Barrel and heat

L

littlephil

New member
Ok, so I just removed the sights from my nagant m44 and used heat to melt the solder just like I've read to do, only there was no solder. We heated the front sight/bayonet lug till it was red before it came off. The muzzle was also red from the heat. The rear sight base also turned red but the barrel only got discolored from the heat. We let the barrel air cool afterwards. My question is, can a barrel be ruined from this kind of heat? I've read that barrels aren't tempered for hardness like receivers are, so will the heat hurt the barrel or will it be fine?
 
Bill, we had to heat the sights themselves. We didn't fully realize there wasn't any solder till the pieces were off of the barrel and there was no trace of solder anywhere. But we tried several times after applying slight heat to remove them and they wouldn't even budge. As far as I can remember this is the only one I've even heard of that wasn't soldered. Every time I've heard or read about someone removing these they said they had to use heat to melt the solder holding them on.
 
Well, first off they didn't put gobs of solder under the sights, just a slight bit, which you probably flashed off if you turned the barrel red. And yes, turning a barrel red will cause issues. Sometimes the bore will expand, sometimes it will shrink. Metal heated to red hot and cooled will almost always have scale on it, good luck getting it off. The only way to figure out if your rifle still shoots is to shoot it.
 
Bill
M44 bayonet lugs were heated and pressed onto the barrels. The best way to remove them is to cut the barrel off right behind the lug and recrown.
 
Scorch, thanks for clearing that up. I've never heard that they were heated then pressed on. I'm not too worried about the muzzle so much (the main part that turned red) because it's getting cut back anyway. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't going to have catastrophic failure such as a burst barrel do to it turning brittle. Thanks again for the help.
 
I'm not too worried about the muzzle so much (the main part that turned red) because it's getting cut back anyway.
Click to expand...

Now I'm confused...why go to the trouble trying to remove the sight/bayonet if you were going to cut and re-crown :confused:
 
Tobnpr, it's because I'm not cutting the whole end off where the sight and bayonet lug sat. I'm going to leave an inch or so of the thinner part to be threaded.
 
"I've read that barrels aren't tempered for hardness like receivers..."


FYI: Incorrect use of the word "Temper". The correct word in the above statement is, "heat treated". Tempering is a reheating of a hardened steel that gives up some of the hardness for toughness. Receivers are generally heated, quenched, reheated to a lower heat and quenched again. In short they are "heat treated", to impart strength. "Tempered" (A.K.A., "drawn"), is only one part of the four-step process and often used incorrectly.
 
Since you'll be cutting off the barrel, even if the end got too hot, I doubt the barrel behind the cut will be affected. However, barrels are heat treated, and are more critical that receivers. The barrels hoop strength has to withhold many thousands of pounds of pressure, as compared to what the receiver sees from the force of the bolt on the lugs. The latter is only a small amount compared to what the barrel sees, especially at the chamber.
 
Dahermit, thanks for clearing that up. I read quickly through some articles the other night to try and find an answer before I posted here. I figured I'd remember something wrong. :rolleyes:

Dixie, that's pretty much what I was figuring for the muzzle end. My main concern was the area just ahead of the chamber where the rear sight base was. The barrel wasn't glowing there, just got discolored from being heated. Come to think of it, is the discoloration in the steel itself, or just where the blue was being removed by the heat? Thanks again for the help.
 
Bill, I'm guessing this one must have been pressed on. We didn't see any trace of solder after we removed the base. Other than that it just had one pin holding it to the barrel. I'm not real sure why they would've taken the time to press the sights on, but not make the bolts fit any tighter than they do. :rolleyes: Every other instance I've heard of though, the sights were both soldered.
 
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