Hi
I don't know what kind of steel is used by sako,but there are plenty of barrel makers around using 416R(R means resulphurized) free machining steel in their barrels,. it is a real cheating with quality. this kind of steel is not meant to make barrels. naturally there are plenty of gunsmiths around prizing this steel because it is easy to cut and machin and make it easier to them to earn easy money. there is not such a thing as a bad steel delivey ,because all steels are contoroled before leaving the factory.The free machining resulphurised steel is not convinient for making barrels and it is pushed to the far edge when used for it.
all the best
danny
ps- would you please tell me which kind of steel is used in these blown sakos? because i can't find info from the factory.

Let me clarify stainless steel barrels.At least one maker , Krieger, uses 410.Then there is 416 ,which is a free machining grade of 410.Free machining is obtained by using sulphur [.15 min].The 416R is Crucible steels version with .13% Sulphur. Some also use 17-4 PH or Crucible's version 174SXR. Until we get a complete metallurgical analysis of the problem we are guessing.

Hi mete
who is making barrels from 174sxr in USA? I know that LW makes the barell made of 17-4-pch and heard the Blackstar is using their blanks. but don't know about other makers. I am glad that kreiger uses 410 instead of 416. 410 is far superior to 416 in strength and rust ristance and much purer (low S and PH). it is one step in right direction.
regards
danny

I'm no engineer either, but I would think it's similar to imploding a building. The idea is to use the weight of the building against itself. Once it starts moving, gravity does the rest, and it ain't hard to get it moving. Objects in motion tend to want to stay in motion until their energy is expended.
Once the barrel (chamber area) lets go, it's started to move and the action alone is not strong enough to stop it. The action for the most part is a means of afixing the barrel/chamber to the feeding/firing mechanism.

Danny, I did find my notes ,from a website search .Lilja 416,Brougton 416R, Krieger 410, Spencer 416, Xtremeaccuracy 416R, Montana Rifleman 416R, Hart 416R, LW 17-4. Someone must make barrels from 174SXR since Crucible makes it.To be sure contact makers directly.Obviously if you don't use a free machining grade it will be more difficult and costly to make the barrel.

Bobby,
As you said if the barrel starts to go it will go, but look at this from the other direction - how could you force the barrel to split evenly into thirds when it goes? My point is no matter what barrel that action was holding I personally would not put my hand around it or my face behind it until there was a full independent explination of the events which have occured.
Would it be in the best interest of some to blame a foreign materials supplier with limited liability in the US rather than look at design and manufacturing? If a design is marginal and materials are on the low end of spec could stresses from mis-cut threads, bad machining or stress releiving start the chain of events to failure? I don't know, but it would be interesting if an independant agency could evaluate these guns before Sako re works them.
I would hate to see anyone else hurt using these guns.

Somebody asked for a indipendant reliable resarche-institute. I do live and work in Sweden and we do have at least two institutes that fit in. One is The Institute for Metal Reaserch. The other one where I work myself is Swedish Corrosion Institute, I think I can manage a fast and a very best analysis of the steel, some of my collegies are among the worlds most skilled recharcers on stainless steels, �some of them are very well known in the US, we have talked a lot of this problem but I never reach any part for presenting to them, or to do any analysis on.
If anybody is interested in this please feel free to reply, or better, send me a cut out sample from a blow up gun.
We have had some blow ups here in Sweden to.
In spite of the fact that we are very close to Finland, Sweden do actually have a very long border to Finland, the info is very poor, there has been sold guns lately that was within the stopped manufacturing numbers, and a 15 year old boy got his half lefthand tumd blown of.

You make some good points. I would agree that the range of specs could be a problem, but in however many guns thus far, and not in the past several years that the guns have been made? I dunno, it's possible, and worth the research to find out.
I only meant to say, that if, and only if, the barrel were to be of inferior material, then no good action is likely to hold it together when it lets go. The symetrical three way split, it's a mystery, but could it not be that it broke like glass? In any direction?
I know this, we can't make the determination until someone steps up and had one of the blown up guns analysed. Or until Beretta/Sako/Tikka steps up and gives use the story on what's happening. It's disgraceful that they've not provided, at the very least, a good warning about these guns and their problems.
I hope we can get this sorted out before anyone else gets hurt.

With people being injured and attorneys involved it's suprising Sako isn't being required to keep these guns unaltered as evidence and refund customer's money. Hopefully everyone is aware of the problems by now. If owners are concerned about the safety of these rifles and they are sold cheap what do you think the chances are of home gunsmiths rebarreling these actions and getting into trouble? BTW has anyone seen warnings about this in any of the hunting magazines?