Orginal CW era Maynard metallurgy?

[Kevin Tinny]

Hello:

Am searching for references that describe the metal used in the receivers of Civil War era Maynard First and Second Models.

Have heard unsubstantiated comments about Belgian metal, with no specifics.
Don't have Dutcher's book.

Any help will be appreciated.

Respectfully,

Kevin Tinny
Past Pres. NMLRA

[Jack C., 69th NY]

Kevin,
Dutcher's book is about Ballards, I don't think he wrote about Maynards.... I wish he would though. There doesn't seem to be too much written about Maynards. I believe Layman's book is the most complete book on Maynards. There are a bunch of knowledgeable people here, someone will speak up.

[RaiderANV]

Dutch steel is what Dr. Maynard used as it was a far better grade then what could be had in the states. He made this discovery while looking for better metals for dental tools.

[Eggman]

Yes, as Dr. Maynard put it, "If it ain't Dutch, it ain't much!"

[Kevin Tinny]

Hello:
Big help on the Dutch steel. Was it "steel" or the more common wrought iron, please?

Yes on Dutcher. Am working on a Dwight, Chapin & Co. model.
I have Layman, but it seems to be more of a catalogue recounting.

Any specific source for the "Dutch" dental tools metal info, please?
Is it possible the metal was actually Belgian, but obtained in The Netherlands?
I have no knowledge of Dutch metal making in that era.
Sorry to pick at this.

THANKS,
Kevin Tinny

[Richard Hill]

I wonder if the word "Dutch" was used instead of "German" to describe the steel used? Krupp was making high quality steel for the gun market.

[Eggman]

Richard - are you referring to the "I fites mit Sigel" Dutch?

[Eggman]

Then there is the Burnside "Silver Spring Steel." Are these metals not really steel? Need our expert metalurgist lurking out there to chime in. Back in the early 80's there was another one of these Kelly guys that turned the ML world on its head with his analysis of tough vs. hard (brittle) steels and various barrel failures. One of my old "Buckskin Reports" is still smoking.

[C.Harris]

In Ned Roberts single shot rifle book he says the Maynard action was a strong one, made from the BEST NORWAY IRON.

[John Bly]

Yes, Ned Roberts said that Maynards were made from the best Norway iron. In fact Norway made very little iron at all but it was good stuff. The reputation of some of the Viking swords must have made the marketing of Norway steel profitable. Most iron or steel sold as Norway steel was in fact Swedish steel which was still very good stuff.

Mass Arms bought most of their iron and steel from the Arcade Malleable Iron Works. There is no mention of Norway Iron in the ledgers. They bought "barrel steel, "cast steel, "stub steel", "iron rod" and "decarbonized steel" in the ledgers but no Norway iron or steel.

The barrel steel is certainly different from the frame material. One almost never sees slag or inclusions in Maynard barrels but the frames are full of it. You can see it as lines running lengthwise on the frame on the surface of many Maynards. There is plenty of it inside the frames also. The lower tangs are the same material. The hammers, triggers and springs are some kind of tool steel and don't have the slag inclusions.
That's about all I think I know about it.

[Kevin Tinny]

Many thanks, everyone:

At one time I had access to the entire body of information Roberts used in preparing both his CAPLOCK and SINGLE SHOT rifle books. It filled a four drawer file cabinet and was sold by Harry Pope to Al Marciante and then to my friend via SHOTGUN NEWS. Mr. Roberts simply read and wrote from that cabinet. But we learned that most of the Pope material had been sanitized by the family to preserve Harry's image and the value of his memorabilia they were selling! Later, other authors created significant errors with photo's upside down, etc.

As one highly respected arms historian once told me: "I wish I had back everything I wrote before I was 50." Once in print, it is taken without question.

Marcot indicates in his Spencer book that the 1860 model receivers were Norwegian IRON.

I guess from the above, that it could be either Norwegian or perhaps Swedish iron.

One thing appears certain from U. S. Ordnance letters in Marcot: The U. S. Gov't would NOT accept cast malleable iron and SPENCER certified to the Ordnance Dept's satisfaction that the receiver material was Norwegian WROUGHT iron.

At that time, Maynard was already in production and may have prompted Spencer to do the same.

A bit of history makes for nice campfire discussions.

Regards,
Kevin Tinny