Cast steel barrel

I saw a percussion rifle this weekend that looked to be mid to late 19th century. The barrel was stamped CAST STEEL PITTSBURG. Does anyone know anything about cast steel barrels?

Cast steel became available with the introduction of steel production by the crucible method. Previously, it was not possible to control the amount of carbon in iron made by casting or in wrought iron made from a 'bloom' of iron ore. Steel was formerly made in small batches by case hardening of wrought iron or by the 'blister' method. When crucible steel was introduced, it became possible to produce larger items from steel, per-se. The crucible was poured to become a casting which could then be forged into various shapes, including bars suitable for barrel making, thus eliminating the need to weld-up the barrel blank from separate bars or scelps of wrought iron, though the bar had to be drilled through to establish the original bore. The homogenous structure of the cast steel was superior to welded wrought iron, and gave a potentially stronger and safer finished barrel. The cast steel used in barrel making was a mild steel, and did not need further heattreatment for use in black powder arms, but could also be case hardened for wear-resistance in lock parts, etc. Cast steel (or carbon steels as a class) are said to be less rust-resistant than wrought iron, but that need not be a concern with proper care and cleaning.

mhb - MIke

Thanks Mike for your very thorough comments. I had never heard of cast steel barrels.

mhb said:

Cast steel became available with the introduction of steel production by the crucible method. Previously, it was not possible to control the amount of carbon in iron made by casting or in wrought iron made from a 'bloom' of iron ore. Steel was formerly made in small batches by case hardening of wrought iron or by the 'blister' method. When crucible steel was introduced, it became possible to produce larger items from steel, per-se. The crucible was poured to become a casting which could then be forged into various shapes, including bars suitable for barrel making, thus eliminating the need to weld-up the barrel blank from separate bars or scelps of wrought iron, though the bar had to be drilled through to establish the original bore. The homogenous structure of the cast steel was superior to welded wrought iron, and gave a potentially stronger and safer finished barrel. The cast steel used in barrel making was a mild steel, and did not need further heattreatment for use in black powder arms, but could also be case hardened for wear-resistance in lock parts, etc. Cast steel (or carbon steels as a class) are said to be less rust-resistant than wrought iron, but that need not be a concern with proper care and cleaning.

mhb - MIke

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Good and accurate report on the subject. The Besseymer "SP" process of cast steel production of English origin I believe was the real game changer in quality carbon steel and I think it was Sheffield of England that first offered quality cast steel barrels. Later Remington offered them as well and the top barrel makers in this country used them in their match barrel making.

I've seen the corrosion difference between steel and wrought & cast iron up close and personal long ago. I was in charge of a fire fighting at a county forestry office. Cast iron simply didn't rust very far while steel parts kept getting eaten away. A lot of work was required to keep the heavy equipment in shape.

I bought this rifle from the widow of a club member. It was the very last rifle sold by Jackson Arms in Dallas, Tx when Elsie Jackson closed the business in 1993. It is in really good shape. I feel that it was made to shoot a Pickett bullet. The barrel is 36” x 1”, 36 caliber. The maker Daniel J. McDonald is listed in American Gunsmiths as having died in 1864.

Tenmile:

Jackson Arms (6209 Hillcrest, LA 1-9929) was one of my favorite places, many years ago. Red, Elsie and, especially, Jack Turner, were very kind and helpful to me as a youngster.

mhb - MIke

Mike, I bought my first longrifle from them when they were on Knox St. I frequented that shop until they closed in 93. I have a letter to the man who bought it (a club member) from Elsie describing the rifle and telling him it was the last. Jackson Arms was an iconic establishment in Dallas (Highland Park) for 42 years. I wish everyone here could have been there. Glad you knew them.

mhb said:

Cast steel became available with the introduction of steel production by the crucible method. Previously, it was not possible to control the amount of carbon in iron made by casting or in wrought iron made from a 'bloom' of iron ore. Steel was formerly made in small batches by case hardening of wrought iron or by the 'blister' method. When crucible steel was introduced, it became possible to produce larger items from steel, per-se. The crucible was poured to become a casting which could then be forged into various shapes, including bars suitable for barrel making, thus eliminating the need to weld-up the barrel blank from separate bars or scelps of wrought iron, though the bar had to be drilled through to establish the original bore. The homogenous structure of the cast steel was superior to welded wrought iron, and gave a potentially stronger and safer finished barrel. The cast steel used in barrel making was a mild steel, and did not need further heattreatment for use in black powder arms, but could also be case hardened for wear-resistance in lock parts, etc. Cast steel (or carbon steels as a class) are said to be less rust-resistant than wrought iron, but that need not be a concern with proper care and cleaning.

mhb - MIke

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Mike, I agree with much of what you say about "cast steel", especially the interchangeability of the terms "crucible" or "cast" steel. The use of the term "cast steel" in the first half of the 19th century reflected the manner in which it was made. The term had nothing to do with "casting" steel in molds.

A Short History of Steel

I do beg to differ with the statement I highlighted in bold above. Deep hole drilling, aka gun barrel drilling, did not become a common practice in gun making until the last quarter of the 19th century. It appears to have originated in Europe, likely Germany.

History of Gundrilling

The US armories--Harper's Ferry and Springfield--were likely the first in North America to experiment with gun barrel drilling, post Civil War.

Muzzleloader barrels marked "cast steel" would have still been forge welded from skelps around a mandrel to establish the bore of the barrel. Then the bore would have been reamed out on a boring table and finally rifled on a rifling table.

There was a lot more technology the was yet to be developed to make gun barrel drilling practical.

This thread on another forum shows typical metal drill bits used in gun making in the 18th and early 19th century.

18th and early 19th century metal drill bits

As the intro in the above linked thread says, "Twist drill were not used prior 1860." The biggest challenge in deep hole drilling was keeping the hole straight. Other challenges included removing the cuttings from a deep hole and keeping the drill bit cool.

These challenges were finally overcome with the development of a drill bit that resembled the one shown below.



A single cutting edge and a long bearing surface helped to keep the hole straight. A hollow tube connected to the bit with a hole near the tip allowed cutting fluid to be pumped to the drill face to cool the bit, lubricate, and flush cuttings up and out of the hole. The relieved quarter section of the drill bit provided a place for the cuttings to go and be pumped out with the cutting fluid.

Trial and error showed that rotating the barrel stock while holding the drill bit stationary resulted and a straighter and more uniform hole.

The maker of the rifle mentioned was Daniel J. McDonald who is listed in Frank M. Sellers book “American Gunsmiths” as having died in 1864 so this barrel would have been made in the 1850’s or earlier. The barrel is marked D. J. McDonald Pittsburg Cast Steel in 3 lines.

Tenmile said:

I bought this rifle from the widow of a club member. It was the very last rifle sold by Jackson Arms in Dallas, Tx when Elsie Jackson closed the business in 1993. It is in really good shape. I feel that it was made to shoot a Pickett bullet. The barrel is 36” x 1”, 36 caliber. The maker Daniel J. McDonald is listed in American Gunsmiths as having died in 1864.

Click to expand...

plmeek said:

Mike, I agree with much of what you say about "cast steel", especially the interchangeability of the terms "crucible" or "cast" steel. The use of the term "cast steel" in the first half of the 19th century reflected the manner in which it was made. The term had nothing to do with "casting" steel in molds.

A Short History of Steel

I do beg to differ with the statement I highlighted in bold above. Deep hole drilling, aka gun barrel drilling, did not become a common practice in gun making until the last quarter of the 19th century. It appears to have originated in Europe, likely Germany.

History of Gundrilling

The US armories--Harper's Ferry and Springfield--were likely the first in North America to experiment with gun barrel drilling, post Civil War.

Muzzleloader barrels marked "cast steel" would have still been forge welded from skelps around a mandrel to establish the bore of the barrel. Then the bore would have been reamed out on a boring table and finally rifled on a rifling table.

There was a lot more technology the was yet to be developed to make gun barrel drilling practical.

This thread on another forum shows typical metal drill bits used in gun making in the 18th and early 19th century.

18th and early 19th century metal drill bits

As the intro in the above linked thread says, "Twist drill were not used prior 1860." The biggest challenge in deep hole drilling was keeping the hole straight. Other challenges included removing the cuttings from a deep hole and keeping the drill bit cool.

These challenges were finally overcome with the development of a drill bit that resembled the one shown below.

A single cutting edge and a long bearing surface helped to keep the hole straight. A hollow tube connected to the bit with a hole near the tip allowed cutting fluid to be pumped to the drill face to cool the bit, lubricate, and flush cuttings up and out of the hole. The relieved quarter section of the drill bit provided a place for the cuttings to go and be pumped out with the cutting fluid.

Trial and error showed that rotating the barrel stock while holding the drill bit stationary resulted and a straighter and more uniform hole.

Click to expand...

plmeek:

Thank you for your response. However, I must stand by my initial comments on the manufacture of cast steel barrels in the U.S. The following excerpt may help clarify the matter:

"Firearms Manufacture" U.S. Department of Interior, Census Office, 1880"

" The earliest use of decarbonized steel (crucible steel - PRD1) for gun-barrels is generally credited to the Remingtons (E.R. Remington & Sons) who made steel barrels for North and Savage, of Middletown, Connecticut, and for the Ames manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts as early as 1846. About 1848 Thomas Warner, at the Whitneyville works, incurred so much loss in the skelp-welding of barrels that he voluntarily substituted steel DRILLED (emphasis added - PRD1) barrels in his contract... The use of soft cast-steel was begun at Harper's Ferry about 1849..."

I do not know what type of drill was used in such early production of drilled homogenous steel barrels, but it is obvious that it was done at an early date. IIRC, there is a mention in " The Muzzle Loading Caplock Rifle", by Ned Roberts, of the difficulties overcome by one of the early prominent rifle makers (Horace Warner?) in drilling a barrel (stopping about every inch to clear chips, and casting a light down the bore with a mirror as the operation progressed to see that the drill was running straight) - there is no mention of how he kept the drill running straight, but it is obvious that he did. It is also known that Remington supplied cast steel finished barrels and drilled and reamed blanks (for the smith who preferred to rifle the barrel himself) to the trade from an early date. In summary, I do not believe that manufacture of cast steel barrels even at such early dates required welding of skelps to form the initial bore.

I am very familiar with the modern gun drill, having personally drilled, reamed and rifled about 1,000 barrels. The geometry of the gundrill, having only a single cutting edge, is designed to self-center in the rotating workpiece, while the coolant/lubricant forced through the drill tube flushes the chips out of the bore through the clearance in the drill tube. It is true that the gundrill works best having the workpiece rotated, though some manufacturers actually rotate both drill and barrel blank. It is also true that the barrel blank must be perfectly straight to avoid runout due to imbalance when rotated at high speeds (ca. 3000 rpm or so) - it is also helpful to place a steady rest at the center of the blank for the same purpose.

PRD1 - mhb - MIke Historical Arms Society, Tucson, AZ; Barrel maker, retired

Cast steel was made by pouring steel into large ingots which were then stretched and flattened by huge rollers to stratify the grain structure. Remington was the primary maker of cast steel gun barrels which were regarded as being the best quality made. The most accurate muzzleloading rifles of the time used cast steel barrels right up until the 1890's. This shows the cast steel mark from a rifle built in 1885.