Barrel replacement services update!

[ithacaartist]

Rich,

I could send you a coil or two of 1/32" D silver brazing alloy from my roll. The small D. would enable you to apply tiny amounts at a time to keep the surrounding area neat. Clean the surfaces to be joined well first, then when fluxing remember more is less. The flux will "clean" the bluing right off if you're not careful; and these areas will risk wicking the solder to follow wherever the flux has been. If you get an errant blob of solder, re-heat this area somewhat to make the alloy plastic, then a quick swipe of a wire brush will remove dimension from the deposit, leaving mostly only a surface coating, which is less work to sand off. Theoretically, the joint should be a .001 or two between the surfaces. Pre-flux, like a plumbing joint and slowly heat until the flux melts and runs, which distributes the flux and its chemical cleaning power to wherever it goes. The flux will probably bubble out a bit, as its water content expands and escapes. Wipe excess unwanted flux off with a damp rag. Heat both sides as evenly as you can, and the fused solder should wick into the joint, leaving very little where you don't want it.

Or you could drive down between the lakes and we can do it at my shop...

[Olle]

To add to what David is saying: I would tin the surfaces first, it seems to help the solder "find its way" to the right place. You flux the surface, then heat it and apply the solder, once it's good and runny you wipe it with a rag, Q-tips or whatever works to get the excess off. This will leave a very thin coat of solder on the surfaces. Slip the barrel band on and put it in a padded vise, with the muzzle up. Apply a little bit of flux, reheat and apply a tiny amount of solder. If everything works as intended, the solder will wick into the seam and fill it completely. It takes a minimal amount to fill the seam, so the thinner diameter solder David is talking about should work well to minimize the amount you add.

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by ithacaartist

Or you could drive down between the lakes and we can do it at my shop...

I doubt there is enough beer in Mecklenburg for that...

In the far past, I have done some silver-soldering, but I am 50 years out of practice and don't want to mess up a costly project, mine or someone else's. I also don't have the tools to hold a sight band in place (so it doesn't slip when the solder starts to run). Brownell's does sell such a tool, but really, I have a cabinet full of jigs, fixtures, and specialty tools that were used once or twice and never touched again.

[Olle]

Originally Posted by sheepherder

I also don't have the tools to hold a sight band in place (so it doesn't slip when the solder starts to run).

I can't see why the band would slip...? If the barrel is turned down, it will have a shoulder as a positive stop. Just heat it, solder it and tap it lightly while it's still hot to make sure that it's all the way home. If you're worried about the indexing, keep in mind that it's very easy to adjust by simply heating it again.

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Olle

I can't see why the band would slip...?

You can't have it both ways...It's either a slip fit or an interference fit. And back when I did do brazing/silver-soldering, parts did move when heated & the solder/braze flowed. Sometimes parts would fall off.

I might be able to make up a 'clamp' out of a clothes pin spring, a piece of rod stuck in the bore, and another rod or strip bent to hold the band in place...Maybe even a big alligator clip...

But that's not my biggest misgiving. I did get a roll of Silvaloy, a jar of UltraFlux, and some soldering talc sticks from my last Brownell's order. I've had braze flow where I don't want it. Back in the day, I used 'Bear Snot' to keep solder from running on elevator cables, when we soldered steel ferrules on the ends (1" steel woven cable). But I don't have any anymore.

G.T. sent me a Luger barrel to practice on. I'll give it a try sometime soon. It's old and corroded, like they all are, maybe that'll help keep the solder from spreading.

[Olle]

Originally Posted by Rick W.

Hard silver solder is in the 1200F range, there are some folks that are a little touchy about using such on a barrel. High strength to be sure, but takes some skill that only comes with lots of experience. Everyone has to be at ease with what they are doing.

For us average garage guys, Brownells has a world of intermediate strength silver type solders. Some are offered in paste form, smallish coils, even thin ribbon(nice for ramps for some). Their two versions of HiForce 44 flow at much lower temperatures than hard silver solder and are quite strong.

I use Hi-Force 44, it's plenty strong enough for most applications. I would think that even regular plumbing solder will do in this particular case, capillary soldering makes a pretty strong bond. Personally, I would not even consider use hard silver solder. 1200F is when steel starts glowing red and I don't want to do that with a gun barrel. I'm sure it's ok in a professional shop where heating and cooling can be controlled, but that's not really the case in my basement...

[Olle]

Originally Posted by Rick W.

I agree the HiForce 44 product is ok. I also think that the Loctite 620 is ok in specific applications; both are just my own opinions. The 620 is certainly easy to use and clean up; but with some care, the other(44) is as well. Both so far have been good to me in my limited applications with high power rifle banded front sights and some simplistic Luger front sights.

I would feel entirely comfortable with this type of Loctite, Acraglas (which is commonly use to install barrel liners) or any high-strength adhesive. The only drawback is that once it's there, it's pretty much there forever. The solder is easy to reheat if you need to adjust.

Originally Posted by sheepherder

This part is the easy part. Getting the front sight at 12:00 o'clock is the hard part.

That's why I made that leveling block i showed in this thread: http://forum.lugerforum.com/showthread.php?t=30581 . I put the barrel in a receiver, then I used a level on the receiver and the block and adjusted until they were level. I had already tinned the parts so the fit was snug enough to hold the band in the right position until I got it soldered. Let me know if you want to borrow the block, it's just sitting there in a drawer anyway.

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Olle

That's why I made that leveling block i showed in this thread: http://forum.lugerforum.com/showthread.php?t=30581 .

I had forgotten that you had posted a barrel shortening thread already...But since all your pics are on Tinypic.com, they'll soon be lost anyway...

I hadn't considered making a little jig like that...My barrel bands have slight dimensional differences...large differences in the case of 'pencil' profile barrels (which I like)...