doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com furnace brazing ribs

Does anyone have any info on furnace brazing ribs on double shotguns. I know it was done in Belgium in the late 1800's and early 1900's and Razini is doing it now.
I am building a 1810 style french shotgun. The barrels must be fire blued or charcoal blued. Only silver brazed ribs or brazed ribs will stand the heat.

Have you looked at a brazing alloy called "SilFos" or maybe is is "SilPhos"? I remember the guys in the shop coming in and telling me they were about out and I would have it ordered - but I don't recall seeing the name written, just heard it spoken. As I recall from 20+ years ago, it came in a variety of Silver content alloys, thus you could dial in a melting point.

With this, you could "stick braze" your ribs rather than having to find a big furnace.

I have a furnace but have never brazed on ribs with it. This can't be done with a torch without warping the barrels.

SilFos is used in the refrigeration and air conditioning business for soldering high-pressre copper unions. I don't know how well it would work on ferrous metals, if at all.

I agree with Ron on the SilFos, but maybe it would work. Not sure thats the project to test it on though. Why not try it like Colt did? Interesting read

http://www.google.com/patents?id=58VSAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&dq=215013

The Spanish copy the H&H shotguns except that they braze the ribs instead of soldering. The barrels can then be hot blued, but that is not an advantage I can see except for lower cost.

It would also be pretty much a given the "Spanish" H&H is unregulated. I would feel quite sure no H&H left without a proper regulation for the desired load.

I have had several barreled actions from the 1930's with brazed ribs made by Britte in Belgium. Despite what some folks believe, it was a very real process and the ribs will never have to be relaid (gaud forbid). I simply can't imagine redeveloping this method for a single project. And then you would have to figure out how to fire blue them?!? But then again, there are lots of folks doing things I can't imagine these days.

That's a great town you live in Jerry, I haven't been there in a couple of decades.

Mr. Hughes is correct, I too have seen a fair number of factory original brazed ribs, mostly on European guns. That doesnt mean us Americans didnt do it too though. Just the other day I was looking at a Savage-Stevens 311 .410ga that had brazed ribs. I also agree with 2-piper, regulation would be a biotch.

Thanks for all the info all of you. I am working on a argon atmosphere solution. I thought of the iron pipe thing that was in the article submitted by CMWill. The problem is the carbonization caused by packing them in charcoal and the charcoal dust getting in the joints. However I might end up using some combination of that process. I do not have much of a problem heat bluing barrels and have done it several times on pistols and long rifles. It's the brazing that is the problem.
The problems are oxidization and warpage. The heating must be even and some form of atmosphere control must be used. In early Belgium they just used a lot of borax over the whole assembly and a reducing flame. It was a nasty cleanup but labor was cheap.