SxS J Stevens Shotgun needs repair

[mofugly13]

I have a J. Stevens A & T Co. Shotgun that was my Grandfathers. I believe it is a Model 235. It is in very nice shape with some beautiful color case hardening on the reciever.



However, on the underside of the barrel, where the luforend spring contacts a lug, that piece is no longer attached to the barrel.






It looks to me like someone (my Granpa perhaps) tried to use some steel epoxy to repair this, but it did not hold. The shotgun assembles just fine even without this piece soldered in place. But what would be the proper fix? I assume it would be to solder it back in, but could this be done without having to resolder the barrels and/or reblue? From the info I can find online about this shotgun, it isn't very valuable, and I wouldn't want to sink any significant amount of money into fixing it properly. It holds tremoundous sentimental value for me and I would love to shoot it. Can anyone give me any advice?

 

[rcmodel]

Resoldering it would present all kinds of problems with the barrel solder joints as you surmised. And then additional expense rust bluing the barrels again.

If it were mine, I would drill and tap it for 2 or 3 small counter-sunk flat head screws into the center rib.

Then clean it down to bare metal and put it on with Lock-Tight Black Max adhesive and the screws.
Adhesive by itself will not hold it.

Any gunsmith should be able to do it, but even that won't be exactly cheap.

rc

 

[mofugly13]

But the center rib stops where this piece starts, so theres nothing to drill and tap into. Or, are you suggesting I drill and tap the top rib, from the underside, and use some long screws between the barrels to hold it in place?

 

[rcmodel]

Oh!
In that case, I don't know what to tell you.

From the photo, it looked like it ran all the way back and butted against the breech block??
I was looking at an optical illusion of the gap between the barrels I guess.

Having it resoldered it is your only option it looks like.

rc

 

[mofugly13]

Heres a better photo of the space between barrels.



Here's a link to a bunch of other photos of the shotgun, if anyone is interested.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/0903/mofugly13/Firearms/

 

[rcmodel]

Contact Simmons Guns in Olatha KS.

They maybe can resolder it for $75.00.

http://simmonsguns.com/Pricing.html

rc

 

[FloriDave]

I know I'll get slammed for this, but if it were mine, ( and oddly enough, I do have one of these Stevens 235's.), I would clean it, and use JB weld to hold that part on. It will cost you almost nothing, it will not hurt the existing solder or finish, and if it breaks loose in the future, you haven't done any damage, you're just back to deciding which gunsmith to have solder it. And it sounds like your Grandfather already tried something similar, but JB Weld is pretty good stuff it you apply it right. I might not advertise it after I did it, and I know I'll get flamed for this post, with comments of JB Weld and Guns don't mix, but that is exactly what I would do in your case with the thought of, I'll try this, if it doesn't work no harm done, I'll start getting estimates from gunsmiths.

I do think rcmodel is right on with his suggestion if there was something to tap into.

 

[rcmodel]

You know, that isn't too bad an idea!

Maybe fill the void with steel bed epoxy and drill and tap into that + Black Max? adhesive.

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=1048/Product/STEEL-BED-KIT

rc

 

[JimfromTrafalgar]

That repair, done correctly,[soldered], can be done easily and at a relatively low cost. Start playing around with screws and epoxy, and you'll wind up with a mess that becomes far more difficult to repair. No offense intended to anyone here, but epoxy? Not exactly the high road.
Luck,
Jim

 

[FloriDave]

Liquid Steel, liquid metal, epoxy type products are used commonly these days. The stuff works. I've used these products for motorcycle repairs, and some gun related things and not had any problem. Degrease and follow the instructions to the letter.

This is just one of those products. I'd use normal setting JB Weld myself, (not the quick set)
http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=5808/Product/EPOXY-METALS

If someone wants to take the time to find a good gunsmith, ( I'm assuming the OP would have to do that), drive to and from that gunsmith, spend X dollars for that repair, no-one can say that's the wrong move, at least I wouldn't. That's fine, it's just not what I would do first for that particular repair.

 

[JimfromTrafalgar]

The problem with not doing the repair correctly in the first place is that you then have the gunk you put there that has to be completely removed before you can solder it properly. There is no problem with driving to and fro these days, as those barrels can be shipped. The repair is simple and does not require enough heat to discolor the barrels. A little clean up and some high strength low temp solder. It would take an hour or so. I've done a number of these type of repairs. Never had a failure in the repair, and the gun stays as it was originally built. I've also fought with glued and/or epoxied repairs that failed. Double or triple the cost of the repair at that point.
If you wish, you can ship it to me. I'll make the repairs for $50 and the cost of return shipping. You can ship barrels alone, if you'de rather, but sometimes a slight adjustment to the forend hardware is required because thing don't go back together exactly in the same place as originally. Give me a shout if you decide to go that route.
Luck,
Jim

 

[mofugly13]

Thanks Jim. I don't want to epoxy it because, just like you said, it would be very difficult to unring that bell if it fails. I'm going to sit on it for a while, but I will keep you in mind.