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Tig weld repair to rifle sight

JRSTech

Plastic
Joined
Mar 2, 2002
Location
Hamilton, ON,, Canada
Has anybody in the group had any experience tig welding a broken front sight off a rifle?

The sight is removable via a dovetail/screw and is black oxide treated. The top section broke off almost flush with the base. As far as i can tell, it is a magnetic metal but appears to be investment cast or malleable iron or some other weird sh~^! I have attached the two components with a couple of spot welds on either side using 308L stainless, but it was like welding to an oil soaked sponge! Lots of smoke. Perhaps the parts have to be preheated to burn off what appears to be either oil or the black oxide compound that is soaked into the metal. The surfaces were ground and cleaned with alcohol before I spot welded. I now need to complete the weld with a full length small fillet on each side but am looking for advice before I continue or destroy the part. Any help is appreciated as always.
 
You don't mention the make or model, or its age. Older parts would tend to be ordinary steel, and should be weldable. Newer sights are often made of materials which can be mass produced at minimal cost. Sintering is a possibility. Wouldn't it just be easier to replace the sight?
 
As Dick said, it would be easier to replace the sight. If it was desirable to keep the original for some reason, soldering might be a better option. Good luck!
 
A lot of lesser expensive firearms are using some type of pot metal for non stressed parts. At least I call it pot metal. Often it will take cold blue after a fashion but is often full of voids. So welding or grinding and soldering are generally more trouble than they are worth.

If it is a 22 rimfire and just needs a sight to use, you can build up with Devcon and paint with spray paint. Easy to shape with a file and OK for light use.
 
Thanks for the ideas and help guys. I decided to silver solder in the fillets since the spot welds on both sides are holding, and the silver solder can be colored to match the black oxide.
 








 
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