I had a Miller Shopmaster 300 w/TIG, foot rheostat, water cooled torch, and accessory MIG head...I hated to sell it... :crying:

Ouch. I've got a chinese made scratch-start at the moment. It works fine for basic chassis work on a car, but I'd never use it on a firearm as it has very little control to it. The new one is another chinese-made one, but has a foot control, does both AC and DC (old one only does DC) and a ton of controls to it. It also has a plasma cutter as well. Surprisingly, the chinese made stuff isn't as bad as it has been in the past.

I had a Bolo with slotted front sight in the past. That slot bothered me. I hated it. The original plan was "micro-TIG" it up so I got a Lincoln welder, argon container, gas regulator, micro torch etc. Played them a little bit on scrap steel. Some fun. But I worried high temperature could damage rifling..... the gun and the matching stock were sold without any work on it, and I sold those welding equipments later.... probably lost a few hundred dollars on those equipments.

Yikes, how big was the slot? It couldn't have been brazed with a jeweler's torch? TIG seems a bit overkill but I don't know how big the slot is either.