doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DIY Gunsmithing @ doublegunshop.com Resoldering barrels

Well, I have to say I am very happy with the outcome after my first attempt.

The lower rib was full of holes and broken, and I thought it would be better to build one. I am not aware of anyone making and selling ribs, so I made my own. I got 1m of a rectified bar of 10mm x 3mm. I needed 8x2 mm, so I first reduced it from 10 to 8 on the milling machine, thanks to the perfectly square sides. Then I reduced from 3mm to 2mm. Finally, I made a temp jig to position the bar at 120º to make chamfers on the sides so it would have better contact with the barrels.





Then, the soldering process began....

I first tinned all the parts, both ribs, and the barrels. All the surfaces were sanded, and old rust was removed. I used a strong acid flux and 50/50 solder, as my previous attempts with 60/40 were not successful. Using some pliers and steel wool soaked in flux, it was very easy to create a perfectly tinned surface. All tinned surfaces were cleaned with washing soap to remove all traces of the acid flux. If you leave residues, rust can form internally.



Ribs were positioned using iron wire and horse nails. Finding pure iron wire (not zinc-coated or galvanized) was impossible, but nearby construction works had it and gave me a few meters. Zinc-coated wire can be contaminated. Also finding horse nails was a challenge; 20 of them cannot be obtained in the middle of the city. After some calls to my friends who do horse riding, one could get me a bunch of nails. Horse nails have a perfect shape to tighten the wire






I used rosin flux, which has no acid residue (and a nice smell). It was not easy to get the correct translation in Spanish until I found it is a pine resin called "colofonia." Luckily a bag was very cheap. I spread some powder all over the joints.

Used a butane/propane torch gas, which has a great temperature. Slowly heating until the temperature was reached at which the 50/50 wire would melt just from my touching the metal. Finding the 50/50 solder was difficult and not cheap; no shop would have it, but I managed to find it online. The difference between 50/50 and 60/40 was incredible. Thanks for the people that encouraged me to find it.

I first soldered the top side; once happy, I turned the barrel and made the lower part. As I always had the bar with some inclination, solder will flow with gravity, and excess will just drip.

https://files.catbox.moe/8gczfa.mp4








I had a moment of crisis when I found the forend attachment would not fit, as the latch on the barrel had moved a few mm, so I had to repeat the process 3 times. Also, I noticed the lower rib had inclined respect from the barrels...

All in all, the barrels were soldered, and the moment of truth came with the bell proof... holding the barrels and gently tapping with the screwdriver handle to find a nice bell sound or a dull sound that means the barrel is not correctly soldered. Luckily the sound was a sweet bell sound.

https://files.catbox.moe/14occz.mp4

Lastly, I used a sharp chisel to remove all traces of solder and started the process of sanding the barrels prior to bluing, which is a process I have never made and still need to learn.

https://files.catbox.moe/tk1gzw.mp4






Hope this resume helps others...

If you have comments on how I can improve, please share