Should I buy Eddystone 1917

[Patrick Chadwick]

The front sight is still loose. I see how all the parts work up there and the long pin that holds it in the groove seems to be too short. I doubt it moves enough to seriously impact the type of shooting I plan for it but it is bothersome. What would the proper fix for this be?

Do you mean the sight blade or the sight block? Loose dovetails on sight blades can be tightened by peening the underneath face of the dovetail on the blade (not the block!). If the sight block is loose, the simplest, and indeed best fix is to soft-solder it*. You rub down and tin the surfaces that will not be visible after assembly, and then sweat the pre-tinned components together.



*This is a proper fix, not Bubba-ring, and is to be recommended as it is reversible.

[Aragorn243]

Patrick,

I looked up an exploded view of the front sight. The spline and the sight carrier are what is loose. I'm assuming that is what you are calling the sight block. I can see how I could tin the inside of the sight carrier where it would be hidden.

Is the tinning standard silver soldier used for copper plumbing fittings or something else? I wasn't aware it would stick to steel if it is the same stuff.

[Aragorn243]

Found a video showing a fellow doing just this on an M28, very similar type front sight without the spline. Looks like just the ticket, thanks Patrick.

[GUTS]

That rifle came out very nice Sir! I would be proud to own it.

[Aragorn243]

Tried the soldering this evening and met with complete and utter failure. Not sure if I have the wrong stuff, didn't clean it well enough or what. The solder refused to adhere to the steel except in a few very small places. Tried rubbing it in and it just rolled right off. It is the same stuff I use for copper water lines, lead free solder and flux which says it works on steel. Made three attempts, no luck with any.

I did not remove the blueing, is that the problem?

[Patrick Chadwick]

I did not remove the blueing, is that the problem?

You said it! Blueing is just a special kind of rust!

That is why I wrote "You rub down and tin the surfaces that will not be visible after assembly, and then sweat the pre-tinned components together."

The steel surfaces must be absolutely blank and degreased: wire-wooled*, swabbed with acetone, and then use something like "Fry's solder paste" to tin the surfaces. The resin flux in electronic solder seems to be useless on steel. You really do need the good old-fashioned acidic paste flux, 60-40 lead-tin solder, and to hell with fancy ROHS/green-planet-ecologically-responsible-save-the-environment materials that just cost more and make a mess without actually producing a mechanically sound joint.

And, of course, you must clean off any flux remains aftwards!

*on the barrel: to save the visible blueing, wrap electrician's tape around the barrel, leaving free just the ring that you want to tin. Then use the wire wool, degrease, wipe on the paste flux and tin the blank area! Remove the tape after tinning, as the flux tends to spatter onto other surfaces that you do not wish to spoil!

Patrick

[bulldog_mack13]

Were JA barrels only used in WW2 , what year did that start?

[Aragorn243]

I'll have to check into getting soldier that has lead in it. I know I don't have any as it is prohibited for use with plumbing fixtures. I don't do a lot of plumbing but I'm used to the solder sticking after using the flux and this was just beading up and running right off. Frustrating. Figured I was doing something wrong.

Thanks again for the help. I'll get it cleaned off completely and make another attempt after finding some solder.

[Patrick Chadwick]

All you need is what used to be very ordinary eutectic solder, as used in the electronics industry. Quite simply because the eutectic (roughly 60-40) tin-lead has the lowest melting point, and you don't want to have to heat up the barrel more than absolutely necessary. Just ask for it in a shop that sells electronics components. For heaven's sakes, you are reparing a firearm, not saving the planet. Funny how no-one seems to cotton on to the idea that a better way to reduce heavy metal contamination would be not to make most of the electronics junk to start off with!

Oh dear... I feel a rant coming on... perhaps because I am writing this on a top-of-the-range computer that started going wrong 5 minutes after the guarantee ran out. I will feel much better if I go down to the cellar and carry on restoring my 100-150 year old rifles using my 75-year old lathe with milling attachment, the shaper of the same vintage, and working with century-old hand tools. After a lifetime in the electronics industry, all the sophisticated equipment I developed has long since been turned into problematical scrap, while I continue to work with tools and on equipment that could have been used by my great-grandfather.

Think about it: if we do a good job, the results may well outlast anything we do in present-day engineering!

Patrick

[Aragorn243]

Patrick,

I located the correct solder and met with success this evening. The front sight is now fixed to the barrel and it's even facing in the correct direction. Thanks again.

Had no problems once I got the blueing off.