I just realized you can't see in my photos, but that's a groove (valley?) all the way around the disconnector. It's not just a single ledge like it was stamped from one side.
Printable View
This part indicated below, is what led me to believe was material folded over and sheared off during the stamping process.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...25_Aqrsb-L.jpg
if you send it to me i can have it tested to find out exactly what it is.. i'll even send it back, with a little burn on one side.
i have a couple barrels that are going in for GC-MS analysis in the next week or two (as soon as i can get away from work), i can take it in at the same time if we're all really curious.
i really don't think it's a stamping.. stamping "flash" is generally only on one side, where it was stamped through the sheet- this gas got to be either MIM or cast. or alien technology that'll release a plague and kill all mankind if it's nature is revealed.
I see no reason to MIM a disconnector. It would literally cost more than one made by the stamping process and produce a part that would not endure any length of time. The hook is a highly stressed area. I have seen over-hardened disconnectors shatter like glass at the hook.
could be- i'm also no expert, but i do know that flat stamping is an extremely efficient wat to make a lot of small, flat parts very quickly and cheaply. pinching the part would more closely resemble forging than stamping
a MIM disconnector would be such a piece of shit... hah.
I just looked at it again and it's really strange. The other side of the 'gap' in it isn't as pronounced and looks more like it was ground down for the finish. There is a rounded side like it was stamped, but the rough portions are what baffle me. It's almost as if the stamp didn't go all the way through and the rest of it broke off. At any rate, the contact portions and the edge being at a bevel aren't real comforting.
bkb, I'll send it to ya but I don't expect it back. :D I'm sure not going to use it.