holes, holes holes...

picked this up in a work trade,
lts of holes, and the side ground on to clear the mount.
notch ground for a bolt handle
did some welding, and have it ready to finish.

Nice work, Chuck. I particularly like the way you welded the bolt notch. If you don't mind my asking, how did you grind and finish the bolt notch? I put screws in the holes with the tops just below the surface and the bottoms flush with the bottom surface. I then weld over the screws on both side and grind down. The grinding is darned tricky on an inverted curved surface. I realize one can use the old milling machine to do a better job, but the setups are awesome hard to set correctly.

I take it you either sand blasted or bead blasted the receiver before taking the pictures?

Jim

Chuck, what is you welding set up to weld the receiver?

thanks,
my welder is a thermal arc, Viking 240. over kill, but does what ever i need it to.
i dont use plug screws with this welder, like i said, it does the job, leaves no ring.
i did all the finish work with a draw file, and a air grinder, a bench belt sander, and other small hand tools,
love my dremil,
i have found that good ol elbow grease and hand tools works best.
a note,
the bolt way was damaged, i didnt notice until i was working the holes down.
had to repair that as well, and work the bolt way by hand for a bolt to fit.

looks darker then it really is, i have it slobered with oil and grease.
came out ok..you can see were it was, but you have to look.
i did a darker lot for a Remington Rand, and SC A3 today,
so i tossed this in as well.

Nice job chuck! Metallurgically speaking, does the the welding weaken the receiver (since it would anneal the metal) or do you do a heat treatment post welding? Is it safe to fire?

thanks

-Jeff L

Your skills, firsthand knowledge, and your efforts to share them are much appreciated!

After I became a moderator here several months ago I have to read many forums for content that I never read before and discovered that you are helpful with your knowledge on most of them. :thup:

PS -
Do you still use your 'Wile E. Coyote' shooting rig to test fire old guns?
The old posts from before were lost before this forum began and I wish I could look up your old posts.
I can't remember how your rig worked exactly, but it cracked me up with the way you explained your ingenuity!

~ Harlan

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../wile045-1.jpg

all A3,s are 2.5% nickle steel, Remingtons are surface hardened, SC are hard through and through.
id say the holes would weaken the receiver more then welding them.
yes, they are safe to shoot, but id have to wonder how the welds would handle a failure.
im sure any fractures would search out the holes, welded or not.
with the welder i use, it does penetrate very well.
iv welded up and redrilled holes that were done off center before, and had great results.
i use a 3% #30 nickle wire with mix gas, the second to lowest setting on my machine. slower wire speed, high gas, with a small hooded tip to focus the gas around the weld, to keep it from getting air bubbles.
i can weld thin sheet metal to 3/4 inch aromor plate with my welder.
another note.
i have a M12 trench gun that had the chamber cut with a torch, i welded the hole closed with this welder, and used a grafite bar inside the barrel.
with a bore scope, you cant tell were the barrel was welded, and only a dark spot from the heat at the old hole.
iv shot more then a few rounds through that shotgun with no issues. and a couple boxes of short mags as well,
so far so good.

lol
yes, i still have the old tire, string ect to test fire rifles that might blow up..
the ACME rifle tester...lol.
with the rifles iv been rebarreling lately, iv just been using my gloved hands, and throwing caution to the wind..man up and touch the switch lol.

Thanks chuck.

"love my dremil" - just be sure to keep it away from your thumb! :D

-Jeff L

Chuck:

Wow, the first thing I thought was that they drilled Hatcher holes all the way down the side of that one!

It looks good to me, how did the holes come out looking on the inside of the receiver?

The reason I ask is I have an 03 Sporter that was fitted for a side mount (I'm not sure which mount, except it's not a G&H, there are only 2 holes there, now plugged) and it needs to head your way to have the holes filled/fixed.

Thanks.........

they look rough, but no holes.
you can see them in one of the pictures.
keep in mind, this isnt a easy job, and not real cheap lol.
i did this one on a gamble, and did 2 other welding jobs at the same time.
had this been the only one on the bench it would have came out better.
i was in a hurry, and left some parts a bit rougher then normal,
i assembled this as a low dollar A3 shooter to take to the next show for sale.