unitized my gas system today and tightened up my op rod guide.

chalkriver

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I took my rifle to a highly recommended local welder and he unitized my gas system by tig welding the front ferrule at the 10:00 , 2:00 and 6:00 positions.
He mentioned that the steel is chrome-moly and the rod that he used was a ER308L in 1/16th in diameter and was made by ESABE .

He also mentioned that it was very important to weld the barrel while in the verticle position as it may warp the barrel if not done correctly .

I also took off my op rod guide and put a bunch of marks around the barrel where the op rod guide goes with a center punch .this will raise the metal a bit and with some red loctite applied it is now very solidly mounted.
 
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he welded her on the rifle?
your welder is on the ball with the filler rod and the position
we don't do them on the barrel but if your welder's experience, equipment and skill set is up to par, it can be safely done.
i've replaced several barrels now for guys who took thier rifle to a local welder and some have tig'd more have mig'd and a couple used stick!!! :eek:
all had deformations and flaking in the bore and a couple had gas systems fused right to the barrel.
i'm a pretty damn good welder, with an A ticket and journeyman steel fabricator ticket and i won't even take the tig to the steel on the gas systems hehehe I leave that to TonyG with the wicked machine and the 35 years exp. :D

let us know if the unitizing shrinks your groups. we have seen wonderfull results in many rifles after performing the procedure. ;)
 
This is how it looks after the TIG welding job at 6:00, 2:00 and 10:00
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This is my area under the oprod guide, it shows all the punch marks and you can see how it raises the metal around the holes. I was a little enthusiastic with the hammer and punch as I had to file down the edges a tiny bit around the punch marks . As it actually raised the metal a little too much. This along with applying the red loctite and my op rod guide is very secure now.
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Not bad me & the Doc have seen worse!
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Great job on the peeing of the barrel though. It's nice to have this rig good & tight ;)
 
The only thing that concerns me a bit is having your gas assembly permanently attached to your barrel. What if you need to clean your gas port hole? Is this still possible using a paperclip? Does this improve accuracy further than say, having a really tight barrel band ring? Mine is tight at 5 o'clock and double thumb tight at 6 o'clock, I can't actually get it to 7.
 
I actualy knurled my journal in the lathe according to the US Army marksmanship manual. I had to carefully beat the guide on with a BF hammer and a brass punch - it's going nowhere ;) Roll pin optional!
 
The only thing that concerns me a bit is having your gas assembly permanently attached to your barrel. What if you need to clean your gas port hole? Is this still possible using a paperclip? Does this improve accuracy further than say, having a really tight barrel band ring? Mine is tight at 5 o'clock and double thumb tight at 6 o'clock, I can't actually get it to 7.

It's not welded to the bbl - only the ferrule.
 
Ok my bad, I've just heard people talking about welding it to the actual barrel. If it's just welding the rear of the gas assembly to the part that hold the hand guard and stock into place then it's a no brainer. I guess I'll try my hand at welding in Campbell River. I'm sure with Rednex3 and M14doc around I'll be fine
 
Is that to quench the barrel after welding?:p

Laugh2 No thats an old army trick to cool the MG barrel your thinking of..... .Actually the welder advidsed letting it cool on its own

As the Doc said welding it while it is off the barrel is best , mark the ferrule and gas cylinder with witness marks to get it lined up before removing it and the weld should hide the marks you make .There is more info and pics on this in the stickies.

Originally Posted by Rocket Surgery
Does this improve accuracy further than say, having a really tight barrel band ring? Mine is tight at 5 o'clock and double thumb tight at 6 o'clock, I can't actually get it to 7.

When Hungry or the Doc say it helps thats good enough for me...:)
I had shimmed the gas system on mine before doing this and the gas lock ring was nice and tight on mine as well , but with the op rod guide moving around I decided to go for it.
Cost me a large double double and I added a Timmies card :cool:
 
This is how it looks after the TIG welding job at 6:00, 2:00 and 10:00
Picture015.jpg

Picture016.jpg


This is my area under the oprod guide, it shows all the punch marks and you can see how it raises the metal around the holes. I was a little enthusiastic with the hammer and punch as I had to file down the edges a tiny bit around the punch marks . As it actually raised the metal a little too much. This along with applying the red loctite and my op rod guide is very secure now.
Picture017.jpg

Chalkriver your center dab marks reminded me of trying to center punch a hole layout for drilling without my reading glasses on.:redface:
 
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