Recommendation for reattaching front sight - not S&W

.38SuperMan · Jun 30, 2022

Several months ago I ran across a little toy I bought in the early 80’s. It’s a Freedom Arms mini revolver chambered in 22LR. I shot it a number of times back in the day but haven’t touched it since. I have the brass belt buckle and the leather case and stored it in the case. When I removed it the front sight fell off.

It appears the sight was soldered on but not certain. I’d like to reattach it but I’m not sure how to do it. I thought about taking it to a gunsmith or jeweler or just getting some high temperature epoxy and using a small drop on it.

Any thought on an acceptable way?

mckenney99 · Jun 30, 2022

Would be worth a phone call or e-mail to contact Freedom Arms and see what they say.

314 Highway 239 Freedom
Wyoming 83120 USA
[email protected]
307-883-2468

ken158 · Jun 30, 2022

Freedom Arms will likely warranty that repair

.38SuperMan · Jun 30, 2022

I thought Freedom Arms was long gone. I’ll give them a call tomorrow.

Thanks!

2152hq · Jun 30, 2022

They 'Limited Lifetime Warranty' all their firearms..meaning to the original purchaser.

The front sight falling off of the little revolvers is quite common.
I've had a number of people tell me that they have contacted the company and sent the gun & sight back to them and they have reattached the sight and returned at no cost.

Being a handgun,, you might be out the shipping getting it there. But if you have a friendly FFL to ship it in the USPO,,it'll go in a Small Flat Rate Box by Priority Mail. So that's one good thing.

Maybe they'll issue you a pick-up tag when you call them.

.38SuperMan · Jun 30, 2022

2152hq said:
They 'Limited Lifetime Warranty' all their firearms..meaning to the original purchaser.

The front sight falling off of the little revolvers is quite common.
I've had a number of people tell me that they have contacted the company and sent the gun & sight back to them and they have reattached the sight and returned at no cost.

Being a handgun,, you might be out the shipping getting it there. But if you have a friendly FFL to ship it in the USPO,,it'll go in a Small Flat Rate Box by Priority Mail. So that's one good thing.

Maybe they'll issue you a pick-up tag when you call them.

I am the original purchaser. Not sure I have the receipt but will look tomorrow. I have receipts going back to 1978 when I bought my M28 so it’s possible I have it. And yes I have a friend that’s an FFl so I’ll talk to him when I call FA.

Thanks for everyone’s help.

.38SuperMan · Jul 1, 2022

Well I love stories with a happy ending!

Thanks to a couple of the members here I called Freedom Arms this morning and was told that it would be covered under warranty IF I HAD sent the warranty card in. Ok I figured I was screwed because I rarely send in warranty cards and I figured I had purchased it 40 years ago so probably no paperwork. But the very nice lady on the phone took the SN and my phone number and said she’d research it and call me back.

Well she did indeed research it and found my warranty card so I spoke to my friend who’s an FFL and he’s going to ship it Tuesday. It turns out I bought it in January of 1983.

Thanks again!

steelslaver · Jul 1, 2022

Glad they are taking care of you

Stainless is more work than regular steel to solder. Everything must be clean and you must use the right flux. Regular solder flux will not work. You must use stainless steel flux. I use Superior No 71. First wipe the barrel area and sight base with fine steel wool to remove oxidization from old solder. Take some silver solder and tap it into a slim ribbon and shine that with the steel wool. Wet barrel area, bottom of base and solder with flux, then clamp the sight in place with the solder ribbon between it and barrel. Mark are around base with a lead pencil and excess solder will not stick there. But have some small pieces of bronze wool handy and it will suck up excess molten solder. Heat with propane torch or heat gun and at somewhere over 450 f the solder flows. So not get it much hotter than that. Let it cool naturally, do not put water on it.

The attachment would be way stronger with a small tab on base and slot in barrel, even a shallow one. You could make a shallow hole in barrel and matching one in base and put a peg in before the solder job.

Soldering stuff like this can be tedious work to get just right. You want to use the smallest clamp setup possible on sight so clamp isn't sucking up a bunch of your heat

.38SuperMan · Jul 1, 2022

When I spoke to FA the lady helping me said this is common. She said the accumulate a batch of them and do the repairs every couple of months. She said they just completed a batch so it’ll be about two months but I’m in no rush. She als said they originally used an adhesive and now use silver solder. Also they use a new sight not the original due to residue on the sight. I’m not sure what they do about the residue on the barrel.

Folks might laugh at it but I used to load it with stingers and wouldn’t want to get stung by one.

Marksman · Jul 24, 2022

Front sight re-attach............

I have used JB Weld to re-attach sights in the past, very strong bond capable of withstanding the recoil of .44 Magnum.

Drm50 · Jul 24, 2022

I dislike using epoxy and glues on gun repairs but I’ve had no luck with low temp stainless steel solders. I’ve tried several brands that come with flux to no avail. I avoided flame onto the gun, used copper plates to transfer heat.
I think in my experience of sight to barrel, the sight is cast SS and barrel is fluid SS. With same solder I patched a SS sink and it went perfect.

.38SuperMan · Jul 24, 2022

I learned a long time ago I have certain skills and not others and the jobs requiring the skills I don’t have are best left up to folks that do. I could see myself dripping solder on the barrel and totally making a mess of it. Adhesive, maybe if there’s a solvent to remove excess. My friendly FFL shipped it and the cost was under $20 insured. That’s a small price, in my opinion, for having the job done right.

steelslaver · Jul 24, 2022

If the factory is willing to take care of you by providing a good repair for little to no money and having a gun gone for a while that is always the best way to go

Gunhacker · Jul 24, 2022

Great that they are taking care of it, but it sure doesn't speak well of the quality of product if "it's common" for the front sights to come off and they do batches of them every couple of months.

Since it's a known issue, you would think they would try to find a solution, but I guess it's cheaper to just keep soldering them back on.

2152hq · Jul 24, 2022

What I have been told was that there was a problem soldering the sights on at a certain time in production, not all the way through production.

The soldering done during that production time which they can likely bracket by ser# and production mm/yy was faulty and to their credit they take care of it as per their warrenty to the orig owner.

Not every pistol mfg during that time was effected so no general recall was decided, But when they do happen, they take care of them.

Likely simply not cleaning the surfaces properly and/or not enough heat/too much heat applied.
Not knowing how they did the work it could have been done with torch application for anyone's guess and plenty can go wrong w/o some knowledge and training.

Some companys I know simply will tell you the gun is too old,,
..They don't have any parts,,
..The old repair fixtures were made into wall sculptures of Narwhal whales,,
..The only guy that ever knew how to do the repair died,,,
...So what else can we sell you now..

.38SuperMan · Jul 24, 2022

I was working on a project today in my loading room, unrelated to loading, and ran across a box labeled “gun stuff”. Inside was my brass belt buckle, hardware to attach my Freedom Arms revolver to the belt buckle, original “vinyl” case, instruction manual, original plastic grips ( I put rosewood on it years ago ) and a spare cylinder. Now to cleanup the brass buckle and wait for my revolver to return from repair.

I don’t think I’ve shot this in 35 years. Im looking forward to getting it out to the range when it returns. A little serious target shooting.

6string · Jul 24, 2022

steelslaver said:
Glad they are taking care of you

Stainless is more work than regular steel to solder. Everything must be clean and you must use the right flux. Regular solder flux will not work. You must use stainless steel flux. I use Superior No 71. First wipe the barrel area and sight base with fine steel wool to remove oxidization from old solder. Take some silver solder and tap it into a slim ribbon and shine that with the steel wool. Wet barrel area, bottom of base and solder with flux, then clamp the sight in place with the solder ribbon between it and barrel. Mark are around base with a lead pencil and excess solder will not stick there. But have some small pieces of bronze wool handy and it will suck up excess molten solder. Heat with propane torch or heat gun and at somewhere over 450 f the solder flows. So not get it much hotter than that. Let it cool naturally, do not put water on it.

The attachment would be way stronger with a small tab on base and slot in barrel, even a shallow one. You could make a shallow hole in barrel and matching one in base and put a peg in before the solder job.

Soldering stuff like this can be tedious work to get just right. You want to use the smallest clamp setup possible on sight so clamp isn't sucking up a bunch of your heat

Thanks for taking the time to offer yet another great gunsmithing tip. While the OP has his troubles fixed by the factory, it's still great to read this!

PattonTime · Aug 6, 2022

Freedom Arms sight

I have the same gun & had the same problem.
Years ago I took it to a gunsmith to get fixed, I had already purchased a front sight from Freedom Arms who made no offer to fix it, but then I was not the original purchaser.
So, off to my friendly gunsmith, he said he first tried stainless solder then he tried silver solder and could not get either to work, he then said he "super-glued" it on.
He sort of chuckled when he said it, so I guess I thought it may well have been JB Weld or something like that, but it worked perfectly and looks good. He charged me very little as I remember, I just looked at it again, I still have the warranty card, & mine has a much longer barrel and no belt buckle but I do still also have the vinyl case.

.38SuperMan · Aug 6, 2022

About the same time I bought this I had a Raven 25 I’d traded a friend for. No question, if I had to defend my self with one of the two I’d hands down pick the Freedom Arms. At 15 feet it was pure luck if I could hit the target with the Raven but the little revolver was much better than one would think. I remember when I carried it I loaded it with stingers or similar which would be pretty nasty if you got hit with one.

My interest in tiny guns must be a carry over from my childhood playing with cap guns. I see these a more of a novelty than anything but they’re fun to shoot too. Forty years ago I bought a couple of Davis Darringers in 22LR and 32acp. I still have both but the metal on the 22 has developed some pitting. I ought to get these out and shoot them one day.

Recommendation for reattaching front sight - not S&W

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