It Just fell off...

[boomslang]

A couple of years ago I had a gunsmith cut the barrel of a NM Super Blackhawk down to 5 1/2 inches and solder on a new front sight and refinish the gun in a matt finish. He did a great job... so I thought. Today I had the gun out and (I shot it back during Christmas) and was giving it a quick wipe down... AND the front sight fell off! Yikes!





obviously a poor soldering job. I can't take it back to the guy, because he moved to Alaska (I live in NC). Don't even think he is doing gunsmithing. Good thing.

So now I have this beautifully finished (to me) gun without a front sight.

I know to re-solder it back on will ruin the finish and I will have to get the whole thing (barrel and frame) redone.

If I found a good gunsmith, do you think he could drill a tapered hole in the sight and a shallow threaded hole in the barrel and just bolt it on like the Single Six or the 10 1/2 inch super?

Suggestions please.

Here is picture with the sight just sitting on the barrel. Looks perfect... except it is not.

 

[GasGuzzler]

EDIT, that wasn't very nice of me. :D

 

[Robb Barnes]

You ought to be able to have it drilled and tapped and screwed on. The other alternative is to send it to Jim Stroh and have him matte one of his ubercool front sights that he screws on.

 

[WOB]

A careful craftsman can resolder it with something like Brownells Hi-Force 44 and not mar the bluing. It takes some time and care but can be done. I can't recommend anyone in particular, but they are out there.

WOB

 

[WIL TERRY]

I HAVE USED BROWNELL's EPOXY over the years on several situations like this and not a one of 'em has ever fallen off again; EVER!

 

[Chuck 100 yd]

It can be soldered back on but to do it without damaging the rest of the finish is doubtful. It can be done but the extra care needed to do it would offset the cost of a refinish. Bead blasting of the barrel only needs to be done before dropping the hole frame/barrel assembly in the bluing tank. I would have the cylinder done too to cover the drag line. If drilled and screwed on,I would want that solder removed that is there first. Like Will said, Brownells epoxy is great stuff and if it did come off you would just be back where you are now.

What would I do? Solder + refinish.

 

[Justice B. Swift]

Mask the finish on the barrel "outside" the foot print of the sight-base, then take a very fine file and CAREFULLY remove as much of the solder as you can. Do the same to the underside of the sight base. Use a two-part, metal based epoxy called "J-B Weld" to re-attach the sight. Use the "original" formula and don't try to rush the drying time. Once cured, your done for life. I have used this stuff for engine block repair and it can be drilled and tapped like iron. Machine shops use this stuff all the time for "heli-coil" inserts and aluminum repairs. It's excellent... and cheap. You can find it at any good hardware store and most auto parts stores. Test it on some scrap metal parts and try to separate them, you'll be convinced.
You could re-solder using "jewelers" low-temp solder, perhaps without finish damage, but who knows how long it will stay? Just my $.02
-Just B.S.-

 

[boomslang]

Thank you all for your replies. I think I am going to try the JB Weld route. Like one poster said, if it doesn't work I am no worse off.

 

[contender]

If you use the JB Weld, make sure you get some clean metal to adhere to. After masking, a GENTLE hand on a Dremel sanding wheel can remove the old solder.

 

[onehandgunner]

Is there not a hole in the barrel and sight for a "locating" pin ?

 

[Carry_Up]

Unfortunately the factory chose not to dovetail the sight, which is the right way to do it. As on my Vaquero, the front sights are soldered on using solder paste. Solder paste is just soft solder in a spiffy new paste form, but it is still soft solder. The right way to solder a front sight is by using silver solder, which is actually silver brazing. Temps are around 1100-1200 degrees to get a permanent job. Then you risk barrel distortion if you overheat it and don't know what you are doing.

I asked the factory to silver solder my sight back on, but they declined. Glue is not a fix for the front sight, unless you don't mind re-doing the job periodically. It would be great to have aftermarket dovetailed sights for the single actions, even though it wouldn't be historically correct. I would do it in a minute.

carry_up

 

[GasGuzzler]

I have several things put back together with REAL JB weld. There are copies. It's not glue. Some were done 30+ years ago.

 

[powder smoke]

What about bringing back to the Smith who did the work?

Seems to me he should stand behind it!

 

[Precision32]

It looks like it was soft soldered. I'd get some flux, flux the sight/barrel and just re-solder it together. Temps are only in the 400-450 F range and should not effect the bluing if done right.

 

[pokute]

Any epoxy or polyester based adhesive that you try to use is going to soften at the temperature the barrel reaches in normal use, and eventually give up. I think Precision32 is correct, and it was soft-soldered. Somebody who knows a little about guns and a little more about electronic assembly can probably do a passable job of soldering it using a heat gun. I could do it in a heartbeat.

 

[tek4260]

Maybe reattach it with a screw? Seems like it would be the second easiest fix behind resoldering what you already have there.

 

[992B]

Years ago I sent and old Super to SSK in Wintersville, Ohio for barrel cutoff and replacement of front sight. The front sight was put on with a screw that is tightened by an allen wrench. That way if I choose to shoot heavy for caliber bullets I can change to a higher blade sight. Locktite the threads and it is there until you want to remove it. J.D. Jones is a craftsman and gunsmith of the highest order. Gary

 

[pokute]

If you shoot a lot, the screw won't do it (I mean, of course, the screw job done by an armchair gunsmith (like me) - Someone with experience screwing things to the end of barrels can make it work - Just like the solder, there's a right way and a wrong way). It will come loose (Loctite goes to hell at about 200 degrees - Less once you've cleaned the gun a couple of times and the Hoppe's has had a chance to get at the Loctite). Properly done, soft solder is permanent (The soldering job on the OP's gun was totally botched). If you don't shoot a lot, the screw idea is dandy. I shoot the Colt prewar target front sight (it has an adjusting screw and a "lock screw") loose in an hour if I don't glue the blade into the channel with Black loctite.

 

[5of7]

Any Machinist with access to a vertical spindle milling machine can re-attache it in 15 minuets with a screw.

Apply some Locktite® to the threads and it will bot come off due to recoil. 8)

 

[tek4260]

Forgive the sorry picture, but if you reattach it with a screw you can leave the screw head a bit "tall" by the depth of your countersink. Then you can file the screw head to match the contour of the sight. Just something I was playing with

 

[Hondo44]

It sure looks like a 'cold solder joint', the official word for amateur work. It also looks like soft solder which can shoot loose even when properly done. Silver solder has a goldish tint. Silver solder in ribbon form is the proper type and the new low temp will do a fine job. A good smith will use 'heat fence' in the bore and on the finish to keep from burning the finish off and decarbonizing the barrel bore.

I haven't used a heat gun or know if it's hot enough for even low temp silver solder. But if it doesn't apply an open flame to the surface, it would be ideal.

I have screwed many on after shortening barrels and they hold up. But like 'onehandgunner' posted above, the sights from Ruger have a pin that indexes in a hole in the barrel for added strength to the solder, screw or epoxy and holds the sight in alignment, which method of affixing it that you use. Your faux gunsmith must have ground it off!

Start with a new sight with pin if you do the work. Or add a pin by drilling a short 1/16" hole in sight base under the sight blade and in the barrel. Then cut off a piece of the drill bit shank and you'll have a pin that fits your holes precisely. I too would start with Will Terry's idea of the Brownells epoxy. I'm not a fan of JB weld but it has worked well to reattach front sight blades back in the mortise in the barrel on Vaqueros, etc.

'powder smoke' should read the thread before posting.

 

[gtxmonte]

Another vote for the JB Weld. Done properly it will NEVER come off again, don't care how much you shoot it.

 

[Old Shooter]

All good ideas, combine them by pinning the sight use a steel rod drill bits are to brittle a piece of grade 5 bolt is good. Clean the mess off, countersink an allen screw in the rear and JB weld it and forget about it.
You do not need a gunsmith to do the work, just someone with a mill and a small bit of talent and common sense.

 

[Hondo44]

All good ideas, combine them by pinning the sight use a steel rod drill bits are to brittle a piece of grade 5 bolt is good. Clean the mess off, countersink an allen screw in the rear and JB weld it and forget about it.
You do not need a gunsmith to do the work, just someone with a mill and a small bit of talent and common sense.

Drill bits are brittle, but drill bit "shanks" are not. That's why they get scored or burred if the chuck is not tightened properly and happen to spin in the chuck.

Don't even need a mill, just someone with drilling and tapping skill.

 

[Johnnu2]

I've used JB Weld to attach my version of a trigger stop on some of my S&Ws that were produced without them........ It will NOT come off.......ever.

 

[edlmann]

I can't take it back to the guy, because he moved to Alaska (I live in NC). Don't even think he is doing gunsmithing. Good thing.

What about bringing back to the Smith who did the work? Seems to me he should stand behind it!

Apparently not an option.

 

[Joe S.]

That happened to me once. That thing was nowhere to be found. It flew off under recoil and landed on the rafter of the shed at the range. Glad you found yours.