Hello Rhodes,

The two links you rounded up and posted are exactly the two I would have put there for savage458. Thank you.

I too preferred the shoe-lump, it allows the use of round tubes, is aesthetically pleasing, and when done correctly it is far more than just adequate strength wise. As I have said before, if a properly done shoe-lump fails, at that very moment it will be the very least of your worries.

EN36A was used for the action body. It is a case hardening steel that I used to get in its annealed state. It machines well and can be worked with normal metalworking tools (that are in good condition). Once the action body was formed and tightly fitted it was sent to a professional hardener. As it is a steel of known properties, most any professional hardening business can case harden it correctly. Obviously when it comes back from the hardening it will need some work to re-fit any slight deforming or warpage caused by the hardening process, but this is normal practice.

M238 I used to use for the shoe-lump. From memory it was supplied in a hard state but it could be relatively easily worked with sharp new files, hacksaws etc and of course carbide mill cutters. It is a very tough hard wearing steel that worked well for the shoe-lump as when it was all fitted and finished, it didn’t need hardening.

The silver brazing wire I used was a Bohler product, UTP306M. It had a 55% silver content, flowed at 650 C (1202 F) and had a tensile strength of 430 MPA (62,366 PSI)

This is how I used to do it,

Hope this helps

Best
ALEX