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Dogfish858,

You say that liability doesn't extend to a second-hand firearm? A rifle conversion is no longer a second-hand firearm in the eyes of the law because, the person doing the conversion has manufactured a rifle where none existed before. This is the position that the BATF takes (this is fact, not speculation) and I'm certain that the courts would see it the same way. The original manufacturer (CZ) would have no liability (but in America anything is possible) because its product has been modified for a purpose for which it was never intended.

I do not know the specific material of the CZ frame, or its heat treatment and never claimed to know. Neither does the builder. And, I suspect, neither do you. This should be reason enough to not do it. 200 rounds means nothing. If something lets go at the 250th round, is that still a "successful build"? What were the measured pressures of the "proof" rounds? I'm willing to bet that is also an unknown quantity.

The most common frame materials in break-action guns are 1018, 1020 and 8620 (or their foreign equivalents). Do you know the differences in their strengths and chemical compositions? Without Googling? Do you know what heat treatment method(s) are applicable to them, again, without using Google? Most amateur and many supposed "professional" "gunsmiths" don't know jack shit about metallurgy or about the existence of any "gun steel" besides 4140, which they also know almost nothing about, but it comes up in magazine articles a lot so it must be "good".

The type of material used in the frame is only one variable that affects the overall strength of the frame. We already know for a fact that it's not designed to handle either rifle-level pressures or a rifle-level gas escape event.

The primer failure that occurred in the conversion that I mentioned was caused by a chipped hammer nose, with factory ammo. The owner did not allow me to photograph it specifically because I said that I would use the photos as an example of why these conversion are potentially dangerous. Apparently, his pride, among other things, had been hurt enough.

I don't really care if the OP gets sued, if the buyer gets hurt or if you believe anything that I say. My statements are factual, not "opinions". I might have expected such defensive replies though. As I've stated elsewhere on this forum, many of the guys playing this game have no idea of how much they don't know. As long as it's only their fingers and faces at risk that's fine.

I'll not trouble the board with anymore thoughts on this matter. You all win the internet.

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