Welding on a rifle barrel

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Hello,I was doing some machine work on a rifle barrel, and I made a mistake and removed too much material. I am wondering if I can add material back on to the barrel using my TIG and some filler rod? Then can re-machine down? Or will this just create more problems? Any help is greatly appreciated, thanks!
Reply:Is it already bored?
Reply:Rifle barrels get hot and bend while shooting then (hopefully) return to their original form when they cool. I'd be afraid that welding and adding filler to the outside it just might get hot warp and not return to the original form/straightness.
Reply:PM Yorkiepap. He used to be a gunsmith and do a fair amount of work on barrels IIRC.Personally I'd not take the risk myself. If this was for a front sight base, maybe. If it was near the chamber, No Way! Also it would depend on how much of an Opps! it was. If you missed by a thousanth of an inch or so I might see silver soldering a bit to build up for the front sight. I'd proabably want to try to build up the mating part to match the F up though and not have to worry about heat causing issues with the barrel..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Hey Mahonroy,I can only offer suggestions & opinion for your dilemma. As a retired Master Gunsmith(30yrs), I would strongly suggest you abandon any thought of welding on ANY barrel, whether rifle or pistol. A barrel is manufactured to specific grade, hardness, & dimensional parameters, & any alteration to any of these parameters will affect the performance & safety. A centerfire rifle caliber will generate pressures from 25000psi to 60000psi and any weak area on a barrel will result in a rupture.....quite devastating in some instances. If you made an error, then use that error as a learning tool. Either use the barrel in the condition you configured with a mistake, or get a new barrel & start over again. In my years of gunsmithing, I saw many unbelievable things happen to those who had no knowledge of the results of tinkering with manufacturing parameters established for ones' safety & operation of firearms. The only time heat is applied to a barrel is the installation of iron sights & the heat applied is very low temperature silver-solder application. Even many of the European manufactured rifles pre-war & post-war used soft-solder to install iron sights to keep heat levels to a minimum. When re-bluing, I had to maintain awareness of any soft-solder(tin-lead) installed sights as they would fall off in the bluing tank. That's why silver-solder was used. Remember, when you weld, the parent metal & the filler metal reach the stage of molten.....that changes every parameter of the manufactured barrel. Just think.....do some homework.....don't jeopardize your or anothers' safety. Call a barrel maker & get some other opinions if necessary. Your choice....you gotta live with the results of those.DennyComplete Welding/Machine/Fab. ShopMobile UnitFinally retired*Moderator*"A man's word is his honor...without honor there is nothing.""Words are like bullets.... Once they leave your muzzle, you cannot get them back."
Reply:Thanks for the great advice. So you think I could apply low heat to that area and add silver saulder to build up some material and go off that?
Reply:I'm no gunsmith but have been shooting guns for a while now.  Yorkiepap covered the safety aspects of this pretty well.  But I would also be concerned with performance.  If you're trying to make a precision gun then all of those little imperfections are going to add to the inaccuracy of the gun.  Just my opinion.
Reply:Originally Posted by MahonroyThanks for the great advice. So you think I could apply low heat to that area and add silver saulder to build up some material and go off that?
Reply:It would be helpful if you could give us more info. Where have you removed material, what were you trying to do when removing the metal? Things like that. I've done a ton of soldering on rifles when adding sights, quarter ribs, etc with no issues what so ever. Have even seen welding done with no ill effects when done properly. I'm sure we can come up with a solution but need more information.DavidDavid Clevinger Engraving
Reply:Try a place down the road from me called http://www.turnbullrestoration.com I know he does alot of barrel work. I am pretty sure he would say get a new barrel or leave the repairs to the experts.Co-Own CNC shop:Miller :1251 plasma cutter, MaxStar 700 TIG/Stick, & XMT 456 Multiprocess Welder.&  2 Hypertherm HPR260's Plasma CutterSorry I had a bad stroke but now I am back.
Reply:Thanks for the great info.Its just a 22 cal. nothing special, its for my buddy and he uses it for pest control. Basically he wanted me to put a certain kind of thread on the end of it (1/2" 28 pitch). I messed up using the autofeed on the lathe to put the threads on and accidentally ground away all the threads on the final cutting pass. So what I was hoping to do was add a bit more material around the tip of the barrel, use the lathe and turn it back down to the 1/2", and then try putting the threads on it again. I couldn't imagine it having to be all that strong, like would even something like JB weld work? Thanks again for the advice!
Reply:Those devices already mess with the gas flow and accuracy a tiny bit, some types more than others.  Being right at that last one inch go for it. Be sure and presize and verify the end opening size when done. Last resort, cut 1 inch off and start over.
Reply:You know what, I didn't even consider just removing the last 1 inch and doing it again, thats probably the best bet actually
Reply:Just be sure to shape the exit a bit. Do a stare and compare of several barrels to get the concept.
Reply:Screwed up the end of the barrel?Shorten the barrel and -then- thread it.Be aware of making the barel too short per legal standards.  Also be aware of legal standards for a threaded barrel.  The best laid schemes ... Gang oft agley ...
Reply:Rather than cut the barrel piece off, try turning it down a bit, then make a 'tube' of slightly (-.002 to -.003"?)  less diameter that you can heat up to expand, then slip on, then cool and turn down and finally thread. Just need to make the collar thick enough to take the threads and remain a compression fit, meaning don't turn the barrel down too much.Practice on some scrap steel first. Pick some free-cutting steel for the collar.
Reply:Originally Posted by Oldiron2Rather than cut the barrel piece off, try turning it down a bit, then make a 'tube' of slightly (-.002 to -.003"?)  less diameter that you can heat up to expand, then slip on, then cool and turn down and finally thread.
Reply:Originally Posted by yoshimitsuspeedWouldn't it be possible this could constrict the bore? I don't know if it would but if it did that could be ugly.
Reply:I'm not "sure" why anyone would want a threaded .22 barrel, but a flash suppressor doesn't come to mind, and I don't know anyone crazy enough to ask for advice on other uses, on an open forum on the internet.  If you decide to shorten the barrel, just be sure its still legally long enough, and read up on preparing the crown.  If you finish by just facing it off on the lathe, its accuracy will be trashed.  One good suggestion I've heard, is to lap the very ends of the rifling (this area is VERY critical to accuracy), with an abrasive paste and a large ball bearing.I'm still not sure about your problems with noise though.  In firing my bolt action .22 (with no modifications to reduce sound levels) in my indoor range, the loudest sound, is the ping as the subsonic bullet hits the steel backstop.  When I fire into a "silent" backstop, the firing pin snap sound is louder than the pop sound from the barrel, and an observer would be hard pressed to differentiate a dry fire from a live one.All said and done, its quieter than my magnum spring-air rifle, and spring-air guns are some of the quietest of air rifles.CCI .22 CB Long caps are VERY quiet.  CCI green tag, and other high quality .22 target rounds must be subsonic and are pretty quiet.  Remington also has a subsonic .22, which is pretty quiet.
Reply:in most states its perfectly legal to thread a rifle and mount a (commercially manufactured and registered) sound suppressor as long as ATF paperwork and taxstamp is in place. of course your buddy has already taken care of this. otherwise he'd be looking at a 5 years federal prison sentence Last edited by d94jonca; 11-24-2009 at 11:01 AM.
Reply:Wouldn't it be possible this could constrict the bore?I don't know if it would but if it did that could be ugly.
Reply:The hardest part is tailoring subsonic .22 loads to use with the piece.
Reply:[QUOTE=dave powelsonThe hardest part is tailoring subsonic .22 loads to use with the piece.[/QUOTE]i used a sound moderator (silencer) extensively on my old .22lr ruger bolt action.shot thousands of rounds with it.not sure what is going to be the "hardest" part??we did try several manufacturers of subsonic ammo and settled on RWS i think it was, although there were others that were up there for accuracyalso. you could rip a single ragged hole at 50 yards with them.50 yards was about the max. reliable range without having to use range finders.took about an afternoon to work out.this was all in Scotland years ago. now everyone has a silencer on their fullbore rifles for shooting deer. Not silent, but a lot quieter. seems that they just give you permission for one if you ask for it or you can sue them when you go deaf.G