doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Who was the man who did the spray welding....

Just passing along an option. I declined the job and thought Ken might be able to help the gent. The gun is actually a Lefever and the adjustment screw is at the end of its travel with the gun still off face. I am not interested in making a screw or welding it up so I thought this may be an option. Thanks.

Might be Keith Kearcher you're thinking of? He did Tig welding to put guns back on face. I understand he's now retired.

Keith welded up a Lefever for a friend of mine some years ago. Worked beautifully but I have no idea how hw did it. Said he broke two screwdrivers trying to remove the ball and gave up.

The local spray welder has a repair facility that specializes in the repair of crankshafts from locomotives. It is an expensive process, but, cheaper than new crankshafts.
I do know for fact he hasn�t purchased a riding lawn mower blade in a few decades. If he had a close friend that needed some welding on a gun, he would likely do it. But, that type of work could not sustain his operation, and would be a distraction to it.
Most guns aren�t worth the effort of an involved repair like that.

Best,
Ted

In regards to firearms, it doesn�t really matter. Spray welding is an atiquated method when you have micro precision laser welding and TIG. Plus, the results are ugly as shit. The material used turns the bite on the hook a funny yellowish color, fugly. I�ve had two guns with intergral hinge pins micro precision laser welded and fitted up, swear to God you cannot tell any work was done. And both hooks are at almost 100% contact. That�s precision.

100% contact is probably impossible to achieve. Anybody who has done close to that is "eye-brow raising" in my book. And, it is more a function of his ability to fit than his ability to weld, IMO.

SRH

Tony South did the welding. Hodgins did the fitting of both the hook and forend. I watched him do it. Stood right there watching. I saw how much contact there was, Stan. When I say �almost 100% contact�, that�s exactly what I meant. You�re right, ones training, ability and talent makes all the difference in the world, and I paid a premium price to have the best work done.

Keith Kearcher mentioned polishing the threads on Lefever compensating screws to get them to run in a little bit deeper to get more adjustment. I've measured a few of these screws on Syracuse Lefever guns, and one of the later D.M. Lefever crossbolt guns. They are a non-standard bastard thread, and they have a slight taper which limits the travel available to put an off the face gun back on face. The compensating screw does no good to tighten loose bolting. The bolt is relatively simple to make, so just making a slightly thicker bolt is as easy as trying to build it up with welding. And sometimes you see one that was tightened by some jackass who peened the notch in the rib extension. Lefever guns are top bolted only.

I'd think trying to build up the hemispherical face of a Lefever compensating screw with any kind of weld, and then machining the hemispherical face correctly would be quite a feat.

Keith;
Apparently, the Leferver compensating screw was made in two configurations over time. I have measured two of them which had straight, non-tapered, threads. These were measured at pitch diameter, not OD, so I know the threads were untapered. What had been done was the internal thread in the frame was not tapped all the way through so the screw began to tighten as it came to position. I know that others do have tapered threads, similar to a pipe thread, though not necessarily the same taper.
You are 100% correct, the ball screw is only for taking up hinge wear & should never be tightened beyond that point to take up bolt wear. To do so will cause the barrels to not be fully closed, contacting the standing breech only at the bottom with a gap at top of the frame.

As I recall the ones I measured were around 7/16" in diameter, but don't recall the threads per inch. Pretty sure now they were a standard 60� form so could be held in a small lathe by the very end & be sized a bit with a three-cornered file, far easier than attempting to weld & fit, as you say.

Also agree 100%, if the bolting is loose make a new bolt. I have an H grade parts gun which was riding hard & put away wet as they say. The barrel is extremely pitted & has a crack, the stock is broken etc, yet it still would adjust on face & bolts tight, albeit the lever is well left of center. Amazingly with the ball screw completely removed that square shouldered Doll's Head still draws the standing breech solidly against the barrels.

In my opinion, any Lefever which has run out of adjustment has really been put through the wringer,

I agree with your assessment of the situation Miller and that is exactly the reason I declined the job. I have been doing this long enough to know when to pass on taking on a job. This was one of those times.