I love AR,

After six years I still get to ask newbie questions about stuff.

When annealing an older military Mauser action, do you anneal the whole action? For the sake of discussion let us presume that this action is going to be surface ground pretty much all the way around, even below the wood line.

After doing most all of the metal work, you send it off to be re-carburized/re-hardened to a depth of 0.010" to 0.030". Do you then take one more small pass with the grinder, and re-lap the lugs a touch if there was any/slight warping as a result of the heat-treating/re-carburizing process?

Thank you for any input.

LD

Well, I've never anealed a Mauser, never had a need to, but I have had a few re-hardened and only had to hand polishing with stones to ready them for bluing. The ones I had done didn't warp.

Thanks John,

I like the "non-warping" feature.

Take care,

LD

I don't feel annealing is necessary. As that will happen in a matter of sense when the action is re-heat treated. I've never sent one off to be heat treated but in all the hardened part and pieces I've worked on the only time you care if it's soft is when you need to machine it or drill a hole in it. other then that it can remain hard and be re worked gust fine.

Annealing is also not a true form of stress relief although a part that has been properly stress relieved is usually annealed in the process. I know I'm picking hairs here...

Now speaking as a toolmaker we only grind parts AFTER heat treat as they may move during heat treat. But that is also assuming the gunsmith will not "grind" your action with a cup wheel in a drill press.

Ken Hurst, famous Colt engraver, told me that annealing prior to engraving could be done in a household oven by using the self-cleaning feature with its much higher temp range. I don't know how hot that is, but apparently it's somewhere around 600F or more.
Regards, Joe

I believe most steel is annealed around 750 C which is like 1380 degrees Fahrenheit and slightly higher
depending on composition of metal . I could be wrong as I'm in the boonies's with a lap top for awhile longer .

That is indeed a red heat and, if cooled very slowly, will result in almost no residual heat-treating hardness left.

~610F OTOH is a bright-blue heat, the same heat range that many springs are drawn to when annealed. Not totally soft but the case-color skin hardness is reduced/removed so that the gravers will cut. No or very little strength change IMO, but a lot easier for the engraver or bench-filer to work.
Regards, Joe

You could try a stress relief temper at 1200 F which is also called 'sub-critical anneal'. That softens it without some of the above critical temperature anneal problems.

Tempering and annealing are much the same. Annealing is done to remove any heat treat or work harding so the metal can be formed, machined or otherwise worked with. This is accomplished at different temps and times for different steels, usually in the 1400 to 1600 deg. F range for 1 hour at heat and then slow cooled. Tempering done at temps usually between 300 to 900 deg.F for 1 hour at heat. This is done to lower the hardness so the steel will be less brittle and still have the strength and wear resistense that is required in the design, 300 deg. will get you in the 60 R "C" range and 900 deg will get you in the 30 R "C" range for most high carbon steels. 60 R "C" is not machineable, but 35 R "C" and below is. The "oven cleaning trick" will work.

All the Mauser actions I have worked on never needed to be soften in any way. I have only worked on German and Bruno actions......Tom

Thank you all for the information.

Any grinding would be done with a K.O.Lee grinder, and shaping (not too likely) would be done with carbide tool.

When I am again able, I hope to spend the time remaining to me doing tropical medicine, making ammunition and building old Mauser (aren't they all?) military actions into good looking and functional hunting rifles.

LD