and BTW: I'm perfectly capable of saying stupid stuff, but William is playing word games regarding "alloy"; which has both general and specific meaning.
The metallurgical definition of alloy steel:
Alloying elements, either residual or added, are present in percentages greater than the following:
Mn 1.0%,
Si 0.70%,
Mo 0.10%,
Cr 0.10%,
V 0.05%,
Ti 0.05%,
Ni 0.4%.
This is Dave Suponski's Parker Titanic steel which would be non-standard AISI 1030 medium carbon low alloy steel
Carbon .32%
Manganese .70%
Phosphorus .033%
Sulphur .077%
Nickel .078%
Chromium .031%
Molybdenum <.01%
High alloy steels have a sum total of > 5% (other sources 8%) of the alloying elements.
4140 (Cr 0.8-1.1% and Mo .15-.25%) is a low alloy steel but usually listed by manufacturers as alloy steel, as is 4340 and the other 4XXX and 5XXX steels.
Stainless steel is high-alloy steel, usually with 12% or greater chromium depending on the other alloys
