Interesting 1894 photo

[Pat C]

Found this hammer off 1894 listed , has severe corrosion issues. But what is very interesting is you can see the forging grains lines in the still. The corrosion broke down the end grain and eroded it .

[AJMD429]

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It's almost like the way some old wood gets - where the growth lines versus in between will result in a ridged texture.

Thanks for sharing.

[Pat C]

Older guns due to fairly soft lower carbon steels and no real heat treat tend to have a coarse grain structure. The microscopic end grains tgat break down following the orientation of the forging shape.

Okd Winchesters and Marlins have been seen showing the forging grain lines in the sides like this 1892.

[Pat C]

You can see in this 1892 I restored 30 years ago the forging lines can be seen in certain lighting . And if you look at some of them the charcoal blue is starting to flake along these lines.

This gun has been safe queen but I suspect usage on old Winchesters subject to extreme temp changes causes the charcoal blue to flake much worse.

[JBowen]

Thanks for the pictures and explanation Pat. Very interesting.


JBowen