Old hammer gun , rail is peeling up

B

boatmonkey82

Moderator
Remington 1889 , the middle rail has come undone at the front on top . I take it the barrels were soldered together ? It almost looks like somting pinged it about 1.5-2in back and made it rise up . Before i bust out the mig and the dremel what other options do i have ? Im pretty competent on gun repairs as I dont trust any gunsmith in my area , ' haveing a choke tube and sights fly off would make you loose trust too ' .
 
Trust you mean a double barrelled shotgun.
Yes, the barrels are soldered together and the ribs are soldered down.
I don't know what effect patching it with weld would have.
 
yes its a double , it would have to be quicl spot weld to keep the rest of the solder from melting , my soldering skills SUCK
 
Find a Gunsmith you do trust, don't weld it, you will likely damage the shotgun, beyond repair.

If the solder is failing on the rail, then it is probable that more than just the rail solder is releasing and a gunsmith familiar with double shotguns would be able to determine if the barrel assembly needs a rebuild/resolder.

If memory serves there was only about a 135,000 of these shotguns made with production continued around 1908 and they came in several grades most offered with Damascus twist barrels and differing amounts of engraving.

So, dependent on grade and rarity, having a professional gunsmith do the work, will go along way to retaining any collector value the shotgun has.

NOTE: DO NOT use WD40 on double/OU shotguns as it has been known to penetrate the solder and cause it to fail in use.
 
If that Remington is in good shape and especially if it one of the higher grades, I would not attempt to solder that rib myself, and certainly would not weld anything. While I am not suggesting your gun is worth that kind of money, a grade 7 Remington Model 1889 can run $20k, so they are definitely collectors' items.

I suggest contacting Simmons (www.simmonsguns.com) and talking to them.

Jim
 
FWIW, SxS barrel rib's solder joints don't simply "fail" for no reason - especially of a damascuc/twist barreled oldie.

The most common source is rust underneath, expanding and forcing the rib up/loose.

The 2nd-most reason is a small hole/void coming through the damascus..........................

Unless the 1889 is a Grade 4 or higher collectible, It's a good candidate for the fireplace mantle.

In any case, a professional rib repair will be expensive - and, yes, a weld (quick or not) will destroy the surrounding solid solder/joint.

.
 
A lot of ribs on shotguns use Nickle Oxide Soldier to secure them and other points on the shotgun together and according to the smith that repaired my dads skeet gun WD40 is a serious no no, as it can apparently work it's way in and loosen the joint over time.

I shot sporting clay's and skeet in both Canada and the US for several years and almost without fail, every time the rib departed a shotgun, liberal use of WD40 was indicated by the owner.

So unless one is sure that the solder is a Lead solder joint, stay away from WD40, it may save you a chunk of money.
 
I do a lot of soldering, and repairing bad solder joints (not on guns.)
There is no way, physically or chemically that WD40 could harm any solder joint-especially hard solder. WD 40 gets blamed for everything, because it's used so frequently.
 
AFIAK, the ribs and barrels on those old guns were tied together with plain old lead-tin solder, and probably not much tin. They can't be tank blued. Dropping the barrels of an old double gun into a hot caustic tank is a very quick way to make two single barrels out of a set of double barrels.

Jim
 
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