I opened my Ithaca Lewis 10 gauge 2 7/8" today and the fore end fell off in my hand. The fore end lug is broken. I've emailed Steve Bertram to see if he can repair it but it sure was a sinking feeling when it happened.

The solder joint failed after 100 or so years. I have had it happen Certainly a routine repair for a good smith. He nay have to strip the rib clean and re-solder the lug re=lay the rib and possibly re-blue the barrels. Gunter just did a 5E NID skeet gun for me. It happens-my buddies LC had to have the same treatment.

Had the same thing happen to an early Nitro Special. Smith had it repaired and back to me within a few weeks. Cost was very reasonable. Just make sure smith knows double guns.

R.

NOT a TIG welding operation- silver soldering, after cleaning out all the crud and resin debris-Have you "rung" the barrels to check for loose solder joining??

Forend lugs and ribs are NOT silver soldered. They are soft soldered.

Wassup with the screw in the weep hole?
Looks like some welding and filing will also be on the work order. Looks like the back side will show a crack across that hole.

I've always wondered why other manufacturers didn't do their forearm loops like J. Stevens Arms & Tool Co.



Looks to me like these would not come loose!!

L.C. Smiths also had a 7-32 screw that held them in place and were also soft soldered on.
That is why on some L.C.'s the loop moves slightly when the solder fails.

Common on many, many guns. Looks to be a very straight forward repair if only the lug and short rib are loose. With a bit of heat during the bend the short rib will likely be fine. I can put a small bead on the rear of the rib and refit but would hope to avoid that if possible. The key to getting a good solder joint is getting everything clean so the solder wants to bond rather than fight you. I bead blast the under side of ribs before tinning with rosin flux. Cant get it too hot or the flux burns so I use just an iron on the ribs and both a torch and and iron on the barrels. Not a hard job but requires a bit of diligence. Proper placement of the lug can be tricky but it is very important as that is what usually keeps the fore end tight to the action.

Thanks Steve. The Ithaca is on the way.

Silver solder is a soft solder- difference is in the flux--

Steve,

I have a 12ga Crass model with the same issue. PM me please.

John

That is not correct Francis. Silver solder is hard solder,melting at 1200 or so degrees while soft solder melts at below 400 degrees. They do use different fluxes but the main difference is the alloy, it's strength and the temperature it flows at. I would have thought you knew that.

Runs With the Mouth, try soft soldering an exhaust manifold, but you knew that, you were just toying with us.

Actually Silver solder is a soft solder (you can buy it at any HW store), that contains a small amount of Silver (2% Ag + Sn,Bi,Cu...) and melts around 440F.
Silver brazing alloys contain a lot more Silver (like 72% Ag, 28 %Cu) and melts at a significantly higher Temp possibly up to 1600F.
It's a lot stronger, and a lot more expensive.

Best regards,
WC-

The silver solder that we were talking about for extension ribs and manifolds is not purchased at your normal hardware store. This stuff is sold by the Troy ounce and is expensive.

I use it also for fixing band saw blades when they break, and a regular propane torch will not melt it, Mapp will but it takes awhile.

I use silver solder on ribs and lumps, I use the hard type for making band saw blades. Simply file tapers on the end of the blade, using c clamps I align and spring load the ends, slip in a piece of silver solder and borax flux and heat with my propane torch. Same name but a much different product. By the way the small amount of metal in the blade allows a common torch, after cleaning I like to give the joint a quick temper, blade last much longer.

bill

Either Hard or soft solders may contain some Silver. in all the machine shops I worked in over the years "Silver Solder" was used to refer to the Hard variety. This solder melts at temperatures at least twice, & generally more ,than soft solders. It is generally though a lower temperature than Brazing. A favorite in the shop I spent the most time in was known as Ezy-Flow 45 which melted at around 1145°F.

There are many variations of silver bearing solders/brazing metals. The melting temperatures are as varied as the alloys.