doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Re-soldering O/U side rib.

Opinions please!
A friend has a O/U and the side rib has come lose for three inches from the muzzle.
I explained that there could well be dark things happening deep down in rusty barrel land , and the correct fix is strip, clean, inspect, relay, re-black and the associated cost.
He should be out of intensive care sometime in the future.
Now ! have any of you had success in just re-soldering ribs , (localised repair) if so what skills and method did you use and was it successful?
At the moment the friend is contemplating just scrapping the gun which would be a great shame.

A very good gunsmith in my part of the country has had success using aircraft industry adhesive to glue the rib back in place when it is just a small area at the end. He's done this to Perazzi trap guns and other brands as well.
Jeff

If the area that is loose is small and no one has attempted any repairs like super glue etc, I have had very good luck with localized repairs. I have relayed small sections on many side by side guns successfully. The area has to be clean and free of oil but more often than not it can be done.

As long as the failure is not caused by hot blueing or a previous improper attempt to repair with acid flux spot repairs can be done. Failures involving corrosion or failed glue attempts will need a strip and relay.

If you can clean the area of dirt and oil, Brake Clean seems to work well, you can work a solder and flux paste into to the loose area, clamp it in place an using a propane torch get the metal hot enough for the metal to melt the solder it can work. I have fixed 101's, Brownings, and several MX-8's. It doesn't last forever, but it can last as long as the factory job. I have the best luck with the Gun Smith solder in an tube that Brownells sells,
Jim

I still have some Brit solder that has a very low melt temperature. I tend to have less (no) problems with the original solder if I use proper care. I think the solder is Bismuth based. think not know!

bill

It can be done without damaging the blued finish of the barrels but it is a tricky undertaking though not impossible, but you do need to prepare some specialised tools for the job.
Firstly you need to acquire some feeler gauge blades between 0.025 and 0.035 inch on one side of these you need to fix abrasive wet and dry paper about 800grit on one side of the gauges or just the first 1/2inch from each end, my preferred adhesive is an Epoxy.
To protect the barrel bluing above the rib I do prefer to use Electrical insulation tape because it stands quite a lot of abuse from the abrasives.
Fix the tape to the barrel each side of the rib and push it down well to the joint between the rib and barrel then run a sharp knife down the joint area to remove any tape overlap.
At the muzzle end lift the rib away from the barrels by inserting a match stick, this will make space between the rib and the barrel for you to work with the abrasive you fitted to the feeler gauge blades. By sliding the blades along the gap you can clean the barrel wall and of course the rib, this will be a slow and tedious job and to obtain a better contact you can bend the gauges to the correct profile. Don't stint on this operation the longer you work at it the better the final outcome will be.
Remove the Electrical insulation tape and clean the whole area to remove any tape adhesive residue remove the match stick and push the rib down to its final position because we need to apply a resist to the barrels and rib to stop ant stray solder from sticking where we don�t want it to be. Now the traditional method of stopping solder from adhering is to use a soft lead pencil which you rub on to the metal to prevent the solder sticking, so rub this on both sides of the rib and barrel above the joint line.
Next apply an Acid free solder flux to the joint area, I use a flux I make from rosin (Violin Rosin works well but it is rather expensive) dissolved in Ethanol. Then clamp the rib down using a small metal wedge passed under a couple of thorns of wire wrapped around the barrels.
The Solder I use is electrical grade solder 60% tin 40% lead because firstly it works well with a rosin based flux also it has a lower melting point than many other solders. Heat the barrels gently bringing it up to soldering temperature (get it too hot and you will change the barrel bluing colour) and apply the solder to the joint applying heat gently along the joint line to help the solder flow.
This type of repair is not for the beginner but it is good to know how it is done all the same,
So may be this post would be better in DIY Gunsmithing.

OOps I did forget to say that the Solder I use is in the form of a paste and very easy to keep from places you don't want it to be.

I think you are absolutely correct considering the English climate. Not doing the repair properly is just asking for trouble later.
JMO of course

have another day
Dr.WtS