Just out of curiosity, what parts of the action are forged and what parts are cast?
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Just out of curiosity, what parts of the action are forged and what parts are cast?
There are no forged parts. The bolt handle and rear baffle are investment cast, along with the trigger guard and magazine frames. Some small parts such as the front baffle , trigger, safety, and the extractor are metal injected molded (MIM). The reciever, the bolt heads,and bolt assembly screw are machined from billit. The bolt body is made from tubing. Then there are stamped parts, such as the trigger bracket and sear/bolt release.
I've always been confused about "billet". Isn't a "billet" just a raw piece of steel that is forged into a block? Then they machine it to the desired final dimensions? A forging would be closer to the shape of the piece and then machined to the final dimensions? A forging would just require less machining but in reality a forging and a billet are pretty much the same thing?
Please correct me if I'm wrong about this...I'm definitely fuzzy about this.
Billet is a term used to describe dimension stock. For instance: The receivers start from 1.5" round stock. Technically when the steel is manufactured, raw stock is rolled into final dimension, not forged like you would think with a big hammer. Some of the bolt heads are made from profiled stock, to same machine time.
Forging on the other hand, makes the piece closer to shape by hammering into a die, then trimming off the excess. Winchester model 70's are made this way.
So I go to Wikipedia...my bad...and it says that the Savage actions are machined from "forged billets". I'm not sure now that there is such a thing as a forged billet. It may be best not to think about this.
Wikipedia gives definitions from open sources, and this time they are wrong. I've been through the Savage plant, and I've seen it with my own eyes, receivers are machined from bar stock that starts out 20 ft. long. It is cut to length, gun drilled, reamed, and then broached. After that it goes to a cnc machining center for the rest of the operations.