Stainless steel gun to engrave

[loyd freeman]

I would like some information on which gun {automatic pistol} that would be best to engrave. I would like a stainless model since I don,t want the trouble connected with a finished blued gun. I have engraved lots of stainless but, I am concerned with the hardness on pistols. I have engraved a few brass winchesters but that is a different material. Any help would be appreciated. Loyd Freeman

 

[monk]

which stainless gun to engrave

I would like some information on which gun {automatic pistol} that would be best to engrave. I would like a stainless model since I don,t want the trouble connected with a finished blued gun. I have engraved lots of stainless but, I am concerned with the hardness on pistols. I have engraved a few brass winchesters but that is a different material. Any help would be appreciated. Loyd Freeman

i've engraved a few stainless guns. of the ones i've done- i'd say stay away from them. however, you seem to imply a level of experience with them. i'd sooner deal with the pitfalls of re-bluing than cutting stainless. on the forum, i've noticed a few people mention stainless alloys that were cutter friendly. that's cool, but i have yet to encounter one, and would no longer consider doing a stainless firearm. this is just a personal thought, not to be taken to the bank !

 

[pilkguns]

Stainless in guns is really a crap shoot. Some guns are really hard consistently. Some have known hard areas consistently, loading gates, hammers, cylinders on some revolvers. Some are easy and some are hard with no rhyme or reason. I have cut consective serial number ruger single sixes, one was OK hard, one was a really hard. Seen the same thing happen with S&W guns. Of course, you always cut the easy one first :^(

Then you have to be wary of heat treated spots.... sometime you can find this intitutievely if yuo know how the gun functions and sometimes you see them when looking for them on purpose by slighty different variotions in the color, ( the stainless looks slightly stained) and sometimes you find them when your graver breaks and doest'nt want go through a little area.

Maybe someone else can give you a specifc list, but in general, I'm with Monk, if you are worried about having to deal with the hardness, the re- bluing is a much easier obstacle to overcome.

 

[John B.]

Hi Loyd.
I have cut a lot of stainless handguns and might be able to offer some advise.
Most S&W stainless revolver cut very well.
The frames usually cut like butter.
The barrels and cylinders are a little tougher but not bad.
For the barrel and cylinder I use a 6% cobalt 110 degree V-graver, 55 degree face and slightly round the bottom cutting edge in the lift area. Six percent cobalt is a good mix of hard and tough IMO.
If a 55 face does not work go up to 65 Degrees. Also, try a little Gesswein stoning oil if you like to use a lube.
I'm cutting a model 60 and a large frame stainless .357 Mag S&W as we speak. No problems.
I've also cut a lot of Colt 1911 type stainless semi-autos.
Again, frames cut like butter. Slides a little harder but not too bad.
The area on the left side of the slide where the little notches are can be a little tough and induction hardened. The safety, hammer and slide catch are super hard on the Colts.
Before you start the gun make a little hidden test cut on the inside of the slide to check out this area.
You can do the same thing under the grips or stock to check for cut-ability on this or any gun.
I'm sure you know this trick before accepting the job.
Another little stainless gun that cuts very well for me is the Bond deringers.
I would normally have avoided these because a lot of the parts are cast SS steel.
But a friend asked me to do one for his wife as a gift and I was kinda obligated.
It suprised me with good quality in both cut-ability and nice metal finish.
I'm sure you will get a lot of different opinions on SS steel guns but I don't mind some of them.
I don't like to cut some of the S&W autos or most of the Freedom Arms guns. They can be very hard.
I avoid most Rugers but their .22 auto in SS cuts very well on most parts.
Just my thoughts and I hope it helps.
John B.

 

[loyd freeman]

Stainless guns to engrave

Many thanks for the advice on the stainless guns. I think that at this stage of my engraving I will wait until I have a little more time engraving to tackle the stainless material on guns. I have had great results on knives and was concerned as to the hardness of the metal on firearms. I think it,s better to get more experience and then tackle the guns, rather than ruin something right now. Thanks again guys. Loyd

 

[Peter E]

Some Bond Arms derringers in stainless were posted on Knife Network and the Lindsay forums a while back. The fellow that engraved them (Otto) said they cut really well. His work was just beautiful.

I was at a gun shop that had some Bond derringers in stock and they seemed really nicely made. Retail is around $350 - $400 depending on the model.

Peter