Filling Bubba Holes

[Cantom]

Claven, you answered thus on CGNTZ:

The PROPER way is to fill with countersunk screws and then TIG or MIG over the heads. Dress and then reblue the receiver.

Anything less is mickey-mouse and it WILL show :(


Is there anyone on this forum or anyone else in Southern Ontario who can do exactly this for a reasonable fee for a rifle I own? I have a Weaver base with tapped holes that I'd like to disappear.

[Claven2]

Gunco in Ottawa. Probably one of the best outfits in Canada for gunsmithing services :)

[Cantom]

Gunco in Ottawa. Probably one of the best outfits in Canada for gunsmithing services :)

This is sheer torture to contemplate. I had a scope mount installed on my 1949 unissued Long Branch about 15 years ago, 3 or 4 tapped holes with a $5 Weaver base. I wish to hell I had not done that...I just got off the phone with my friend Rodger of DARK, he suggested just using blued filler screws that they use on new rifles with tapped scope mount holes and living with it. He said even with welding it is unlikely that it won't be noticeable plus sometimes the metal becomes porous and looks terrible...and rebluing the rifle will ruin the value completely even worse than I already have... :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:
The sniper stock shown is a Savage sniper butt with the scope serial no. on the wrist and a Hank Holm cheekrest. I still have the untouched LB butt that goes with the rifle.

What say those on here? What would you do with it? I'm about ready to pull this mount off or should I leave it as is in a faux T setup? (can't afford a real one)

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l88/cantom_2006/LB19492.jpg
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l88/cantom_2006/LB19493.jpg
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l88/cantom_2006/LB19494.jpg
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l88/cantom_2006/Picture047.jpg

[sdh1911]

The best one can do is to find screws of the same thread and cut them .0.040" over the top of the finished surface, then peen the screws to near flush. Use a jewelers loop to observe the finish grain then proceed to lightly and evenly use a very, very fine file to take it to near flush finish then finish the process with the appropriate grit sand paper or emery. then re-finish just the area of repair to match. You may want to use muriatic acid to pre-treat the are prior to finish, it gives a more evenly aged effect as well as blends the surface, HTH-SDH

[tiriaq]

The chap who does Jason's welding is A-1, and understands welding on firearms. Jason's 'smithing is first class. Personally I don't think repaired holes and a reblued receiver are any worse than holes that don't belong. I would consider this to be a legitimate restoration.
The method described by sdh1911 is certainly an option, and can result in a very unobtrusive repair.

[stencollector]

metal becomes porous

Clean metal with the right heat and lots of the shielding gas shouldn't have any porousity. Exceptions are crappy metal like a BAR receiver, which is some kind of cast aluminum/steel mixture I think.
If I were you I would go for the fill and refinish as well. And leave the LB butt on it and mail me the sniper butt as partial payment for the great advise.
I picked up a Brit sniper on the weekend....pretty good condition except the butt does not have the S51 and the cheekrest has a slight crack in it. Has a real great transit chest and an excellent scope can with strap.

[Cantom]

Clean metal with the right heat and lots of the shielding gas shouldn't have any porousity. Exceptions are crappy metal like a BAR receiver, which is some kind of cast aluminum/steel mixture I think.
If I were you I would go for the fill and refinish as well. And leave the LB butt on it and mail me the sniper butt as partial payment for the great advise.
I picked up a Brit sniper on the weekend....pretty good condition except the butt does not have the S51 and the cheekrest has a slight crack in it. Has a real great transit chest and an excellent scope can with strap.

Partial payment...hehehe

Was the Brit sniper reasonable or the usual astronomical?

How much would be reasonable for that Ottawa gunsmith to charge to disappear the holes?

[tiriaq]

Just give Jason a call. Gunco, in Nepean. Its not going to be inexpensive; postage for the barrelled receiver back and forth is going to be $40 or so, all by itself.

[Claven2]

I'm thinking about $20 for the weld job and another $50 or so for a bath in the blueing tank assuming you don't want/need any finish prep. Plus the shipping both ways for the barelled receiver.

But don't take my word for it - call Jason and ask.

613-224-6266 190 Colonnade Road, Nepean, ON K2E-7J5

[Cantom]

I'm thinking about $20 for the weld job and another $50 or so for a bath in the blueing tank assuming you don't want/need any finish prep. Plus the shipping both ways for the barelled receiver.

But don't take my word for it - call Jason and ask.

613-224-6266 190 Colonnade Road, Nepean, ON K2E-7J5

I did call him, thanks much for the advice people! The barrelled action will be mailed to him today, I've already got it stripped and in a mailing tube. Price is within reason...I'm happy. Pics to follow.

[Cantom]

Just give Jason a call. Gunco, in Nepean. Its not going to be inexpensive; postage for the barrelled receiver back and forth is going to be $40 or so, all by itself.


He guessed about $50 plus shipping both ways, it'll knock the heck out of $100. I originally bought the rifle for $200 from Collectors Source, so I'll have about $400 in it when I'm done including everything I've done to it, which is still less than it's worth these days. I'll feel better with it back to stock condition.

[stencollector]

Partial payment...hehehe

Was the Brit sniper reasonable or the usual astronomical?


Reasonable, considering todays market. I actually bought it for resale, but I havent had a chance to even look it all over yet. If this current heatwave holds up until next week I'll take it out and shoot it.

Instead of the usual "snipers equipment list" on the inside of the lid of the box, is the origional ad where it was sold for $79.95, way back when.

[Cantom]

:) Gunco in Ottawa. Probably one of the best outfits in Canada for gunsmithing services :)

:) It took from December until today but I just got my 49 rifle action back and reassembled it. Jason did a hell of a job! As he said you can see slight marks in the bluing where the bubba holes were (dissimilar metals blue differently) but so slight that I can live with it. The rifle is beautiful and back to original configuration. It was an unissued rifle that came back from Greece.
I cheated and put on one of the NOS parked buttplates because it's new and I have a box of them, but I have the blue one as well. Bore is a very mint 5 groove.

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l88/cantom_2006/49LongBranch001.jpg
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l88/cantom_2006/49LongBranch002.jpg
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l88/cantom_2006/49LongBranch003.jpg
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l88/cantom_2006/49LongBranch004.jpg
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l88/cantom_2006/49LongBranch005.jpg
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l88/cantom_2006/49LongBranch006.jpg

[Pete04]

Looks great! Money and time well spent. Congrats!

Pete

[Cantom]

Looks great! Money and time well spent. Congrats!

Pete

Thanks Pete. Did you see the before pics? (I think I deleted them all, can't find any now) I had a friend install a $5 Weaver base...very sad. I feel a lot better now. ;)

[tiriaq]

That certainly turned out well. I think that this is really the best way to deal with this sort of situation. Rifle looks really good.

[Cantom]

That certainly turned out well. I think that this is really the best way to deal with this sort of situation. Rifle looks really good.

I agree, it is the right way to deal with drilled holes in a receiver. First Jason threaded in set screws to fill the holes, then he welded over the holes and made it smooth...took him a long time to get it how he wanted it. I doubt anyone could have done a better job. It is so smooth and perfectly profiled, you can't feel or see anything other than the slight difference in the bluing. He reblued the whole action it appears. Colour is the perfect blue/black and matches the bolt exactly which stayed with me.
Since it was such a nice rifle to start with it was worth dropping the $ into it...I still have a reasonable amount in the rifle since I've had it since they were $200 rifles.

[Claven2]

FYI, what actually happened is that it was TIG welded, but the original front receiver ring screw hole had some rod-flux bleedover that didn't take blueing in a small spot. Alot of guys would have sent you the rifle like that, but Jason doesn't let sub-par work out of the shop, so he took off the weld on that hole, had it re-tig'd at his expense, and then reblued the action a second time. ;) Jason doesn't do the TIG welding personally, he subcontracts it to a professional welder as he generally gets better results that way.

And yes, I still know all... see all...

[Pete04]

No, I didn't see the before pics, but I had the same sort of problem on one of my Lees and I solved it by buying the sight to re-mount to the holes that were drilled'n'tapped into my reciever!! I hope you learn your lesson! Stop drillin' holes in your recievers.LOL LOL (at least the ones your gonna sell to me, damnit! LOL)

Pete

PS Claven2, your scarin' us dude! You can see right through that screen! Can't you?!!

[Cantom]

FYI, what actually happened is that it was TIG welded, but the original front receiver ring screw hole had some rod-flux bleedover that didn't take blueing in a small spot. Alot of guys would have sent you the rifle like that, but Jason doesn't let sub-par work out of the shop, so he took off the weld on that hole, had it re-tig'd at his expense, and then reblued the action a second time. ;) Jason doesn't do the TIG welding personally, he subcontracts it to a professional welder as he generally gets better results that way.

And yes, I still know all... see all...

You probably saw my action at his shop when you were there recently?

[Cantom]

No, I didn't see the before pics, but I had the same sort of problem on one of my Lees and I solved it by buying the sight to re-mount to the holes that were drilled'n'tapped into my reciever!! I hope you learn your lesson! Stop drillin' holes in your recievers.LOL LOL (at least the ones your gonna sell to me, damnit! LOL)

Pete

PS Claven2, your scarin' us dude! You can see right through that screen! Can't you?!!


I pledge to never ever again drill a receiver....

[Claven2]

You probably saw my action at his shop when you were there recently?

You could say that...

Jason's a friend of mine - we hang out on an almost daily basis ;)

(not this week though - he's off on vacation)

[Cantom]

You could say that...

Jason's a friend of mine - we hang out on an almost daily basis ;)

(not this week though - he's off on vacation)

I tried calling him yesterday and heard that. Please tell him I'm very happy with his work and said thanks much.