welding on a barrel
- Thread starter cdnrokon
- Start date
Aside from possibly warping, it would look weird when you re blue, being a different steel. I filled some decorative scroll work on a barrel with jb weld once because I knew I was doing a duracoat camo job and didn’t want it on there. If you do weld, small spots and give it plenty of time to dissipate the heat and not get too hot
- Location
- Western Manitoba
There must be an acceptable way to weld on a barrel - I once had a 1968-ish Winchester Model 70 in 375 H&H - the secondary recoil lug was welded in a slot in that barrel - by the Winchester factory. That weld was clearly visible as a weld - so it was done after the thing was at finish diameter, but likely before it was blued. Some time ago, I read that anytime heat is applied to outside of barrel, like soldering on a sight ramp - that you will want to protect the rifling from that heat - or you get rust right away.
KyleSchenk
CGN Regular
I share the same opinion. Metallurgy aside, that sum beotch is probably gonna move 3 counties over and end up in banana ville all distorted. You're going to be putting stresses into the metal with welding and then relieving stresses through machining.
I have filed many front and rear sight holes in barrels with a tig, no issues with heat or warping. A tig and be on and off with in a second and do what is call cold welding.
Dove tails are a bit much. I have done them on 22 rimfire barrels but probably wouldn't fill one one a center-fire although you could make a fitted piece and then fusion weld it in place so it's part of the barrel, but at the same time you could solder that in place.
As for the letters on a barrel I'm not sure. I'd probably file/mill it down if octagon and if round is turn it down. To tig that would be a lot of heat since it's so long. You would have to do a dab, cool it do another dab and cool it until you are done. Lengthy process since you can only get 3mm a dab..then still need to file and clean it up.
As for filler you can use what ever type of steel the barrel is. Anything new is 4140/4150 or 416, if it's old and you are really worried about it but a worn out barrel of the same and use it for filler
But you can use a filler that will blue to a similar color, the nickel content of barrel or filler makes a big difference
You could look into Laser welding, that should work if you wanted to pay for it. They fill pretty large pits in antique guns and don't affect the steel very much so there is a very good chance they could fill stamps
Dove tails are a bit much. I have done them on 22 rimfire barrels but probably wouldn't fill one one a center-fire although you could make a fitted piece and then fusion weld it in place so it's part of the barrel, but at the same time you could solder that in place.
As for the letters on a barrel I'm not sure. I'd probably file/mill it down if octagon and if round is turn it down. To tig that would be a lot of heat since it's so long. You would have to do a dab, cool it do another dab and cool it until you are done. Lengthy process since you can only get 3mm a dab..then still need to file and clean it up.
As for filler you can use what ever type of steel the barrel is. Anything new is 4140/4150 or 416, if it's old and you are really worried about it but a worn out barrel of the same and use it for filler
But you can use a filler that will blue to a similar color, the nickel content of barrel or filler makes a big difference
You could look into Laser welding, that should work if you wanted to pay for it. They fill pretty large pits in antique guns and don't affect the steel very much so there is a very good chance they could fill stamps
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Sounds like a lot more work than necessary... can the breech/plug be tweaked so you can rotate the stamping to the bottom?
What are we talking, round or octagon (what maker)?
You could also cut the area out and inset a small brass/whatever plate for your own marking.
As far as welding... sure, I suppose - I would not be too worried about warping in the last 3/4 inches of a barrel at the breech end being a problem.
Again, welding and machining sounds like a lot of work - sure it will work, but I would be looking for other solutions....
Honestly, I would grab some anti-oxidation coating, smear it inside the barrel (alternatives are Inert Gas fill, like, using your shielding gas, or just take your chances), and try to keep the heat inputs down as well as possible.
Everything from old Cooeys, to TC Contenders, uses a welded on block as the basis for the joining of the barrel and action.
Despite the hand-wringers suppositions, barrels are not that special, as far as alloys go. They tend to lean heavily towards 'easy to machine', or 'easy to displace' (button rifling), and other than a few outfits selling their secret snake oil treatments, whether they are heat or cold based (both, forms of heat treatment).
Feinwerkbau, a German maker of Olympic quality firearms and air arms, built a pistol, that had the barrel do a complete loop around the compressed gas cylinder. It shot as well as their other fine products!
https://images.proxibid.com/AuctionImages/3693/253387/FullSize/236-7.jpg
This was largely accepted as proof that what happens in the last bit of the barrel, means a LOT more than what happens in the rest of it.
OP,
To TIG weld the script in your barrel.
The bore needs to be clean w/o any trace of carbon.
Purge the barrel bore while welding.
The final blending will require manual blending since the TIG bead will be slightly harder than the parent material.
Remove any copper anti-corrosion coating from the 4140 MIG .023"-.030" filler wire or weld & parent color will not match.
To TIG weld the script in your barrel.
The bore needs to be clean w/o any trace of carbon.
Purge the barrel bore while welding.
The final blending will require manual blending since the TIG bead will be slightly harder than the parent material.
Remove any copper anti-corrosion coating from the 4140 MIG .023"-.030" filler wire or weld & parent color will not match.
