Nees a Gunsmith for firearms that were in a fire?

[Joe Dirt 3]

I have I friend that has a few rifles that were his Grandfathers. Many years ago they were in a fire. I have not seen the rifles but from what he said one is a Winchester 30-30 lever and a .22 pump. I don’t know of a gunsmith around here that specializes in restoring them so I figured if anyone here might know anyone? Thanks

[BlueLineFish 615]

Where is he located?

[JETagent 1]

Fire damage is baaaaad. It destroys the alloy of all metals involved. I would never attempt to use a firearm that was in a fire, thats a great way to get steel embedded in your face.

[Joe Dirt 3]

Wayne. He should just use them as wall hangers then.

[Shane45 807]

The pertinant question is how hot they got. Did the stocks char, edge burn, burn completely off?

[Joe Dirt 3]

I am going to take a look at them and see how bad.

[Shane45 807]

My thoughts for what they are worth. Wood will ignite anywhere from around 150 to 250 degrees. A firearm (including the springs) can easily withstand heats in the 350 range and even higher as long as they air cool. So if it did not get hot enough to ignite the stock, the temeratures in the vacinity of the firearme may not have reached temperatures hot enough to anneal or ruin the tempering of the steel of the rifles. I have never heard of anyone doing this but I would think that they could be rockwell hardness tested to confirm.

 

Shane

[Porthole 15]

Wood begins to pyrolyze at at 200–300 °C (390–570 °F)

[JETagent 1]

...the temeratures in the vacinity of the firearme may not have reached temperatures hot enough to anneal or ruin the tempering of the steel...

 

Thats the thing, cant be sure. Plus you dont know if some spots got hotter than others. Not likely with a handgun but if its a rifle the stock may be only charred meanwhile the muzzle was roasting red hot, who knows. The whole "It MAY be OK" is iffy to me.

 

Rockwell will only tell you hardness. Hardness isnt the only trait that you need in a firearm, it may have actually become harder but more brittle in the fire.

[Joe Dirt 3]

Thanks I will pass the info to him.

[Shane45 807]

If it was much harder, that would be a tell. It would imply that it indeed was much hotter and then got doused with water (quenched) and then you would have a strong indicater the metalurgical state was indeed altered. If it was much softer, again that is the tell that alteration has occured. If you want to get a sense of just how much heat a firearm can take without metallurgical alteration, just look at metal coatings. Some of the spray and bakes go on around 300/350 degrees. Some of the other processes are MUCH higher. The one finish I know custom rifle manufacturers state is a no go is Melonite/Nitro Carborizing etc etc. They recomend if you do go with this finish, you have to find a company that understands coating recievers and will keep the tempatures lower then the standard 1200 degrees. IIRC keeping it under 900 is the target temp. But thats still a lot of heat.