How to fix a gouge in a metal surface?

[HisDivineShadow]

So I got a ding on one of my firearms (Remington 870), on the barrel to be precise. It's a tiny gouge in the metal, not very large but since I know of it my eye is drawn towards it all the time. Currently the gun is without finish, it's been bead blasted and is awaiting a parkerization job. But before I do that I would like to know if I can repair this somehow?

On a car you would fill a ding with some expoxy filler and then sand it down and refinish on top. But I can't do that on a gun barrel. Can I fill it with solder of some kind and sand it down? Such as silver solder? I dunno if the silver solder would take to parking though.

 

[gb6491]

Dings usually need to be sanded/filed/stoned out/flat.
You can also try to peen the gouged area to close it up/even it out some (can work rather well).
A combination of the above will probably get the job done; of course you would need to blast that area again.
That said, parkerizing can make some imperfections difficult to notice; you might get by with just blasting that area again.
Regards,
Greg

 

[kanook]

I have a ding in the hood of my truck. My friend and I would go out and shoot the small c02 canisters with 22lr at 75 yards. One came back and hit my truck.

My friend is no longer with us and I'm glad that I never had it fixed.

The point is it's a memory, if you fix it it will still be there in your mind. The 870 is mass produced. Get another barrel or always see the ding and have the memory on how it happened and not to do it again.

 

[rondog]

Oh yeah, 870 barrel? Just ignore it or try the suggestions in post #2. It's not like you're talking about a rare old Winchester or something.

 

[jluther820]

I wondered if you could fill the damage with a string feed welder and then grind it flat/smooth...

 

[HisDivineShadow]

This is what it looks like:


I've just taken off the rifle sights on this thing, the rear sight had a post sticking out of the barrel, removal of said post led to the gouge here. I am leaning towards silver soldering it. Parkerization won't take to it but I am planning to finish it off with an oven cure finish on top of the park anyway so it should not be noticeable if done right.

I'd hate to get a new one when I've put such work into this one. I feel it would be wasteful to not try and fix it.

 

[kanook]

Have you looked down your barrel to see if that ding is not a dent and gave you a internal buldge?

Any welding/brazing/soldering will take a different finish when completed. It might look worse after the attempt to fix.

Even over in Finland you should be able to replace a barrel fairly cheap.

 

[HisDivineShadow]

Oh the dent didn't come from a hit but from me slipping when using a grinding tool, I was removing the post that remained after I pulled off the rifle sights from the gun. And it's not the money, it's the principle of the thing. Don't need or want a new barrel (probably 100-200 euros) for a purely cosmetic issue.

 

[Marlin 45 carbine]

looks like a grinder disc mark to me. a tig welder with a very fine touch could fill it so you can file/stone it down ok. but a real expert is needed for this. there is another method, very expensive that is seen in tool and die repair that uses an arc that's a small spot weld on thin strips of metal to build up worn areas and dings and doesn't produce much of a heat affected zone. likely a new barrel would cost about the same.

 

[HisDivineShadow]

I'll see about posting a pic when I've patched it with JB weld and gunkoted it. It's not like that'll cost me extra since I got other guns and parts to gunkote anyway.

 

[justashooter in pa]

concur. if you are going to gunkote you can JB after parkerising. just be sure to use an evaporative cleaner like Braakleen to get all of the oil and water out of the area before adding epoxy.