Question about firemen's/rescue/AFcrash axes

[Jack of All Blades]

Its common knowledge that 1095 or similar high carbon steel was used in the WW era knives of old, but I can't find any info on the crash axes that were popular around the world. What steel was commonly used in them? Im assuming its the same steel found in most firemen axes of that era but can't find much info on those either.

 

[tltt]

Just a guess, but probably a 10xx steel in the 1040 - 1080 range, a lot of big chopping blades were specified to be in that range.

If you're really interested, maybe sending military knife historian Frank Trzaska a note asking. He's dug up some really obscure stuff before, and may have seen something on them. His email is list at the bottom of these pages -

http://www.usmilitaryknives.com/ .
http://www.usmilitaryknives.com/Table of Contents.htm .

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

For the most part axes tend to be something between 1045 and 1080, but some use classic tool steels like 4150 or 5160.