How did they do that

[Southpaw]

Mr. Spencer and Mr. Lewis;

It is great to hear your expert opinions and thoughts based on your backgrounds. I know this is not absolute and maybe is not a real concern but was wondering with these older guns and obviously older metals is if steel crystallization is a problem.

All I know is that my family had a general store a long time ago and my grandparents were antique collectors and had old barns full of stuff. When store was closed the just moved stuff they did not sell into the old barn. 50 years later when I was a kid I rummage around and find a bunch of old wedges for wood splitting. A couple were old, never used and not rusted. So I did not think twice about using them since I had some old twisted hardwood needing to be split. Split a few logs and then on third log a big chunk of metal came flying off. You could see where steel had recrystallized.

Obviously quality of steel could be different from a wedge to a gun frame but... With as thin as some of these metals are, inconsistent quality controls, and now time should this be a concern. I don't know if there is anyway to tell if there is a process like that working until it just fails but do either of you gentlemen have any thoughts.

I know crystallization process and causes are sort of a hard subject to discuss and I don't know that any reasonable use of these guns could be a problem, but always wondered about manufacturing process and just time that leads to these issues.

[edgarspencer]

Originally Posted by Todd Poer

Mr. Spencer and Mr. Lewis;

It is great to hear your expert opinions and thoughts based on your backgrounds. I know this is not absolute and maybe is not a real concern but was wondering with these older guns and obviously older metals is if steel crystallization is a problem.

Not a concern of mine. Maybe it is to others

Originally Posted by Todd Poer

All I know is that my family had a general store a long time ago and my grandparents were antique collectors and had old barns full of stuff. When store was closed the just moved stuff they did not sell into the old barn. 50 years later when I was a kid I rummage around and find a bunch of old wedges for wood splitting. A couple were old, never used and not rusted. So I did not think twice about using them since I had some old twisted hardwood needing to be split. Split a few logs and then on third log a big chunk of metal came flying off. You could see where steel had recrystallized.

Not even sure what you mean by 'recrystallized'. A splitting wedge is so far down the quality chain, it isn't surprising that it may have been made from sweepalloy, and heated treated likewise.

Originally Posted by Todd Poer

Obviously quality of steel could be different from a wedge to a gun frame but...

Yup, Obviously

Originally Posted by Todd Poer

I know crystallization process and causes are sort of a hard subject to discuss and I don't know that any reasonable use of these guns could be a problem, but always wondered about manufacturing process and just time that leads to these issues.

What you're probably alluding to is something referred to as Inter-granular Attack, or Inter-granular Corrosion. A shotgun receiver is highly unlikely to find itself in the environment suitable to begin such a process.