Front sight repair

amber2010

amber2010

CGN Regular
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Location
Stouffville, Ontario
So when I opened up my gun safe out drops my Uberti Outlaw onto the concrete floor. Oh no! The front sight falls off. &%$*&^#$. Now I do know a gunsmith and I will contact him. Just want to know how would this be repaired? it is soldered on. Would he have to reheat the barrel ,put some silver solder in it? Would the barrel have to re blued? Just asking.
 
Silver brazing = red heat.
Soft soldering could be tried. That would be my first choice. Something like Brownells Force 44
 
Good chance to install a taller sight, if it is required.

If it is soldered back, it would need a polish and reblue. I did this to a pistol and the nose section has a nicer polish and blue than the rest.
 
They are supposed to be a firm tap in fit. Friction is supposed to hold them firmly So if it fits into the slot without much force then it's not a good fit.

My solution would be a slight amount of cleaning to expose grey metal in the slot and along the curved sides and base of the blade then a neat and tidy soft solder job. No need for the high heat of silver solder. The fact it fits into the slot and the soft solder will flow in a thin layer all around the fitted area means it'll be plenty strong enough. But then I've done a lot of such soldering jobs and know how to get a nice clean joint.

In the old days or even now a good smith could lightly peen the metal around the slot to gently pinch the sides in and achieve a proper firm fit to the blade. But this needs to be done with a lot of care or it can distort the bore from round to oval really quickly if too much force is used with the hammer.

The other method would be to degrease really well and use a CA glue or epoxy. If you go for epoxy I'd suggest a clear formula with a 2 hour cure time. JB is nice epoxy but the filler in it will leave a color line you don't want. The clear will virtually disappear.

If you opt for soft plumbing solder I've found that cold blue seems to stain it well enough from the blackening of the steel around it that it darkens up nicely when it's only a thin line. So only use enough to fill in the joint and not to form a fillet. A brass wire brush kept handy to brush away any excess while still molten will make for a clean joint.
 
take a lead pencil and firmly run it over all around the joint where you don't want solder. The residual graphite will keep the solder from grabbing onto the barrel and allow you to easily clean up the joint with a sharp razor blade (carefully! so not to scratch)

Also, clean and flux both the bottom edge of the blade and the bottom of the slot, and lightly tin them (flow molten solder over them to get a thin film) Shake the excess off when it's hot, the graphite will keep it off if you did the sides of the blade and the barrel. Then press the blade into the slot and heat just enough to flow the solder, you won't even have to add any.

You CANT overdo the pencil lead, just don't get it where you WANT solder to stick, but go over the area all around the slot several times and don't miss a spot
 
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