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Welding A Barrel

The Wizard

Plastic
Joined
Apr 23, 2009
Location
Colordao Springs, Colorado
Want to convert a 38 W.C.F. barrel to 45 Colt. That is the easy part. Need to remove the old caliber mark and mark with the new caliber but to remove old marking would require removing other marking I wish to retain. I was wonder if I could weld over the old markings, dress the weld down and remark? There is a guy in town who is certified to weld aircarft and nuclear equipment and ASME pressure vessels who I think would be up to the job. Any advice.
 
So you want to bore out an OLD barrel, make it thinner, and then weld on it....

NO

Most pressure vessel work is done at less than 18,000 psi...

Sure it might work, but who is liable when the welded area splits, and sends a chunk of barrel into someones brain???
 
Barrel welding

Don't do it, the gun probably would not handle the new pressure anyway. Ask a gunsmith for sure before doing. solder is ok, less heat and warping. Just think of this, a 38 spl will shoot in a 357 mag, but a 357 mag will be bad for a 38 spl, even though it will fit. The barrel is not the only thing you would have to change, ejector, head spacing ect. It would be wise and safer and less costly to just to get a 45 colt. Just my 2 cents worth.
Good luck,
Paul
 
uh,

Why not just swap barrel for the correct barrel
Then the marks are right and you dont have to rifle the bore.
Sounds a lot easier to me.

You never said what type of gun it was, but 38 WFC was used in a wide variety of arms.
Smooth bore on a hand gun is not cool with the ATFE and in a rifle, you might want the accuracy of rifeling.

Welding on a barrel is generaly a NO, regardless of who does it. You cant avoid a heat affected zone and you always have some level of imperfection.
 
First, the barrel is for a Colt New Service revolver. Second, yes if I could find a 4-1/2 inch .45 Colt barrel that would be the perfect solution but I can't find one. Third the OD of the 38 W.C.F. barrel is exactly that of a 45 Colt barrel so don't have to worry about the pressure thing. Fourth, the welding would be done before boring/rifling the barrel. Fifth, the marking are very shallow (less than 1/64 inch) so it not like I am filling a hole in the barrel. Sixth, never said I was making a smooth bore!
 
If you weld on one side of that barrel , even a tiny bit, you will have a curved barrel. And the strength of the HAZ will not be the same as the rest of the barrel.
 
I have welded up markings on several shotgun barrels with no noticeable warping and certainly no bursting. I would think that if your friend is as good a welder as he sounds, he could fill those areas without putting to much heat into it and you would be fine.
 
Buy a .45 cal. pistol barrel blank... maybe from e-gunparts corp. and turn it to the same contours as the barrel you are trying to modify. Surely attaching a front sight would be simple in comparison to what you are proposing to do to the original barrel.

You could even buy a .45 replacement or used barrel that is larger than a Colt New Service barrel and make it out of that... Then you can mark it as you choose, and not be worried about welding on an old barrel. While you are at it, buy yourself a spare used cylinder in the right caliber, or one to modify, and if this project doesn't turn out to your satisfaction you can always put the old cylinder and barrel back on.

For a gun that old, I would recommend a conversion to .38 special... you can shoot mild loads all day and not worry about over stressing the frame. This caliber has great reputation for accuracy, probably far better than the .45 long colt has ever achieved.
 
I don't necessarily recommend welding the caliber markings, they can probably be draw filed to remove and restamp. Reboring to a larger caliber is a common operation, and would present no problems in this case.
 
The problem is hoop stress..

Pressures should be around 18,000 psi.

Heating only a portion of the hoop is going to induce internal stresses to the steel at only the point of welding (HAZ)

The barrel OD is the same, but after reboring and rifling, the welded barrel will be thinner (as was an original .45 barrel). YOU DO HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THE PRESSURE THING...

Hoop stress is always there, reducing thickness of hoop (and welding on a portion of it) DOES NOT MAKE IT STRONGER, IT ONLY WEAKENS IT.

Add in OLD unknown steel type, and batch number, and certifications.

No certified welder should weld that, without an engineer approved welding process. Welder would be liable if it failed, and killed/maimed 1 or 2 bystanders.

Shotgun pressures are a LOT lower, (as is the quality of the steel) welding on them should be treated in the same DO NOT DO IT, way. I have seen it done, and still do not recommend it.. You are playing with LIFE AND LIMB.
No National Proof House would allow it.

It is an antique. Retire it, or sell to a collector. Remarking an original barrel could be considered counterfitting.

Normally a liner MIGHT be considered, NOT enough metal on that gun. Add in it being a large bore revolver with a high stress, threaded, necked down area, where barrel screws to frame. This negates any chance of lining..
 
Not trying to be a pot stirrer but am interested as to why it is OK to weld up the locking lugs and lower lugs on 1911 .45 barrels for fitting / refitting purposes and not do just a little fill-in job on this barrel??
 
I am just throwing this out there, but I am not one to make extra work for myself.

If you are going to keep this for yourself why bother to restamp it? Sure it is nice to have everything "right", but it is not a safety problem, it is not like you are going to put in the wrong ammo and not know.
 
Want to convert a 38 W.C.F. barrel to 45 Colt. That is the easy part. Need to remove the old caliber mark and mark with the new caliber but to remove old marking would require removing other marking I wish to retain. I was wonder if I could weld over the old markings, dress the weld down and remark? There is a guy in town who is certified to weld aircarft and nuclear equipment and ASME pressure vessels who I think would be up to the job. Any advice.

Is this a rifle or a revolver?
 
I think you are fine. If you are really worried, you can have the whole thing re-heat treated (assuming you can find out what the steel is) Properly TIG welded and heat sinks used, should be just fine. A neighbor welds lugs on TC barrels all the time and some are pretty thin- nary a problem and he is running some serious beads!
 
45 colt conversion

I was wondering too.Rifle or revolver.cowboy action shooting,etc.?BATF frowns on smooth-bore pistols.hunt up a 45 colt if this is single action,first generation it' black powder only.probably worth some collector value.just a thought.
 
Gee MarkW, don't shy away from a good argument, especially if we can all learn something. Going to another forum is just going to move the argument there. Where is the "misinformation"?
 
Gerry I have found that a discussion like this, if held at a picnic table somewhere with some cans of beer available would result in the participants learning something. If someone were to propose something that others had issues with, bullshit would be called and it would be put up or shut up then the cards all go on the table. In the end, most are all the richer for it.

Over the internet, these arguments usually just turn into name calling and the original question gets lost in the process especially in a situation like this where I suspect that most people are just guessing. Barrels get rebored and re-marked all the time, the problem here is that none of the people posting concerns appear to have done any of them. So why not go to a forum- or anywhere else for that matter- that has people actually experienced in the question you are asking? If not a forum, shouldn't someone have suggested to call up one of the many places that offer reboring and ask them? To me, that is how you get a responsible and informed answer.

This way here it seems that all you'll get is conflicting arguments.
 








 
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