Well it happened finally, sloppy barrel fit

[rickt300]

I bought a 30-06 barrel from the classifieds.  It looks like someone fitted it to a frame using a 3/8th inch rattail file and didn't keep their work true to the original notch.  I have plenty of horizontal wiggle to conend with.  When the wife goes to work I'll get it out and see how much tolerance I have to remove with a feeler gauge and aluminum shims made from beer can.  The notch is wallowed out to .390 on one side.  Any ideas?

[quickdtoo]

Epoxy and a steel shim as described in the FAQs, that project was started on a barrel exactly like yours, it still shoots very well at last report from Doug(canon6), I did use a very thick shim in it, .026" stainless IIRC, it originally had more epoxy in it, I removed the epoxy and used a thicker shim and just enough epoxy to hold it, regular JB Weld, not the stik. I've since switched to Superweld on the last two I've done.

Tim

[maglvr44]

I bought a 30-06 barrel from the classifieds.  It looks like someone fitted it to a frame using a 3/8th inch rattail file and didn't keep their work true to the original notch.  I have plenty of horizontal wiggle to conend with.  When the wife goes to work I'll get it out and see how much tolerance I have to remove with a feeler gauge and aluminum shims made from beer can.  The notch is wallowed out to .390 on one side.  Any ideas?

If you're handy with a torch, a good steel shim silver soldered in place would give you a good solid platform to start on.
If you're not so handy with silver soldering, good old JB will more than likely do it!

[Hammerspur]

If you're handy with a torch, a good steel shim silver soldered in place would give you a good solid platform to start on.If you're not so handy with silver soldering, good old JB will more than likely do it!

I've done the epoxy/shim method but soldering sure sounds like the bee's knees to me.
A tutorial from someone well versed in silver soldering would be a fantastic addition to the stickies!

Any good fella' care to volunteer? 

 

[maglvr44]

If you're handy with a torch, a good steel shim silver soldered in place would give you a good solid platform to start on.If you're not so handy with silver soldering, good old JB will more than likely do it!

I've done the epoxy/shim method but soldering sure sounds like the bee's knees to me.
A tutorial from someone well versed in silver soldering would be a fantastic addition to the stickies!

Any good fella' care to volunteer? 

 

If you google "soldering steel" there is a vast amount of info on the web, from folks that have been doing it forever or longer. Great info.

[Jimbo47]

Hmmm....I've done silver soldering a little a while back but that's an interesting thought on fitting a barrel.

I've got one that I JB'd the shim in place and so far it's still holding up.

Might go that route if it ever shoots loose.  I could see using the clay type JB to build up a dam around the shim and hold it in place temporarily in order to solder it.

Very good possibilities!

[quickdtoo]

I've got another option that I'll try on the next barrel, I bought a MIG welder last week, gonna try to build up the pivot, then cut it to fit, I'll hook up a hose to run water thru the bore to keep it cool.

Tim

[Hammerspur]

I've got another option that I'll try on the next barrel, I bought a MIG welder last week, gonna try to build up the pivot, then cut it to fit, I'll hook up a hose to run water thru the bore to keep it cool.Tim

  That sounds good! Been wanting a MIG w/gas regulator to tackle sundry alloy fabrications on motorcycle stuff... aluminum, stainless. A 110V unit would be sufficient.

Certainly would be much better for small pieces than what I have.
Done quite a bit of heavier tasks with my trusty ol' 220V Airco stick welder, frame stuff, etc.

OK let's see... want that MIG, and a small oxy/acet torch set for brazing and metal shaping/tempering,
combo lathe/mill Smithie kind of machine...

"Santa?" 

[rickt300]

Turned out to be a piece of cake.  I used the JB weld and feeler gauge shim and it worked perfectly.  It now locks up a solid as any of my other barrels.  In reality I think it could easily be done using regular solder and it would be much stronger than epoxie to hold it in place.  In fact if the shim comes loose or otherwise fails I will solder it back on.

[rickt300]

Why not build the area up with solder, and sand it in to fit?  If JB weld can stand the pressure why wouldn't solder?  By the way I shot the rifle with the 30-06 barrel and nothing changed as far as the barrel tightness.  It seems to be a minimum headspaced rifle at present.  I haven't scoped it yet but will put a 2x7 leupold on it when I get ready.

[quickdtoo]

Just an uneducated guess, but lead based solder wouldn't likely be very resilient and would probably hammer out, JB Weld's compressive strength is 10.7kpsi, Superweld has compressive strength of 36kpsi, a simple test would be easy to do, drop a weight from a specific height on a lump of solder and a lump of cured epoxy and see which one holds up better. 

Tim

[rickt300]

There are different types of solders out there, some way harder than others.  But Superweld sounds like something to look into.  If it's that tough I might try FredM's method.   Truthfully I am a machinist and I had everything I needed out in the garage to do this. I have a set of gauge pins and used the .371+ pin to seat the shim (.002).  I used some JB weld that was at least ten years old.  I considered brazing it up and milling it to match the way my 44 magnum barrel is set up.  But easy is easy and as long as it works I am all for it.

[Jimbo47]

By soldering the steel shim into place the solder is actualy only holding it or bonding it in place to the lug.

I wouldn't want to use just the solder alone to fill the gap as like Tim says it would probably hammer out over time.

With the welder you could tack weld the shim into place thus maybe not needing to use the water to cool the barrel maybe just a wet towel?

[quickdtoo]

I use an actual hinge pin to seat and epoxy shims in place, I have an extra that I removed from a frame that was an experiment done by NCSurveyor. My 500 S&W barrel has a JB'd shim in it, it's still as tight as the day I fitted it after about 150 rounds including the 700gr T-Rex loads. The Superweld barrels haven't been tested much yet, it still remains to be seen how well it works.

Jimbo, I didn't plan on using a shim, just lay a enough beads to cover the entire pivot surface, one at a time letting it cool between runs, then file it to fit using the jig I made.

Tim

[Jimbo47]

I figured that's how you were going to do it.    More of a permanent fix rather than a shim job, and that would make for a more professional way of fixing it.

I like the easy way the shim and JB works, and the Super weld sounds like it's even better.

I need to try that Super weld on my next barrel, and so far the JB is holding up, so unless I aquire another barrel soon, it will be a while it seems before I get a chance to use it.

[zoner]

if your buying a mig welder,particularly a 110V,one of the best units out there is the Hobart Handler.....

[Cat Whisperer]

I have tested some of the electronic lead-free solder (96.5% tin, 3% silver and 0.5% copper) when cast into an ingot it MEASURES 42 on the Rockwell B scale.  That's about as hard as solder gets.

[Hammerspur]

I use an actual hinge pin to seat and epoxy shims in place, I have an extra that I removed from a frame...Tim

So do I, "DUH!" 
It came from a damaged Topper frame I now use as my 'mule' to fit stock wrists.

Now, Why was it I'd used drills, etc. to form shims? 

[quickdtoo]

Now, Why was it I'd used drills, etc. to form shims? 

That's a great place to start until you acquire something better!! 

Tim

[Hammerspur]

If you google "soldering steel" there is a vast amount of info on the web, from folks that have been doing it forever or longer. Great info.

You're right, lots of info available... Thanks! 

  Only I "Yahooed" it... Google gone "Bye-Bye"