my first 1917 with a crack...

[Chuckindenver]

Steve? though i cant see the maker on the barrel, id guess that it was rebarreled at sometime, notice that the rifle is parked, and that the barrel is much lighter color then the action, done seperate from the action...
what iv seen over the years, when i parkerize the barrel and action at the same time {together} the barrel turns out darker, as its not a heat treated steel, and the action is a bit lighter, even on 17,s with the ends annealed ..
i could be wrong, but im saying that someone other then out military changed that barrel, likely it cracked during removal of the original barrel, not real sure,...
although....
it may not have cracked at all, untill it was fired, sometime down the road,,,,case head failure, hot load, bolt lug wear, ect...all could have helped crack the action.
hard to say for sure,
iv had some 17,s that just fell loose,,,,others that took all i could muster to loosten them, from all 3 manufactures, worse ones seem to be early Winchesters, mc Guilla Gorrilla must have worked at Winchester back then..
i have found that the 1917 though very strong is actually very soft as compared to say a 1903, or Jap Type 99..
the last 10 years iv been doing some research on rifles that have failed, and some of the reasons why... so this poor girl goes into my log as a cracked 17...unknown why as of yet..
i have a couple 700 Remingtons with cracks, in the same area, both had case head failures, and had vented hot gases out in places you should push gas through,,,the 17 doesnt really have a gas excape area, one small hole, and back in the shooters face, heck a popped primer would ruin your day,,,most 17,s will blow the mag well down, and fracture the stock as well..
i think more then just a barrel install, made that action crack,...any shooter history??

[Calif-Steve]

Chuck: these receivers were made of 3 1/2% nickel steel. How hard should NS actually be? When Springfield finally got around to making NS receivers, I believe they were made of 2% NS. Have to wonder about Eddystone's barreling process. Seems they tend to be the receivers of note.

[bladeswitcher]

It's a JA barrel. I believe I read somewhere that a lot of the JA barrels were installed "in the white."

[Calif-Steve]

No, no. JA barrels were factory parkerized.

[Chuckindenver]

JA barrrels not used had a special anti rust coating, like a wax oil of some sort.. iv delt with them in the past, and learned to hot tank them before finishing or installing...
if this barrel is a parkerized JA...that adds even more to the delema...oh well, if she could talk id bet she would give you a heck of a story.
as for the steels...
i noticed that SA nickle steel is a tad more hard then the 1917,s maybe they learned from the 17,s that you really didnt need that much NS to make them strong,
iv actually crushed a 17 receiver ring at one time, and straightened ot out without a problem. and one of the reasons i find it rare that you could actually crack one by installing a barrel by hand..
id say in my opinion that more would have to be involved other then a hand tool, case head failure, using a machine to install, ect,.to crack on... but it can be done. as we have seen a couple on the last few months posted here on this forum...gotta love the net...

[Calif-Steve]

Chuck: Good point about comparing SA nickel steel with Eddystone nickel steel. Never seen that before. An interesting topic all by itself, this comparasion deserves exploring. I have a very nice Eddystone with original WWI barrel, near mint. The NS bolt runs "sticky" SO, I found Springfield Sporters has/had "K" bolts for sale. They are WWII replacements, and I reasoned they would be made of high grade steel, with no nickel. I was right(!) This particular rifle now runs very well in competition. Only wished it had windage on the rear sight.

[Chuckindenver]

learned something.,...never knew that Keefer bolts were C steel...ill log that in my gotta try sometime list.

[bladeswitcher]

This particular rifle now runs very well in competition. Only wished it had windage on the rear sight.

Probably not legal for competition, but I have a Parker Hale micrometer rear sight mounted on my OTHER Eddystone. Boy, talk about a slick set-up!