doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Forearm lug failures

I don't know about other manufacturers, but I have a few L.C. Smith's that the lug (loop) was loose and on a few older "elsies" they put a short rib between the loop to the end of the barrels. The longer bottom rib and this shorter one helped hold the loop in place even if loose. Sometimes going unnoticed while shooting the loop pushed the bottom rib loose. Also on some of these earlier guns it shows a drawing of a 7-32 screw from in-between the top of barrels (under the top rib) down to the loop holding it in place.



Also on some of the beavertail for-ends there was a screw that went through the top of the for-end wood and attached to the for-end metal. Hunter Arms called this a Recoil Rod and was to relieve the recoil on the loop.



This print was for Regular framed L.C. Smith's and I did not see any drawing for the Featherweight guns showing this screw.

I use a propane torch for the repairs to the lug generally.
Clamp the parts together including the top rib and the bottom ribs in the immediate area.
Heat the area slowly with a gentle flame till the solder flows. Pull the torch away at that point as the metal is plenty hot to keep it melted for a few more seconds at least.
Tighten the clamp(s) just a bit if they seem to need it especially the one one that lug being resoldered. The ones holding the ribs generally don't need tightenin
unless you are resoldering the ribs in place too.
Don't over do it.

Have your solder wire flattened out with a hammer to a paper thin section and touch that to the joints here and there if you think they need any additional solder.
The thin solder will instantly melt and flow into the joint(s).

The main thing is to NOT over heat things. People get nervous when heating the ribs and lugs on a SxS set thinking at some point the whole thing is going to come apart and fall to pieces.
It won't.

Bring the heat up so the solder melts and then flows thru the joints thats all. Any more heat will only burn the flux away and then the solder joint is no good.
Heat the metal around the soldered joints and not the joint directly.

I do use an elec soldering gun, a 200w, to tin the ribs and the bbls when re=ribbing a set of bbl's.
It's quick and clean for that job. A smaller watt gun won't have the power to do it, but the larger one does.
Sometimes right up to the thicker area of the bbls at the forend lug I have to use
a soldering copper to tin the bbl's. The HD soldering gun won't quite be able to do it there. But that goes fast with the copper. I don't like using a torch for the job as it just spreads too
mush heat around for what is being done.

I use the elec soldering gun to fill the muzzle end of the bbls with solder as well.

All clamped together, then the propane torch come back into play to set the ribs down onto the bbls in place. Start at the breech and solder them down towards the muzzle.
The rib(s) grow in length a tiny bit from the heat. If you start at the muzzle, the rib will likely be a bit to long at the breech end to fit right when you get there!



re:
those LCS forend lugs with the screw attachment to a small plate above the bbls..
They can be a pain when a repair comes around.
The lug can get loose even with the reinforcement screw and plate. The solder joint gives way and the loose lug moves regardless of the extra screw.

The problem for the gunsmith is that the lug though loose inbetw the bbls,,is you can't get it out of there.
It's still attached to the small plate above the tubes by that screw.

You can usually slide it a small distance back and forth and lift it a very little distance off of the surface of the bbl's, but that gives you almost no
room to scrape, or otherwise clean the lug and bbl surfaces in there to prep them for a re-solder.

The underrib is usually pushed up a little from the lug being loose and moving forward. That has to be straightened and then also cleaned and tinned for re-solder. But the lug is still in the
way in the bbl's.

Mr kutter you don't tin the loop before you reattach it? I have always cleaned tinned and fluxed the tubes to reattach.thanjs for your insite.mc