Steel type for body of Win 1885 firing pin

[Chill Wills]

Good morning,
I wonder if you can recommend a common steel I can get to make a (Nedner type) Winchester firing pin body out of.
I intend to make the body and pin separate and use music wire for the pin. So it will be a two piece assembly put together with red loctite. This question is about the body only.

I know many steel choices will work and have been used. I don't have the easy option of heat treating. I think there are some alloys that can be machined and will work as is.
Brownell’s sells a product called "fatigue proof".
I just don't know what alloy choices would resist riveting.

I read someone even used old screwdrivers :shock:.

I have been told a grade 5 or grade 8 bolt is good but that is nothing special as there is no alloy spec for them - just a performance spec. So they could be made out of anything that finishes in spec.

[NoZombies]

4140 pre-hard should work fine for the body and is machinable in it's PH state.

[curdog007]

I have used H13 prehard which you can buy in ground diameters as plastic mold pins. I would make it one piece if using H13.

It's usually around 54HRC, but machines OK with a sharp ground carbide tool bit.

I've since changed to using C350, but this requires a good furnace, as it's precipitation hardening.

[country gent]

You might look at D2 tool steel its very impact and abrasion resistant

[samari46]

I've used common drill rod, grade 8 bolts and that is about it. Frank

[Ozark mike]

5160 is what I'd use for anything that would see impact. Because it can handle shock loads well. For wear resistance id use chromoly

[Cap'n Morgan]

Just use whatever steel rod you have. Turn it down to diameter, and drill a hole, the size of the pin-core, all the way through. Use the drill shaft for pin and Lock-Tite it in place, or use a low temperature soft solder and sweat it in place. If you want a more strike-resistant body, you can use a drill shaft for this as well. (Drill shafts are annealed to lower hardness than the tip & flutes to prevent the drills from breaking)

[W.R.Buchanan]

The correct steel is S2 which is the impact resistant tool steel. You can get it from McMaster-Carr. However just bout anything will work.

Both Grade 5 and 8 bolts are are made from 4140 Cro Moly steel and taken to different Heat Treat levels. Either one will work .

Randy

[yeahbub]

Screwdriver shafts may work. It might matter whether they were gotten from the dollar bin at the check-out counter. Another source would be a section of coil spring that's straight. You don't mention what diameter you'll need to start with.

No Zombies has an idea. When I was a machinist, it was called super break-die, half hard 4140. We made parts that had to be tough, like mechanism links, etc. without sending them out for heat treat. It was readily machinable, but took a bit of polish to get a fine finish.

A long time ago, I read of a gunsmith who favored the old all steel 156" whip antennas, commonly seen on police cars in the '60's, for making replacement Win '94 firing pins. He said they were tough and wouldn't peen out or shatter under repeated blows. I'm not sure what material they were. Spring temper stainless, maybe?

You said you wanted to avoid heat treating, but if you can find someone to do it for you, A2 or D2 would be perfect for this. We made stamping die parts out of these steels and it would last a lifetime in a gun. A2 is nice because it's air-hardening. IIRC, heat it to temperature for the correct time for the desired hardness and turn the furnace off to cool - no quenching required. There was another steel favored for making mold cherries that's easy to harden. IIRC, it was 1144 and only required to be heated cherry red and quenched in oil to be glass hard. Shine it and warm it to straw going on blue and it'll be at spring temper or a touch harder.

[Drm50]

I’ve just used drill rod, in some cases the shank of a drill bit. I’ve never used music wire for the pin. What is the purpose. I’ve cold formed springs out of it. Smallest I’ve got is .025”, biggest .045”

[kenton]

I'll add another vote for 4140 prehard. Usually around 28 RC and can be readily machined with HSS. No heat treat required.

[john.k]

Yehb ub is right ,Cr V marked screwdriver shaft is magic for pins etc......and free if you save all the old screwdrivers.......Ive also used Unbrako bolts for material .....these fasteners were made in Germany from some sort of super alloy steel......unfortunately ,more recent ones are made in India ,of marginal Gr 5 material.......if you have access to them ,Caterpillar (Reg TM) bolts are real good steel,and machine easily............most unbranded HT bolts now are just medium carbon steel ,made harder(and more brittle) for Gr 8 specs.....Chinese or Indian rubbish.

[JMtoolman]

I've made them out of allen wrench material, super tough steel.

[Tokarev]

It is unimaginable how crappy is steel that went into guns over their history. Most hard grades will work. Do not get fixated on having the hardest possible. If it machines right and is reasonably hard, it will work. Old screwdrivers, broken drill bits, punches, you name it, will work.

[EDG]

4140 prehard, drill rod, Ketos, high quality bolts marked B7 and socket head cap screws are all better than the original material.

Make sure there is a nice finish and the largest possible functional fillet radius between the tip and the body.