416 is sure not the best steel at low temps. I have hunted in -50 F temp for up to 13 hours at a time. Was suing a CM bbbl on that hunt, and the thought of 416 properties at that temperature went through my mind. I do not remeebr its specs or even know where to start looking for the material properties here at th ehouse, but I do agree that 416 is not the right steel for use below 0 F.

I'm not sure what you saw, but Browning still has stainless guns on it's website.
I don't think in the end we'll find that stainless steel itself, is responsible for the blow-ups, but a compositional or treatment problem.

Danny,

Thanks for the information. We will see how this plays out.

With what I have read I am still at my previous statement.

Hi
This is the compsition of 416R C=0,12-0,15% CR 12,5-14% S=0.13%( the avrage amount of sulphur in ordinary steel is less than0,03% . in order to avoid cold brittlness the ordinary steel ought to have at least 0,3 % molibdenium or about 1% ni and with increasing % of CR you need more MO or NI to balance. the steel compsiton of german Heym stainless is
C=0.35 CR 17% NI about 1% and mo 0,5 % vanadium 0.3 % and finaly S=sulfor LESS THAN 0,03% if you compare you see what a difference it would be. and even LW 50 has 17% Cr and 4% ni making it a real tough sreel .there are a few american barrel maker like black star they use also 17-4 ss steel wich is same as LW ss steel
cheers
danny

Hi Guys,
I was told by a dealer here in Washington that the Tikka and the Sako guns bare the same serial numbers. The only differance is the names on them. Mine is #438460.
I still have my rifle. Well the peices of it anyway.
Mark

Hi
I tried to tell you ,but nobdy will listen. using free machining 416 steel is pushing it to the extrem edge!! this kind of steels is made to make high volum product of low strenght like screws and so on and it is not only sako who had this kind of problem. it has been many cases of exploding ss barrels of the other marks in very cold climate like canada and northern USA,but they have always tuned it down . this steel(416R) is easy to cut .but a real shit as quality.watch up next time you buy a ss rifle . there are only a few out there making barrels of real barrel quality bbl steel. like LW and Heym wich have steel of much higher quality in their products.
regards
danny

Mr Mete.
Your obviously a man of mettle, so could you answer some
questions for me. I've been reading all these and other
posts trying to get a basic knowledge on the use of s.s.
for firearms.
Eg. This ss is apparently checked and still we have trouble.

Can it be checked enough to guarantee each part of each
barrel is safe?
Is there any likelyhood of a similar problem with c.m.?

Is s.s. realy worth the trouble, for the sake of some
extra barrel life, and corrosion resistance.?
Is it safe to be making bolts out of s.s.?
One barrel of mine is supposed to be chrome banadium,
is that stuff any good.? (It shoot well.)
Tar, John L.

The following is taken off a post on CanadianGunNutz, frankly I too am totally amazed at the reaction the company has shown to this issue. There has been at least well publicised failure that looked identical to that on page 1 up here, just amazing the reaction.

"To all who have these rifles in stainless regardless of caliber.I just got off the phone with the Tikka rep for Canada and they gave me the serial number block for the recalled Tikka rifles. The serial numbers range from 419140 to 461951.These are in the Tikka T3 stainless rifles , I'm not sure of the serial numbers for Sako rifles but both rifles use the same barrel manufacturer. It took me about an hour of persuading to get the serial number list from the Tikka rep.The steel that is used in the making of the barrels is in question not the receivers.Apparently the steel has a high content of sulfur or some other additive to make the steel workable upon forging and finishing resulting in brittle barrels.Other people with these rifles have called or emailed Tikka and they will tell you your gun is not affected by the recall.The rep kept telling me the company policy and saying the rifle I was about to buy was not affected by the recall but it clearly fell within the serial number block he provided. They told me that everyone who bought one of these rifles will be getting a letter stating the recall and how to send it back.At first they were doing barrel replacements and now they are replacing the whole gun .Covering their asses I say !!
Here is the contact number for Stoeger Canada, they are the Canadian distributor for Tikka and Sako rifles. 1 800 263-1945 ask for Peter.
The American distributor is Beretta USA at 1 800 636-3420 . I checked berettausa.com and there is nothing on the site about the recall, I guess I'm not surprised by that. :shock:HOLY CRAP THATS 42,811 recalled rifles!!!!No wonder its not all over the papers !!"

Danny,

Are you sure of that? If I read the posts right it seems that inclusions are the cause? Are you saying the 416 was of low grade and therefore had inclusions or that 416 is a low grade and therefore may burst?

Keep in mind that any steel can have inclusions. Of course if Sako is using "low grade" steel then it may have more inclusions.

Just wondering.

I was looking at the Browning website and noticed they no longer have stainless steel rifles . Does anyone know if this is something new ? Have they had problems too ?Not to panic anyone , just want info. I'm still of the opinion that it was a bad batch of steel.