Newbie - Drop in Breach Block Question

[JOMRD]

Hey there gang,

I'm about to pull the trigger on a vintage carbine. Excellent condition (both bore and action). I want to put in a centerfire block. A friend of mine (an older gent) said he heard from a few people that this causes the hammer face and receiver face (where hammer strikes) to distort outward or flatten out after a while. Is this true? Any insight would be greatly appreciated. I couldn't find anything on it.

Thanks all,
JOMRD

[Arizona Trooper]

It shouldn't affect the receiver if the block fits right, but it can eventually batter the hammer nose. The easiest fix is to install a reproduction hammer from Lodgewood or S&S and save your original. Have fun with your "new" Horizontal Shot Tower!

[Eggman]

We shoot these guns WAY more than the original soldiers did. I installed a repacement hammer (still an original) and started to get some missfires after a number of years from the battering on the left side of the face. I had my welder friend tac weld a bead on that part of the face. The bead seems harder than the original metal - I believe it's my third year with it.

[JOMRD]

Thanks for the great suggestions and warm welcome gents. I'm really bummed. I lost the auction for the Spencer I wanted. It was a nice example. Dozed off and was out bid.  I'm willing to pay a premium for a very good plus or better example, if you know of one for sale. Gotta have the gun before I can shoot  . I'll be back for sure. Again, if you know of a nice carbine for sale let me know. Bests! RP

[Eggman]

Keep your eye on this forum. There are frequent notices of available Spencers. Good luck!

[General Lee]

Why would the centerfire block wear the hammer any differently than the rimfire block?

[Eggman]

I believe the resistance of a centerfire primer is much greater than a soft cartridge rim. We also shoot alotmore than the old boys.

[Snakeeater]

Although the Spencer was one of the first American firearms to be machined from ingots of cast steel, the type of steel then in use was not produced by the Bessemer process like we use today but instead utilized an earlier process which produced "blistered steel".  Blistered steel gained its name from the carburization process of cementation -- (a process first described in a treatise published in Prague in 1574), this process was later patented in England by William Ellyot and Mathias Meysey in 1614. The names of Swedish steel and Sheffield steel would later become synonymous with the highest quality of steel ever to be produced by the carburization process.

The process of carburization (adding carbon to iron) was achieved by placing billets of wrought iron in a clay pot crucible packed in charcoal (carbon), then, fired in a kiln at high temperatures until the surface of the metal became "blistered" with blooms and buttons from the diffusion of the charcoal (carbon) into the iron. Once "blistered", the steel was again placed into crucibles and melted into a homogenous liquid before being cast into ingots, which then could be milled, machined, or forged into finished tools and implements, or in the instance of Spencer Repeating Arms Company, provided the very gun metal that was used to produce the Spencer rifles and carbines.

Below is a link to a sample of blistered steel showing the striations or flow of the metal as it was poured into a homogenous ingot:

http://www.swordforum.com/forums/showthread.php?101781-Blister-and-Shear-Steel-Making

My Spencer sporting rifle (SN 1335) which is in the process of restoration is a good example of this striated flow or graining in the metal, and is likely why the receiver was set aside to be made into a custom sporting rifle because its fine grain appearance had so resembled fine Damascus steel.  However, one of the drawbacks anent using cast steel was that it was not but until shortly after the First World War before metallurgical science was better understood, and heat-treatment of cast steel was perfected. Though cast steel was very durable, it was also very brittle, and tended to stretch (and deform) before it shattered.