Feeling great about success today about gettting my Field SLE project back on face by TIG welding, smoking, and filing. I've failed at that task before, so I guess I learned from it.
The weld cooled slowly, and I'm wondering if it needs to be hardened. If so, how do you heat it but not compromise the solder, etc.? If not, thanks for reading the post nonetheless.
It is not a viable thing to undertake hardening the barrel hook, much to much heat needed. The hook is filed up to return the barrels on face and then left as is, then the wear process will start again then in time the whole process will have to be repeated.
Thank you for confirming what I thought was the case, yet I wanted to check here for a trade secret I was perhaps unaware of. I'd done this repair before on another gun, when less skilled and experienced, so am thankful this one worked out so well.
Hooks do not get hardened.
I doubt if very many people either live long enough, or shoot a particular gun enough to wear out a hook a second time. Keeping the wearing surfaces clean and lubricated should be more than sufficient.
You can go to the main double gun forum and start another thread asking for recommendations on the best hinge pin lube. That's always been a crowd pleaser!
Seriously, a wee dab of any old synthetic grease is all you need. Grease stays put better than oil. Clean and replace it under dirty or dusty conditions before it becomes an abrasive paste.
I stirred the pot elsewhere asking an honest question about why Fox didn't elect to offer anything with damascus, when Parker, Smith, Lefever, and others were at the time. Folks got all riled up about it, debating the evils of damascus. That wasn't even my question. The question was pertaining to the business decision. So, I'll stay away from The Great Lube Debate.
I generally end up with long neglected and abused guns. My former rejoining experience was with a Parker. I learned a great deal, and bought too many roll joints. Thankfully I learned enough so that when the Field came along and needed the same work, it went well this time. Proud of the work, and would prefer to be able to buy something unbroken for a change, but it's ended well and that's good.
Just a look back in to my dim past. At the very start of my first Engineering course at collage we where all given a piece of black mild steel 11/2 inches thick by 2 by 2 inches with the instruction to file it flat and square on all sides. We where given a year to accomplish this task, though not one person managed to do it using hand tools though a lot of us came close. One bright spark gave a piece of steel the same size to his Farther who was a tool maker and he put it on a surface grinder with a perfect result.
I only mention this because as old school as it is it gave me the insight of how to file flat and straight, a skill worth its weight in Gold!!
Same test as my late Granddad passed- then opened his own machine shop in the Queen City just prior to the outbreak of WW1 in Europe. Filing rough (Hot rolled steel) mild steel into a perfect cube with just files and a try square and a solid vise is an art not known today, modern milling machines, surface grinders and CAD-CAM have archived that skill- but any good gunsmith will have a large array of files and know how to use them properly.
I stirred the pot elsewhere asking an honest question about why Fox didn't elect to offer anything with damascus, when Parker, Smith, Lefever, and others were at the time. Folks got all riled up about it, debating the evils of damascus. That wasn't even my question. The question was pertaining to the business decision. So, I'll stay away from The Great Lube Debate.
I generally end up with long neglected and abused guns. My former rejoining experience was with a Parker. I learned a great deal, and bought too many roll joints. Thankfully I learned enough so that when the Field came along and needed the same work, it went well this time. Proud of the work, and would prefer to be able to buy something unbroken for a change, but it's ended well and that's good.
On that topic it is simply a matter of timing. Fox was one of the last to the game in the american double gun market getting its start around the end of the first decade of the 20th century. By this time, fluid steel barrels were becoming more and more common.
I stirred the pot elsewhere asking an honest question about why Fox didn't elect to offer anything with damascus, when Parker, Smith, Lefever, and others were at the time. Folks got all riled up about it, debating the evils of damascus. That wasn't even my question. The question was pertaining to the business decision. So, I'll stay away from The Great Lube Debate.
I generally end up with long neglected and abused guns. My former rejoining experience was with a Parker. I learned a great deal, and bought too many roll joints. Thankfully I learned enough so that when the Field came along and needed the same work, it went well this time. Proud of the work, and would prefer to be able to buy something unbroken for a change, but it's ended well and that's good.
On that topic it is simply a matter of timing. Fox was one of the last to the game in the american double gun market getting its start around the end of the first decade of the 20th century. By this time, fluid steel barrels were becoming more and more common.
Thanks. Makes sense. I would have expected some use of damascus on higher grade guns perhaps.
So, to clarify, if a welded hook gun shoots loose not long after it is welded, that is because it wasn't filed correctly, and not because it wasn't hardened, is that correct?
The fit of the bolt is also important. I have a Husky hammer gun that could be put back on face and shoot loose in less than a season. After putting it on face and having the bolt fit correctly it is still tight after 3 seasons with a high round count.