I'm in the finishing stages of this project and plan to silver braze a new front sight as soon as my replacement Bernzamatic oxy torch arrives.

The brazing will only last for a very short time but I'm wondering if I need to be concerned with heat being applied to the barrel

It will be fine. They have been brazing things to barrels for over 100 years.

Looks like you removed the markings. Please show us the gun when finished. A neat project.

Yep, the roll marks and the top ridge all filed off and leveled out with sand paper. Went for a round top barrel because I always liked the looks of the short bull barreled Ruger single actions As you can see there is still some work to be done. I will post pics when completed.

I have been wanting a 3" revolver for a snake gun carry but they are pretty expensive. This was a police turn in for under $300. Actually in very nice condition for a 33 year old gun.

I soldered a front sight on a 1937 Brazilian using 95% tin and 5% silver solder. It's held up well for many years now. Dean

That might be a better idea. That type of solder matches stainless better than the 56% silver which is a bit yellow.

Thanks

You should be able to get a paste from your local welding supply that draws heat from the surrounding area of the weld. I would coat a brass rod with it, and insert it in the barrel.

YES ^^^^^^^^^ - HEAT SINKS SHOULD BE USED - at least I'd use them. I'd also strip the Cylinder off the gun so a metal plate could be used to heat sink along the frame. I might be going a bit over-kill, but better safe than sorry.

Thanks all for the suggestions. Rigging up aluminum heatsinks sounds like a good idea. Scrap aluminum I have.

Yes the cylinder will be removed. The gun is stripped. I only have the sideplate and cylinder installed for finish work

Man, I can't wait to see the finished project. Wish I had the skills and tools to do that. Well, I do have a hacksaw, and some sandpaper. A 3" would go well with my 4" and 2" 64's.

Hahaha. I have hacksaw, good files, sandpaper, and last but not least an excellent old heavy vice. I'm pretty much done and only have the front sight to silver braze in. These are a spare set of grips. I'm not sure what grips I want to use. Rubber would probably the most appropriate but I like wood or ivory grips.



Forgot to mention my most excellent muzzle crowning tools.

Just a suggestion. Stay Brite solder should work well, perhaps better than brazing. We use it to solder stainless steel bolsters and guards to custom stainless knives. It never darkens and I as far as I know is the best to use. If you haven't attempted it, stainless steel is a bear to solder. If you do use solder you MUST use the correct flux, Stay Brite is the best. Hardware store solder won't work.
See link attached. If that doesn't work check any knife maker supply house, like "usaknifemaker.com".

Stay Brite(R) | The Harris Products Group

Thanks, but I silver brazed the new sight in today. I used Muggy Weld's Silver Solder which is the 56% silver type and is worked at 1200 degrees F so is more of a brazing product rather than a solder type. Used aluminum heat sinks just to be safe. I'm very pleased with the look of the round barrel top. ****** pic, I will do some with better staging. Don't know what grips I will use. Those are a spare pair.

That looks really good!

Nice job on the front sight. That is usually the single major aesthetic flaw on barrel shortening jobs, but yours looks good.

Did you remove the barrel when you rounded it?

Thanks..

No...I do not have the proper devices for barrel removal. All the work on the barrel was done with a variety of files followed by 180 and 400 grit sandpaper. I'm 82 so I know how to use files.

The sight is a piece hack sawed from a heavy 2" SS316 washer ( Grainger) and it's the same thickness as S&W's ... .10"

^^^ That is even more impressive!

I will probably be inheriting a crudely re-blued Model 10 dash something this weekend. Square butt, 4" barrel, and snow tires. Your work is an inspiration, and I would like to shorten the barrel to 3" and remove the lettering like you did and add some nice wood. I would then re-re-blue it, after some very careful hand polishing.

I have a Model 65 with 3" barrel and round butt that I like very much. I prefer a square butt, but the round is good, too.

FWIW, I have successfully used Brownells HI-FORCE 44 solder to attach front sights on carbon steel barrels. It is 4% silver and 96% tin, and flows at only 475 degrees F. It withstands caustic (hot dip) blueing. What's not to like???

Happy to have inspired you. I didn't remove the lettering because I don't like lettering, at least not S&W's lettering. I removed it because after removing 1" of barrel, it wasn't centered anymore.

I thought the hot dip (molten salts) was at around 600 deg. F. I use the Mark Lee Express rust blue product with some success.

Please post pics of your progress.

I assumed you removed the lettering for the reason you stated above, which is why I plan to do the same.

I never said "molten salts". Never should anyone use that on a barrel or frame of a gun. I was referring to caustic/hot dip bluing, which operates at 292 degrees F. I use Brownells Oxynate No. 7 bluing salts.

As an example, here is a picture of a Pietta replica of a Remington black powder revolver and a holster I made for it. The barrel was mutilated when I got it, so I shortened it, soldered on a new front sight (using Brownells HI-FORCE 44 solder), and then caustic/hot dip blued it.

I do all my hot dip bluing at home.

I rust blued one gun. That was enough for me!

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Thanks for that information because I thought all hot dip bluing was the scary 600 degree type. I would welcome a better bluing procedure than rust bluing, express or not.

You can do professional grade hot bluing at home. Without getting into great detail about polishing, I will say I polish the metal parts by hand using finer and finer grit abrasive paper until everything is smooth. Only then do I do a slight power buffing for the final polish. LEAVE THE DREMEL OFF THE BENCH!!!

When bluing only small parts, I use a tank I made from an old 50 caliber ammo can. That way I don't have to use a full size tank, which is much more work to set up. For heat, I use an old camp stove. Here are pictures of some black powder revolver parts I blued last year...

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Checking the progress. The cylinder is just about ready.

The Colt barrel is next. Here you can see the iron wire used to suspend the barrel in the tank. Parts must not be allowed to touch the tank or the blued finish will be discolored.

the third pictures is a basket of small parts ready to go into the tank. Use only black iron tanks, wire, parts baskets, etc. NO STAINLESS ANYTHING or you will get discoloring.

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Here is the Colt barrel immediately after coming out of the rinse tank and dried off, but before being oiled. At first the finish looks thin and light blue, but after you oil it and wait a few hours it turns almost black. Notice how the lettering is undamaged and the lines are still straight. That is because I polish by hand, instead of using a power buffer. Also notice that I had to remove the front sight, because it is made of brass and the bluing salts would dissolve it!

Using this method, you can easily match the finest Colt or Smith & Wesson bluing if you want, although the high polish is not appropriate for all guns.

The final results...

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Wow..those came out beautifully . I get a satin finish using the express blue. Preparation recommendation is no finer than 400 grit for this process, I have saved your posts for reference. Hand polishing I can do. Some people should never be allowed within 10 feet of a buffing wheel. I know because I'm one of them.

Thanks for the information on your bluing process. Much appreciated. Here is my Ruger Vaquero that has been hand polished. I go to 2000 grit Wet/dry before I start to use polish.

^^^Nice wood!

BTW, Brownells offers free, very detailed instructions on how to use their bluing products.

That's dyed, stabilized, spalted, maple burl.

Yes I read Brownell's instructions which scared me. Your's are much easier and require much less equipment.

A bit better shot of the subject project.



Started out like this:

By my eye the new front washer, uh...sight, looks to be proper height, but did you make sure it's a bit high just in case ?

I noticed your selection of "fine, professional" crowning tools, but after the barrel cut how did you true it to 90% to the bore ?

Great looking work by the way. Nice "add-ons" by warren too.

__________________
wanna do right-- not right now

My hacksaw cut was off by just a bit and I got it square with my files. Absolute precision is not required here. After all, Taurus make the Curve with a slash cut barrel. Taurus knows a thing or two about firearms. No, I did not use the, time honored, method of using a round head brass bolt and valve grinding compound to crown the barrel. Yes, the new sight is .02"/.03" overly tall to allow tuning. So there you have it..

I'm a Bubba

Yes, Warren's input is most appreciated.

Should have done a round butt conversion while you were at it!

Sooo, what are your shop hours and what kinda backlog before you can get to my "turn-in" 64 ??

__________________
wanna do right-- not right now

You mean like this ? The old grip panels cheap from ebay were my guide





This is my other 64-3. It now sports faux ivory grips. I must take pics.

Hahahaha. I have two 64 turn-ins now. Adventure Outdoors in Smyrna, GA has about 7 left ranging from $250-$350. Great value.

Sorry but I would not trust myself to work on any one elses gun. I know you are kidding and I will take that as a compliment.

Thank you

I always appreciate that there are other fellows out there who know how to use a proper file. You do nice work old timer.

There are more than seven police turns left at Adventure Outdoors. There are probably 50 or more left in the gunroom.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

There's a "gunroom" ? Who knew ?

Hey, I'll take those old wooden grips if you want to sell them!

That round but grip looks pretty good in that photo but they are really beat up. I paid $10 on ebay so you can imagine the condition. Also, I pulled the medallions and did further damage.

Sorry

Excellent job on front sight. I'm working on the courage to attempt chopping 2 1917 Brazians. Front sight is the issue!

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Tommy