Gunsmith's Screwdrivers ?

[Solvo]

I've made my own similar to those you can buy and I've also modified Stanley and Wera screwdrivers to fit correctly with diamond files or slow wet grinding so there's no need to anneal then re-harden and temper. I've found the old pre WW2 to 1960's Stanleys to be probably the best (toughest) steel around, some of the modern stuff even from quality manufacturers doesn't hold a candle to the old steels. Some people say it's because of various bombs going off that contaminated post war steels however I just think the post 1960 steels are usually inferior possibly because of other contaminants in recycled steels. I'm not a metallurgist I just know enough to get by to heat treat carbon and alloy steels without destroying them. Wera seem to be around the best of the modern steels for screwdriver and hex bit manufacture.

The pre war steel is valuable only in the science industry.
It does not posses magical mechanical strength; it lacks radioactive contamination.

Steels which were produced and stored in a protected way (under water) prior to 1945 have a lower level of background radiation in them, this is vital if you are building instruments which are highly sensitive to radioactivity.

If you want a great read then look into the German Imperial fleet which the British captured at the end of WW1.
the fleet was interned at Scapa Flow and scuttled by the german crews - Some of it is now on a trip into the depths of universe, it has been used for high precision instruments for decades and was the source of the steel used in the construction of the Voyager spacecraft.

[rancidtom]

It's probably that I notice the differences in post 1960's steel related to pre- and immediately post WW2 that are maybe more due to manufacturing and refining differences. These days we have numerous special recipe steels claimed to be better than traditional carbon steels. Chrome, vanadium, molybdenum, nickel, tungsten, titanium and other elements added to iron to supposedly make it longer lasting, hold a better edge, be more corrosion resistant, less brittle, tougher... I do think quite a lot of it is marketing hype as I can make a screwdriver from a bar of tool steel that will perform as well as some of the expensive "best ever" screwdrivers you can buy with all their fancy alloy claims.
Correct fit and profile of the blade, finish is important too as grinding/filing marks can be a useful aid to help prevent cam-out but the hollow ground profile is the biggest contributor to anticam-out. It also extends the life of the screw head.