First of all, this is not a thread on whether or not a person should have a Mauser heat treated/carburized. I don't want to get into an endless discussion on the matter.

The question I have is about the surface quality of a receiver after is has been through the entire process. Does it make the surface rough(scaling)? Does one have to do a lot of work to bring the action up to snuff before it is blued? How is the lettering and crests affected during the process? I would really like to hear from anyone that has used PacMet's Tom Burgess method of heat treatment. They use gas carburization. Please don't turn this into a debate. I would just like to know what to expect if I ever had an action heat treated/carburized. Pictures would be helpful. Thanks!

Heat treatment is done in an oxygen free environment and does not result in any change to the surface finish. I have not used the firm you mentioned but have experience with the bone charcoal method, which is another way to introduce carbon into the surface of the steel whilst still protecting the surface with carbon monoxide. You will not get any scaling from a firm who knows what they are doing.

There should be no scaling or degradation of the surface in any way. The only time this happens is if there is oxygen introduced into the chamber. Regards, Bill.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Leeper:
There should be no scaling or degradation of the surface in any way. The only time this happens is if there is oxygen introduced into the chamber. Regards, Bill.

The actions I've sent to PacMet came back just like this.

I sent a few to Blanchard's in Salt Lake City. They came back free of scale, but Blanchard's advertise that they will remove scale in their process.

They look nearly like they are already blued but Blanchard's says that it is just a result of the process and that they must be polished and blued.