I have a colt 1861 repro and since I got another one I decided to cut down the barrel on the first one.
I found I could put a cut in the barell with a plain edged stainles steel kitchen knife, and I was able to cut quite a bit through the barell with a serrated kitchen knife.
(I only switched to a saw later because the knife was a wedge shape and could'nt saw through)
Is this normal for all guns, just black powder repros or did I just get a defective gun?
(I'm just concerned cause the steel in kitchen knives isn't even all that hard!)
And the kithchen knives hadn't been dulled at all.
yeah, seriously. I'm glad I've only fired it at half charge before, the material it's made of has a consistency more like goo than steel.
Dave's right. A gun barrel is usually in the 40 Rockwell hardness range....those cheapo serrated knives you find around are 60+ so they hold an edge forever. Those knives, like razor blades, will snap in half if you flex them too much, though.
When you fire a bullet, the barrel looks sort of like those cartoons where the cat gets sucked down the pipe and the bulge moves along quickly. If you had a hard steel barrel, the bullet would hit the rifling and the entire thing would shatter into a thousand pieces. The soft steel deforms then returns to shape on every shot.
Kershaw Ken Onion Knife (G-10 Handle, Plain Edged), Bear Grylls Survival Ultimate Fixed Blade Plain Edge Knife Leather Sheath, Spyderco Delica ZDP189 C11PGRE Sabre Ground Plain Edge Knife, Cold Steel 54MS Classic Junior Stockman Plain Edge Knife, BENCHMADE BONE COLLECTOR KNIFE 15020-1 PLAIN EDGE BLADE GREEN/BLACK G10 HANDLE, BRAND NEW KERSHAW KNIVES ALL BLACK LEEK PLAIN EDGE BLADE 1660CKT FOLDER KNIFE, Kershaw 1840 Shallot Plain Edge Pocket Knife NEW, KERSHAW KNIFE 1660 LEEK PLAIN EDGE ASSISTED FOLDER NIB, NIB Microtech Socom Elite Knife - Tan w/Black Plain Edge - Micro Tech, NIB Microtech Crosshair Knife - Black - Plain Edge - Micro Tech, NIB Microtech Crosshair Knife - Green - Plain Edge - Micro Tech, Browning Black Label Turning Point Knife Plain Edge Carbon Fiber Handle 320133BL, Browning Black Label Sliver Knife Black G-10 Handle Plain Edge 320132BL, Browning Black Label Turning Point Knife Plain Edge Black G-10 Handle 320134BL, Browning Black Label Perfect Storm Knife Black G10 Handle Plain Edge 320105BL, Browning Black Label Sliver Knife Black Carbon Fiber Handle Plain Edge 320131BL, Benchmade HK 14411BK Soldat Knife Heckler Koch Drop Point Plain Edge Blade, Zero Tolerance Strider/Onion Green S30V Plain edge Assisted Opening Knife 0301, Zero Tolerance Black G-10 Folder Knife Tiger Stripe S30V Plain edge 0350TS, Smith and Wesson SW2000B SWAT Large Plain Edge Knife , Iain Sinclair CardSharp 2 Credit Card Folding Safety knife Black Plain edge, SOG SOGZILLA SMALL BLACK TiNi PLAIN EDGE FOLDING KNIFE SP-03 *NEW*, Spyderco Tenacious G-10 Handle Folding Plain Edge Knife, KA-BAR FIN FOLDING HAWKBILL TANTO KNIFE PLAIN EDGE 02-5552 5552 NEW FREE SHIP!, CRKT KIT CARSON G10 HANDLE PLAIN EDGE FOLDING KNIFE M21-02G *NEW*, Kershaw 1840 Shallot Plain Edge Pocket Knife NEW, COLD STEEL MINI TUFF LITE PLAIN EDGE KNIFE 20MT *NEW*, Blackhawk Knives CQD Mark I Plain Edge 5-3/4" Closed Blk Pocket Knife BB15M301BK, BERETTA Knives Airlight II Plain Edge 4 5/8" AUS-8 Black Pocket Knife BE76639, Kershaw Clash SpeedSafe Assisted Opening Plain Edge Knife 1605,