doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Definition of a loose action?

I'd personally just use the full size shim and fit it to the pin after I solder it using a piece of correctly sized drill rod or dowel wrapped in sandpaper. You can use candle soot to see where high points are.

EDIT: By "correctly sized" I mean pin size or less WITH the paper on it, of course, and 400-800 grit paper, not the stuff for woodworking.

Take care,
Chaz

Thanks Jack, can't find the post but I saw him mention 60/40 for barrel ribs so I'm sure it will work for this. And yes, I do understand the edges will need to be feathered to fit the pin, I'll probably use abrasive paper wrapped around a drill rod to fit it.

Thanks,
Chaz

Yes, I didn't think it was really "epoxy", although it does surprise me it's a cyanoacrylate glue! I'm sure it'd probably work if done well, but seems like it'd be a pain to get off to get a surface for a weld or solder if it didn't.

Thanks,
Chaz

SKB,

I assume that's your shop in the link? If so, I can see why you don't want people to fix hooks other ways, if I had a gig charging $350 for a bead of weld and a few minutes of fitting I'd want to keep it that way, too!

BUT, seeing as I don't, if the shim will work as well and have less heat from welding and less time spent grinding, I'll take it. Just because you can does not mean you should. I could mill a brand-new lump if I wanted, but why would I? Kind of like having an engine with one valve that needs lapping, that's otherwise perfect, and rebuilding the entire engine IMO. Good if your scamming $350 for it, otherwise not.

Besides, you do know that these guns are all soldered together, don't you? Not a lot of tig welders around in the 1800's from what I hear. Seems like it may have worked somewhat.

Anyway, take care,
Chaz

Chas,(my correction)

I love you guys who have loose guns and fully equiped machine shops. That machine shop must have cost thousands of dollars to equip and setup. Yet, you haven't a spare dime for the knowledge and expertise of a gunsmith versed in the building and care of double guns. Do you get the same sense of irony that I do?

Its obvious that you know little about the jointing or fitting of a double. Why do you think that you can accumulate the knowledge that a journeyman jointer possesses, with a few mouse clicks.

Take George's advise and seek an expert. Your your time is better spent elseware.

Phil

I tried several of the miracle adhesives and was unhappy until I soldered.

My first soldered shim lasted about 4K rounds before coming loose. I think I feathered it to near zero thickness in a spot or two and once it began to peel it was all over. My second is well beyond 5K now.

I used 60/40 and a propane torch. As stated, the barrels need to go up and back so the shim tapers from top to bottom. It's that thin bottom edge, which is also the leading edge that feels a lot of friction when closing the barrels that caused my first to fail. I wanted 4-5 thou max so I started with a 10 thou piece of feeler gauge that I bent around a drill bit until it held a bit of curl. It's so thin that just touching it with the flame was enough to turn it cherry red and put scale on it. I suppose that softened it somewhat. My hingepin is case hardened so I've no concern. I had to have the shim stock thickly coated with flux but it was doable.

Once tinned, Nial's second post describes my approach exactly. Being as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, I plugged the chambers with wet paper towels, though it's likely unecessary.

Once my shim was soldered in place, I had a lot of metal to move and spent hours with blue magic marker, drill bits and quality papers. I'll even confess to a few passes with a stone in a Dremel tool to get started. I've only done it twice and that probably accounts for the hours of tedium but I'm extremely pleased with the result.

Notice that I never suggested that you spend a dime on this gun. You stated you had a full shop and the skills required to properly repair the gun and I suggested the correct method.

Sorry that offended you so.

Yes I charge real money for quality work. My many repeat customers do not seem to feel this is a scam.

Steve

It always amazes me how people would rather chance screwing a gun up beyond repair than paying a few bucks to have it done right.

Chaz, I will repair loose actions every bit as good as the guys whose work is crap and does not last long. I have a fully equipped workshop and was trained by WC Scott as an apprentice.
If you require this poor workmanship I will provide it free of charge.
Quality and knowledge, I am afraid that due to ever increasing overheads, unfortunately I will have to charge for.

I have visited with the Loctite technical folks about this project and they have concluded that no cyanoacrylate adhesive will long withstand the shear forces put on a glued shim. The nature of all "super glues" is they are very brittle. Loctite's effort to alleviate the problem was to introduce Black Max, which has micron sized rubber particles suspended in it. The techs were somewhat skeptical about its usefulness. I probably attempted half dozen shims with these adhesives. Only one has held and that gun sees very little use.