Re-Case Hardening question

[Bruce Day]

Originally Posted by allen newell

Mark, I know that case hardening/case coloring is as much a science as art and probably more science than the other. But is it possible that the hardening process done to a gun, any gun, could be done incorrectly so as to leave the metal 'soft'? I hope I'm asking this question correctly / clearly? Can someone screw up and not harden a frame as well or as hard as it is supposed to be in this process (and I admit that I don't know how the hardness in this process is measured (Rockwell?) if at all.

They would have to be grossly incompetant. I suppose anything is possible, but it is not probable. The screw up is more likely warping the frame.