Here is a start on WW1 steel allocation. In July 1917, the US gov't established the War Industries Board. The WIB rated each gov't contract and critical resource (steel & other metals, wood, cloth, etc.) by priority and assigned high quality resources to the completion of high priority contracts. The WIB operated until December 1918. A contract for production of infantry rifles or machine guns would have a very high priority and would have been allocated the best steel available. A contract for 22RF training rifles would have a lower priority and would have been assigned lower quality steel.
