870 gunsmith question

[tango3065]

My buudy just had a 870 reblued and the barrel band that mounts on the mag tube that holds the barrel on had to removed or the heat from the blueing process removed it. The gunsmith said that he used silver solder to put it back but if u look close there is a golden color line around the clamp instead of silver.

Is this really silver solder even tho its goldish color?

What are the chances of the solder breaking? (which would mean the barrel would just fall off)

Would you trust this on your HD shotty?

Is this just as strong as it was when it was new?

 

[Fumbler]

IIRC they attach it at the factory with silver solder.

Thats what I use to attach sights onto barrels.

It probably is silver solder and it turned goldish from being blued (he would have to reblue after putting it on if it fell off the first time).

I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[tango3065]

He might of said brazing what ever that is. He has fired a few hundred rounds thru it and I told him not to worry but he is. He is thinking about getting a new barrel for it I think he's nuts and wanted to get some expert opinions on it.

 

[redneck]

Lots of brazing alloys are a goldish color and have a much higher tensile strength than solder. Could be that it was brazed on, although that would lead me to worrying about how the barrel was affected by the heat. Most brazing is done above 900 degrees IIRC. Tough call, I would think that brazing would be preferably due to the high strength, but I think it would be very bad for the barrel over all, without re doing the heat treatment.

As a side note, I don't think the ring attaching the barrel to the magazine really does much when the gun is being fired. The lugs on the bolt assembly interlock with the barrel. The majority of the load is internal to the barrel and the lugs of the bolt, not on the receiver and frame of the gun.
Not that I would want to try it myself but I think what would happen if the joint were to fail is that the gun would be fine until you pull the slide back to chamber the next round, then the barrel would fall off because the bolt is no longer locked into it.
Now that is a horrible thing to happen in a home defense situation, but not quite as bad as having it blow up in your face during a home defense situation.
Hopefully one of the experts will chime in on this. I guess in the end I'd say its a good idea to get a new barrel if he can afford it. If he doesn't feel confident using it anymore, then its no good to him.

 

[9mmMike]

I have never heard of a barrel ring coming off from the bluing process. Did the smith suggest this was normal?
Mike

 

[tango3065]

Its gold and very hard, he had a small run and I tried to scrape it off and it would'nt come off. Any opinions on what it is now? Im not sure if it did come off but he has for sure redone the solder or brazing, or whatever it is. I told my buddy I think it there to stay.

 

[tango3065]

anyone else?

 

[charby]

anyone else?

I have a 870 and its gold colored where the ring was soldered on at the factory. My POS 835 Mossberg is also.

Charby

 

[Scoupe]

Completely normal for the fillet to be goldish. Shoot that puppy.

 

[mnrivrat]

Should be no problem !

 

[DML]

OK, I'll answer this one....

I'll answer this one even though it has already been answered several time. (I'm just being sociable) The barrel ring or lug came off because it was not put on correctly at the factory. The silver brazing material has a melting point of about 1100 to 1200 degrees. There is no bluing bath that comes close to that temperature. I had one come into the shop Tuesday. A local deputy sheriff was qualifying with his 870 and the barrel fell off. There was only a thin line of solder holding the lug in place. I have revoved a fair number of sights and lugs from Remington barrels and the coverage of solder ranges from 99% down to almost zero. I would guess that anywhere above 50% would be fine. Most silver brazing has a tensile strength of around 125,000 PSI.

 

[tango3065]

Thanks to all especially DML it makes my buddy feel better knowing why he redone the brazing.