Originally Posted by
jgaynor
2. He didn't say so but presumably PM's conclusion is "why didn't both arsenals just switch to nickel steel immediately" as it was being used for P14/M1917? Good point. Switching materials would seem to be such a simple and elegant alternative if it was viable at the time one wonders why it was not done. Perhaps it just wan't an option. I won't speculate on the reasons but the ordnance guys were not stupid.
Just to recap:
1. Remington, Winchester, and Eddystone had been producing service rifles out of nickel steel since 1914.
2. RIA stopped production for 6 months and scratched their heads.
3. Started production back at 285,607
4. At 319,921 changed to nickel steel
So for six months they scratched their heads and came up with DHT to produce 319921-285607= 34,314 DHT rifles at which point they moved to nickel steel. There is more to the story, just has to be, but to shut down production for 6 months in a war so they could save 34,314 rifle's worth of stock steel just does not wash. At worst they could have sent it back to be smelted into another alloy for some other type of arm.
For the rifles that blew up during proof firing due to burnt or improperly heat treated steel, I would think they would have enough sense to test the fragments and figure out there was problem then, instead of waiting to act when troops are maimed by their own rifle.
Phillip McGregor (OFC)
"I am neither a fire arms nor a ballistics expert, but I was a combat infantry officer in the Great War, and I absolutely know that the bullet from an infantry rifle has to be able to shoot through things." General Douglas MacArthur