Nitride hardening for firearm parts
Nitride hardening for firearm parts
(OP)
I am an engraver and work on Hagn single shot rifle actions.
The gunmakers I work with are having difficulty with hardening of these actions, using color case hardening charcoal pack methods.
I was wondering if there is an alternative, perhaps Nitride hardening, and where to go to get it done.
The steel I believe is 8620.
Thank you
The gunmakers I work with are having difficulty with hardening of these actions, using color case hardening charcoal pack methods.
I was wondering if there is an alternative, perhaps Nitride hardening, and where to go to get it done.
The steel I believe is 8620.
Thank you





RE: Nitride hardening for firearm parts
RE: Nitride hardening for firearm parts
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: Nitride hardening for firearm parts
The problem, is not that it is not hardening, but warpage, and afterward they are stripping the color to acheive what is called a "coin finish", so we dont really need the case color specifically in this instance. If 8620 does not contain enough carbon for nitriding, is there another method which would be better?
Thanks
RE: Nitride hardening for firearm parts
RE: Nitride hardening for firearm parts
RE: Nitride hardening for firearm parts
Are you tempering afterwards, or just carburizing? 8620 is really an ideal material for carburizing and case hardening.
It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.
RE: Nitride hardening for firearm parts
I am just the engraver, these actions are from Canada, and the manufacturuer recommends hardening after the final metalwork in building the custom rifle is finished.
The warpage is the main trouble but also if it is case colored, the colors stripped, and the piece then blued, the blue can be blotchy because of the differing areas on I presume, carbon absorbtion and hardening of the action,
RE: Nitride hardening for firearm parts
Are you hot bluing or rust bluing? I've seen case-hardened actions not take a hot blue very well for the exact reasons you mentioned. This could very well explain the warping if the carbon content is varying a lot throughout the surfaces and not homogenizing well.
I had an old Argentine 45 automatic that would not take a blue, and lacking all other explanation, it boiled down to the case hardening that this particular factory had used.
Good luck on the project!
It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.
RE: Nitride hardening for firearm parts
RE: Nitride hardening for firearm parts
Depending on the base metal you can remove the black finish that results from this process.
http://www.burlingtoneng.com/index.html
http://kcjplating.com/salt-bath-nitrocarburizing
I've had a lot of gun parts Nitrocarburized with excellent results.
The main materials were AISI 9310 and 17/4 PH.
Nitrocarburized 17/4 is one of the best anti wear and anti galling materials you can use.
RE: Nitride hardening for firearm parts
As far as getting rid of the black finish, wheelabrating the parts afterward (trial & error on which mesh to use) will clean them up nicely.