If you were selecting a tool steel for an extreme impact load application, which one would you pick? why?thanks
It all depends what the application actually is. For hammers I would select a hammer grade B1 steel. For impact loading where an edge is needed I would be going for O1 or similar (oil quenching steels tend to be a little tougher than air hardening). For mining tools a very high manganese steel (Hadfields steel) - this is not a true tool steel. The best place to start is by looking at the ranking of the properties which you want - hardness v toughness v strength - and then use this to put the steels in rank order. Price and availablity then sort the problem out for you (in the real world).
