28 gauge

[Thomas Cravey]

I own a 28 gauge 2 barrel set. Q1/Q2 26" and M/F 28 " barrels, pistol grip,single trigger and beavertail forearm. I have with this gun for several years and have taken everything from doves to goose.
In 2022 I had a house fire. The gun was stored in the factory case and in a Liberty gun safe. The morning after the fire the firemen pried open the safe. The canvas cover was burned and the case was covered in black smoke damage. I was surprised that the gun only suffered damage to the finish on the stock and case colors on the receiver.
I had the gun restored with new case colors and new finish on the stock and forearm.
While the gunsmith was working on the receiver he discovered that it was cracked on both sides.
Has anyone heard of any receiver cracking?

[Keavin Nelson]

Sorry to hear of your fire, always horrible experience. Were the cracks discovered after case coloring, it could have occurred during that process. If before, the heat caused by the fire could have induced cracking.

[David C Porter]

I agree with Keavin. More than likely it was overheated during the color case harding process & cracked when it was plunged in the water.

[edgarspencer]

The stock and fore end would be gone if it got hot enough from the fire, to have caused the cracks, and even then, it would have had to have been quenched. The case hardening process heats a part to 1625F, and then quenched. Original Parker receivers were not an alloy steel, and much more forgiving in the quenching stage. Repro receivers are most likely (never had a reason to run one through my lab) a chrome moly, or nickel chrome moly alloy. If I were going to do a ccase hardening, I’d only go just above the upper critical temp,1325F, and quench in oil or aqueous treated water.

[Bill Murphy]

I guess the end of this sad story is that the receiver cracked in the case hardening process. Is the "gunsmith" someone who has a good reputation in the case hardening business?

[edgarspencer]

Heat treating is not a ‘One Size Fits All’ process, and requires that you have a pretty good idea about the chemistry of the part.
Regardless, the crack, or cracks are most probably repairable by welding. Filler material is available to match the chemistry of the part. Here again, proper pre, and post weld heat treatment is important. TIG, Micro TIG, and Laser welding are appropriate.

[Thomas Cravey]

The gunsmith has been restoring firearms for 50 years and does extremely good work. The receiver was laser welded and the engraving was touched up. If he hadn't told me about the Crack I would have never known. He told me he shot 2 boxes of shells thru it before I picked it up. I have not fired it yet but will in the near future. He also restored a CHE 12 gauge 2 barrel set. I am very pleased with his work.

[B. Dudley]

Repros are modern gun steel. Not the same mild steel that the old guns were made of. They do not actually need to be case hardened for proper function. Though, under the proper process, they take very good colors. It would be my assumption that the process would be slightly different for them vs. the old guns.

Or it was just a mistake. Anything can happen.

[David C Porter]

Let's see some pictures of the finished gun & who did the work?

[Thomas Cravey]

Sorry but I don't know how to post pictures.