Originally Posted by
madpogue
I believe at least the Reynolds 501 and Raleigh 555 refer to the percentages of the same respective three elements (don't ask me to recall what they are) referred to in 531, 753, 853, etc, so they're not really "mimics". No idea about the others.
I don't think that's correct, though I have heard it reported many times over the years. "531"
may have referred to some ratio of elements early on (though I'm skeptical of even that), but it's composition changed over the years, yet the numbers didn't.
Plus, 753 and 531 are the same alloy, with and without the quenched-and-tempered heat treatment. How could they have different numbers if they're a "formula" for the alloy?
Mark B