Handgonne Makers?

[ddoyle]

The real humour in this post is that the rest of the world considers firearms made from 12L (leaded steel) to be as smart as a breech seal made form an unthreaded taper.

Next time you pony up for bar stock get something with less lead and sulfur so it can be a world citizen and not trapped in NA.

 

[Tinker2]

The real humour in this post is that the rest of the world considers firearms made from 12L (leaded steel) to be as smart as a breech seal made form an unthreaded taper.

Next time you pony up for bar stock get something with less lead and sulfur so it can be a world citizen and not trapped in NA.

It is excellent steel for muzzle loading barrels. It has all the strength it needs and machines very well.
If you are thinking of making or having something made it is a good tried and true choice for something like this.

12L14 free machining steel Minimum Properties
Ultimate Tensile Strength, psi 78,300
Yield Strength, psi 60,200
Elongation 10.0%
Rockwell Hardness B84
Chemistry Iron (Fe) 97.91 - 98.7%
Carbon (C) 0.15% max
Manganese (Mn) 0.85 - 1.15%
Phosphorus (P) 0.04 - 0.09%
Lead (Pb) 0.15 - 0.35%
Sulfur (S) 0.26 - 0.35% http://www.onlinemetals.com/alloycat.cfm?alloy=12L14

But you are right; some people hear lead and think lead :surrender:

I guess I should say steel and let it go at that. :wink:

So you think about making some?




William Alexander

 

[ddoyle]

It does machine beautifully, about 20 times faster with same tool wear as better choices. I love turning it. A real joy. Makes even me a passable machinist. It is not however an excellent choice for firearms. Illegal to use in every country that is signatory to to international proof laws. (CIP)

Due to the high levels of Sulfur the rest of the world will not allow anything made of it to be proofed, fired, or sold.

We get away with using it for one very simple reason, we use incrediabley heavy walls. On average for BP about 2X the wall thickness required for the lowest grade of acceptable firearms steel. Using it means that our guns cost ALOT less then they would otherwise. They also need to carry alot more mass. If you want a fine fowler look elsewhere.

Remember I never said it was unsafe to use I said that the rest of the world figures it is unsafe to use :wink: You may also note that possibley the most sought after current contemporary barrel maker does not use 12l and last I checked his waiting list runs well past 2 years------hmm what does he know. My guess is he knows that his education and choices put his pension/assets at risk if there is problem.

Ok enough of that time to get back to my 12L patent breech plug which I plan on holding against my face while exposing it to some pressure :grin: I wont be however shooting anything in Germany, South Africa or Peru with it.