Well that sucks indeed
. I'm out of cool ideas...
heat may be the only answer after all. I'm sure that will ruin the finish. As to the temper...it comes down to the carbon content and heat treatment that was originally done. If it was traditionally hardened and tempered, that process is going to be very difficult to replicate on the barrel (especially without damaging the barrel). I saw a youtube video where a guy pinched it in a vise, heated it orange, then let it cool. I cringed a little with his torchwork around the barrel. IF the bands are of high enough carbon content, they could probably be normalized (where it just cools at room temperature at its own pace...no quench, no slowing the cooling process...one step above annealing) and still retain enough springiness to be effective. If there is not enough carbon content, they will loose all their springiness...but maybe that will be ok too? In any case, whatever finish was on the bands will be gone...whether it works or not
On the other hand...this is a Russian battle rifle. Don't you just throw it in a campfire till it's hot, beat it into shape with a rock, then quench it in vodka when done?
Good luck...I'm still hoping someone more experienced with the platform and situation chimes in
. I'm out of cool ideas...heat may be the only answer after all. I'm sure that will ruin the finish. As to the temper...it comes down to the carbon content and heat treatment that was originally done. If it was traditionally hardened and tempered, that process is going to be very difficult to replicate on the barrel (especially without damaging the barrel). I saw a youtube video where a guy pinched it in a vise, heated it orange, then let it cool. I cringed a little with his torchwork around the barrel. IF the bands are of high enough carbon content, they could probably be normalized (where it just cools at room temperature at its own pace...no quench, no slowing the cooling process...one step above annealing) and still retain enough springiness to be effective. If there is not enough carbon content, they will loose all their springiness...but maybe that will be ok too? In any case, whatever finish was on the bands will be gone...whether it works or not On the other hand...this is a Russian battle rifle. Don't you just throw it in a campfire till it's hot, beat it into shape with a rock, then quench it in vodka when done?
Good luck...I'm still hoping someone more experienced with the platform and situation chimes in
