Hi All,

I am about to start on a single shot action intended for cartridges in the 222 Mag and/or the 7.62x39 range and would like to know if 41xx alloy is absolutely necessary. I would like to use a steel that is easy to machine (1018?) and possibly case harden when done but am concerned about its strength. I have considered pre-hard 4140 but I wonder how it machines?

Any help, suggestions and/or guidance is very much appreciated.

Thanks, Marcos (elalto)

prehard 4140 is not at all difficult to machine. You should run HSS cutters about 50 SFM and use lube.

Carbide can be run 400 SFM and dry.

Using prehard precludes any warping of close tolerance areas with post hardening.

I read somewhere that case hardening is not recomended for centerfires. Im no expert thoe