Cracked receiver on an M17

[Chuckindenver]

id bet iv rebarreled more 1917,s in the last 6 mos, then most gunsmiths have in a lifetime.. id like to see someone crush a 17 reciever ring...
my action wrench weighs 60 pounds, iv been pretty hard on 17,s and as of yet,, not cracked , crushed or bent one...
as for the question of the salts...17,s are only surface hardened, a fresh batch of salts with not enough water can spike to will over 350..
if its left in the tank too long can change the surface.
you can seperate side by side shotgun barrels, with hot salts blue,.
by the discreption sounds like someone was heavy handed on the installation, instead of setting pre index correctly.. they forced the issue,..
or used the wrong tools to install, or,,, this rifle has had a case head failure at some point , and was repaired, rebarreled ect...iv seen a Mauser with a crack from a case head failure..
however..
likely the damage was not done by the military with a GI barrel... id still like to see a 17 with a crack like that from being barreled or rebarreled by the military...
this is one of 2, 17,s that iv seen with a crack at the ring, iv shown pics of the other, and it was more likely from heat damage from a fire, and not from removing or installing the barrel.
not being a smart ***, just stating the facts as iv seen them.. i know what some books say, i find it tough to belive, after what iv done to a 1917 action..and its non the less for wear.
so 2 cracked,,, out of how many thousands????still pretty good odds.
id like to save that pic in my pictures of damaged rifles. only a few 17,s are in that album.

[mike16]

yea , adjusting the head space with a bigger wrench is also a possibility but it aint that difficult to crush a reciever either, especially if they spin initially.

[Chuckindenver]

a real action wrench mounts behind the recoil lug, and is at the thickest place in the action., with a barrel screwed into the action, it would be pretty tough to crush the front of the ring,,
however, if you remove a barrel, and leave a wrench installed tight for a long time, {day or so} it can {crush}, though it likely wont crack, iv seen them change the dem of the point were the bolt engages the locking weys,
anything is possible when it comes to using the wrong tools, however, in this case, its obvious that the crack was do to pressure on the receiver face.

[mike16]

I stated vice but it actually takes a hydraulic press to crush a reciever

Too bad your is OZ because I got an eddystone reciever with the ears off for very reasonable