doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com AH Fox broken part--repair or make a new one?

In stripping the action of the 16ga Fox I have in order to give it a good cleaning, I realized that the "yoke" that connects the rotary bolt to the top-lever axle is broken. One side of the yoke simply broke off--it seemed fine when I pulled it out, I soaked it in TSP for a few minutes to get the gunk off and when I pulled it out to scrub it down it was in two pieces.

The break appears almost "granular", as if it was a cast part. I've posted some ads looking for the part, assuming I have a hard time finding a used one do you suppose it would be better to try and repair this one (by welding?) or to try to make a new one? It appears to be a part I could make myself, but I don't know what type of steel to use nor how to correctly harden it so as not to damage the other parts it is in contact with, etc.

Any thoughts on this? Anyone know if this part is the same size on 12ga vs 16/20ga Foxes?
Thanks,
Dave

Dave:

Make it out of a good grade of tool steel and you will be o.k......the 12 is a larger size than the 20-16 parts......a good machine shop would make you one for very little......and it would be machined correctly to size.....good hard tool steel is quite stout as is.....

I doubt it was ever a cast part, the cracked area probably crystalized and gives that appearance in the cracked surface....could have been an old file mark that continued growing into a crack....anybody's guess.....

I don't think the thumb lever yokes were ever case hardened.....they do not appear to be anyway.....and since the lever and stem are hardened, I doubt they would have designed two hardened pieces working against each other.....something has to flex a little.....

Thanks very much, if I don't have any luck finding a part I will look into that.
Just for my own background, what does "a good grade of tool steel" mean? 1050? 1080?

1080 would be o.k., but there are better tool steels out there, you can check your old broken piece for hardness.....try scratching it with a sharp knife.....that will tell you what you need to know right away..........

There are some tool steels harder than 1080....check with a local machine shop.......they can tell you what's available and its hardness.......

T and M Grade tool steels are used for cutting tools and are very good, F Grade Tool Steel is water hardened and is also good and not as hard as the T and M Grades.......some are oil hardened and some water or air hardened.........like I said on the earlier post, I don't think you want a piece too awful hard, as it needs to be a wear item and I think the yoke is the flexible link in the mechanism....the rotary bolt is not flexible, nor is the lever or stem, so that leaves the yoke....if it is too hard it will be brittle and crack again sooner than a softer steel......all metals 'age' harden with time and are succeptable to cracking, that is probably what happened to your original yoke.....IMO......

The crystalline grain structure sounds to me like it might already be a weld repaired part.

Talk to a good gunsmith about doing it right and it's going to be expensive. Same for a machine shop. I am both and
would strongly suggest you find an original fox part or
perhaps repair by welding the one you have.
The very best answer would be find a parts gun , cheap and
maybe you can break even on the whole deal.

I have worked on that part and getting a Fox to open smooth as a factory gun is not easy.

Those little parts are trickier than you might think to make
correctly.
If you must make one I would suggest case hardened mild steel.

Good luck with your gun ...

Hello
Here is the parts picture

#19

http://www.foxcollectors.com/disassembly.htm

David,i can help you. sent you a PM. Bobby

Thanks Bobby--sent you a PM and an email.

JME, but broken part edges usually look that way, regardless of how they were made. Best wishes with your search. I'm sure you tried GUNPARTSCORP.COM?