Should I Nitride a Barreled Action?

[Choupique]

So if they're using 412 stainless which I assume they are, all of the mechanical properties start going to shit after 800*F for any length of time, which is pretty typical of stainless steel. You need to get into some titanium alloyed stainless for high temp stability and as far as I know that stuff is nearly impossible for mortals to machine.

I'd probably be a little less concerned with a 4150 carbon steel action. I'm sure there's some embrittlement from the salts involved as well. Barrel, I don't think I'd worry about at all. I can't imagine any rifle barrel not being about 500,000x over built for the pressure impulse it gets.

After reading up a bit on the process, I don't think I would have this done to an existing rifle. I'm sure it's perfectly fine in practice since the safety margins on rifle design are undoubtedly ridiculous, I just don't see any weight on the reward side of the scale.

 

[just browsing]

Again, for me personally, I would not have an action nitrided unless it’s spec’d like that from design. Chances are, aftermarket nitride would be fine, but receiver strength is not something I’m willing to compromise on when it’s literally the only thing between my face and a controlled explosion. YMMV.

Ted had 2 Mausingfields at SHOT show a couple years back, both of which had been proof tested. One was nitrided and the other was not. The nitrided one was literally in pieces in a plastic bag. The non-nitrided action showed normal signs of a catastrophic failure - deformation around the lugs, broken extractor, broken fire control, etc. - but was largely in tact.

The specific nitride process and type of steel used are undoubtedly the biggest factors in whether or not ductility would be compromised, but the bottom line is that I’m always going to default to the guys making the receiver.