doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Safe to solder Fox bbl?

I have a 20g Fox SW. Bbls are uncut, but the bottom 1/3 of the hour glass-shaped fillet between the bbls at the muzzle has been pushed down into the space between the ribs. The ribs are totally intact and ring true. I'd like to fill the hole in and was wondering if I could drop a bead of solder in then stone it flat.
My concern is the melting temp of the solder used originally to lay the ribs. Last thing I want to do is melt that and face having to get them repaired/relaid.
I bought a tube of silver solder last pm that was marked low temp (420), but I'm thinking if Fox used lead/tin it probably has an even lower MP. . . I wanted to check w/ you all before going down this road. How would the pros do it?
Any advice?
Thanks,
Bill

Brownells sells a low temp solder that melts at 275 degrees. Or you could put some heat control paste on the ribs to keep them cool. I have made small spot repairs on ribs by making heat sinks to keep the area past where I am working from getting too hot. Used dry ice on one job with wet cotton to make a safe area which heat I was using could do no harm to the rest of the gun. It is all about keeping a minor repair from becoming a major disaster as you have said. But minor repairs can often be done with what you have if you take precautions to keep the bores and ribs cool.

Bill, I had a Fox with the same problem. I mixed up a little
JB WELD,filled the opening ,then blended it in with a little sandpaper.It was almost impossible to detect.

I use a small jeweler's torch and low melt solder. Want to watch? I am in Earlysville behind the airport.

I use a small jeweler's torch and low melt solder. Want to watch? I am in Earlysville behind the airport.

Sorry, hit the submit twice.

Clean up the end and the sides of the cavity with a sharp instrument to get a good clean base for the new solder to hold. Flux it with a Non corrosive flux and using an electric soldering gun ( I use a common Weller pistol grip type) you can seal it up in nothing more than a few seconds time with no fear of disturbing the ribs at all. No flame to worry about, nice and clean. No need for clamps, heat sinks, wire wraps, etc. Just tin the soldering gun tip well, use the high heat if it has one and add a bit of solder if needed. If the cavity is extra deep (or was open ended), a small tuft of clean steel wool tucked down in there will take up some space and also provide some extra strength to the solder. If it were open ended, it would prevent the solder from running down into the space and instead would fill and plug the end as needed. Clean it off with a file instead of a stone as a stone will just fill with the lead and become useless. Do the final trim with grit paper backed with a file to what ever polish you want. Keep it square!
BTW that solder you bought will work fine, it's just silver bearing solder, same as Brownells Force 44 is. The melting temp is more than OK for the job but most any lead/tin solder will do. The silver bearing solders will stay bright and not turn that dark gray shade like the lead/tin solders do though.
True silver solders have melting points in the 1000* range +/- and are not what you're looking for in this case.

I wouldn't solder anything.
Take a small piece of lead (a .22 bullet would do) pound it flat 1/8" thick, cut a piece just slightly larger than the area to fill, lay in on the muzzle and lightly tap into place with a brass hammer. I'll bet it will last longer than you do.

I second the recommendation for JB Weld. I have done it and it looks fine.

Well, you can't beat the offer that Prof Apperson made.

If I had the problem I'd go the traditional route and wire the end together like re-laying and use rosin flux and a propane torch. It takes only a few minutes to wire the ribs/barrels and it gives confidence that you won't mess up and loosen the ribs.