doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Thoughts on TIG welding on a barrel

Would like to get some thoughts on this. A fellow posted on the L.C. Smith site and said a friend of his had a 20 ga. Field Gun stolen. The owner is the original owner and the gun is in very good condition, as described by his friend that posted.
A neighbor saw who it was and called the police, they went to the house and the kid was in the process of sawing the barrels off. Poster said that about 20% of one barrel was cut. Wanted to know if another set of barrels were available or should his friend sell it as a parts gun.

I responded and asked how far from the breech the cut was and where it was located (away from rib/s) I figured 20% on a 20 ga. barrel would be somewhere near 3/8". I told him if the cut was 16-18" from the breech, I would find someone that was an excellent TIG welder, weld it. Also said he should have a plug made to fit the bore under the cut and it should be made out of something that the tungsten wouldn't adhere to. Or no plug and the I.D. would have to be honed in that area. Naturally the outside would have to be addressed also.
Just my thought. Any others?

JDW:
You might find a set of barrels. But welding up these is a bad idea. At least its not a Boss.

what if it had been a Crown Grade ! Bobby

Bobby:
I'm referring to the value of loss, sir. I wouldn't weld a Boss barrel either.

Dear Mr. Welder, better sign off all your assets before starting this jhob.

I bought a Fox Sterly from a local shop some years ago. Nothing special about it. hunted it for a week or so, and noticed that a spot on the right Bbl changed color. It had been welded. The shop owner determined that, gave me my money back, without me asking for it, and cut the bbls into pieces in front of my very eyes..

If it were my gun, I think I would be looking to saw something off that kid . . . .

With some reservations, I think there might be a possibility that this could be done safely. I'd be leery of doing this if the cut/weld area was anywhere between the breech and several inches ahead of the forearm area where your fingers could be damaged if the repair failed. My first several shots would definitely be done with heavy loads and the gun tied to a tire and a long string to pull the trigger... you know, American Proof House. Then if it held, low pressure loads only. If the cut was anywhere near the ribs, the heat would almost certainly melt the solder joint. If it was on the side of the barrel away from the ribs, one could do the repair with the good tube and the ribs just under the surface of a tank of water so that the heat could never separate the ribs. I would want to have a close fitting plug of copper bar inside the barrel that would act as both a heat sink, and provide a back-up surface that the weld would not stick to. This is commonly done when TIG welding thin steel. The purpose is not to keep the thoriated tungsten from sticking because you absolutely never want the tip of the tungsten to touch anything or it will become contaminated and need reground. I might also consider filling the barrel with Argon-CO2 gas to prevent scale formation.

After welding and cooling, the copper plug would be driven out and the repair area lightly honed inside and dressed outside. Reblueing would be necessary of course, and it wouldn't be a shock to find that the weld took blueing differently than the base metal.

I said I had some reservations about this, safety being foremost. I don't think barrel steel would be an air hardening variety that would become brittle from welding and cooling, but I couldn't say that for certain. Before anyone pillories me for thinking this could work, I'd ask them to consider that Damascus barrels are composed of a lot more welds than filling in 3/8" of hacksaw kerf.

Keith, thanks for the information, just what I was looking for. The gentleman whose friend owns the gun said he was going to send me some pictures of the area and I will post them.

In my original post I had told him if the cut area was 16-18" from the breech I felt it could be welded. I am not sure of the make-up on the type of steel the barrels are made of, but being a 20 ga L.C. Smith they are steel and were called Armor Steel.

My post about the tungsten tip hitting the barrels was wrong, that's what would happen if I did it.
I also don't think the welding would harden the steel as it is not a carbon steel.

Here are two pictures. Looking at them, it looks like the hacksaw blade did not go all the way through. The other thing is it looks to be less than 16" from breech.