filling reciever holes

L

Light Infantry

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
353   0   0
I have an opportunity to purchase an M1 Carbine at a good price. Only problem is that Bubba got to it. The side of the reciever has 3-4 holes in the side that were made for a side mounted scope mount.

I was thinking of getting a welder to fill in these holes. With the holes in place I am not concerned with the strength of the reciever. however with the heat produced with filling these holes, do I need to be concerned about heat treating or strength of the reciever afterwards?

Also, if i go and parkerize it when it is done, will the park by nice and even witrh colour or will it show up as a different colour where the holes once where?

Thanks
 
If the holes are threaded, it would be a better way to go than welding. The Parkerizing will show a different colour on the weld, as well as the threaded plugs. It would show less on the threaded plugs. There are many proceedures for using threaded plugs, and most involve a bit of work.

R.
 
Thanks guys. I will have another look. I don't even think the holes are round, more of a skewed circle.:eek: It was a master buuba at work here.
 
Even if they aren't round, you'll be able to make them round and thread them. Install plug and leave proud. Peen the tops of the plugs over to cover thread diameter. File and sand plug until flush with receiver. Sand action side smooth. Finished.

R.
 
The best way to fill would be to weld and regrind the receiver. Use TIG to localize the heat as best you can, and avoid the receiver ring or any high stress areas. Also, unless you match the alloy of the steel (near impossible) the park will likely be a differnt shade over the weld, just as it is when you park guns of different alloy. Some are dark, some or light.

From a collector standpoint, I would pay more for the one with the holes than the one with the holes filled.

From an aesthetic point, I would still prefer the holes, unless the filling was undetectable from all angles.
 
Rman said:
Even if they aren't round, you'll be able to make them round and thread them. Install plug and leave proud. Peen the tops of the plugs over to cover thread diameter. File and sand plug until flush with receiver. Sand action side smooth. Finished.

R.
Click to expand...

BINGO! A nice no weld solution.

One thing though. You'll want to strip the gun completley and get something in behind the holes to help absorb the impacts of the peening over of the heads. Also you'll want to use plug screws that are longer than needed and file off most of the slot or allen recess first. Then screw the plugs in and file off the very last of the slot or hex recess but leaving the metal a little proud of the receiver. THEN peen the end. Otherwise you won't be able to peen it far enough or will have to peen for what seems like forever to remove the slot or recess. A steel bar held in the vise with the end shaped in whatever way is needed to get in behind the plug screws will greatly aid in reflecting back the peening force and reduce any chance of the peening altering the shape of the receiver.

If you've never done this sort of thing before practice on scrap steel to get the feel of it and learn to handle the ball end of the ball peen hammer so you peen the screw and not the surrounding metal. Also it only takes very light strokes to do the job. Lots and LOTS of them. The hammer mostly bounces up and down in your hand as you tap away at it. For the sort of thing you're peening over you want one of the 6 to 8 oz hammers for the job.
 
You can make a hidden plug better if there are no threads.. drill as small a hole as required to remove all of the threads, turn soft steel plugs to fit tight polish a slight taper to them and tap them in snug. file down close and peen a little and finish filing/polishing.

I have found with trying to fill/hide a hole using threaded plugs there was always a small line where the threads meet that ended up visible.

You could also screw plugs in and have a good welder wire gun little blobs on top... make sure he doesn't use stainless wire... the non stainless wire blues just fine and should parkerize as well. Wire guns used quickly for this purpose on the surface impart pretty low heat.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom