anvil deforming softer steel under the hardening.

Surface hardness on case hardened steel can be determined with a set of hardness files, a set of files where each is a different hardness. You do a file test and the hardness of the part is between the file too soft to scratch and the file just hard enough to scratch the part.