Soldering a forestock nut to shotgun barrel

[schemer]

Hi fellow enthusiast's. I have a question for the gunsmith types out there. I am going to repair a shotgun where the nut that appears to be silver soldered from the factory, has broke off close to the barrel. Is the best way to just clean the broken pieces and re-silver solder with some low temp (430 degree) solder? Or clean it up to the bare barrel and start over? The nut is a 1/4-28 thread and is about 1/2" long and maybe 3/8" diameter in the shape of a cylinder. The break is clean and the piece can easily be put back in the same position it was in. It is an older Remington single shot.
Thanks,
schemer

[schemer]

At ease gentlemen,
The project is finished and delivered to the happy customer. I couldn't have done it without your help. (JK)
schemer

[Harold_V]

At ease gentlemen,
The project is finished and delivered to the happy customer. I couldn't have done it without your help. (JK)
schemer

Congrats on the completion of your project, but I hope you didn't use soft solder. If the soldered joint is subject to much abuse, you can expect the job to return, and now that you've applied soft solder, you may not have the option of doing the job a second time without some serious cleanup. Soft solder isn't really suited to repairs unless they are simply cosmetic, or there's a lot of surface area involved. It's relatively low in tensile strength, even with a small silver content.

I was unable to check the board today until this evening. I'd have quickly offered my thoughts had I been able to do so.

Harold

[schemer]

Hi Harold,
Thanks for the followup. I used 20,000 psi silver solder. I did so based on some other research I did, and the fact that the harder the solder, the higher the temps needed. I also did it to avoid potential problems with changes the properties of the barrel, due to excessive heat, to be as safe as possible. The barrel is about 1/16" thick and if I changed the properties by hardening the steel, you never know what might happen. Anyway, I explained that all to the customer and if it doesn't hold I will go from there...
schemer

[Harold_V]

A good choice, for sure. I was worried that you might have used something in the 5,000 psi range, which would most likely lead to another failure.

I once owned a 20 ga Baretta double barrle (side by side) that had the rib come loose. Ended up buying a Browning as a replacement. Didn't want to face having it repaired for reasons I outlined in my first post. I have no idea what became of the Baretta, as it was traded in with the purchase of the Browning.

Harold

[schemer]

A good choice, for sure. I was worried that you might have used something in the 5,000 psi range, which would most likely lead to another failure.

I once owned a 20 ga Baretta double barrle (side by side) that had the rib come loose. Ended up buying a Browning as a replacement. Didn't want to face having it repaired for reasons I outlined in my first post. I have no idea what became of the Baretta, as it was traded in with the purchase of the Browning.

Harold

Harold,
You probably could have fixed that. But Browning's are nice too. The most critical part is the temperature so you don't go changing the temper or hardness. I suppose it also depends where the soldering is done etc. Anyhow, time will tell, there is always a "plan b".
schemer

[steamin10]

Such barrel work is usually set up to furnace braze and the assembly brought close to temperature and then finished with a hand piece torch, to flow the solder out and remove any excess with wicking material. The oven is shut off and the part returned to slow cool with the oven, and preclude unwanted stresses from uneven cooling. The silver is close to but not into the range of steel modifying temperatures. Careful flame use is needed, but it is the same process used when doubles are built, with the rib spacer between. If you notice, the commercial units never have a slop of silver anywhere, because the preparation is perfect and the flowout is good because of the even heat throughout the unit, hard to do with only a hand torch that tends to localize in one region, and the solder will not flow evenly without the even temperature.

I am going to build a small Corvette, and will address such issues when the barrels are joined. It should be a fun project, for cap and ball.

[JackF]

Big Dave,

Will you be running a small big block or a small small block in the small Corvette?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Jack.