Tightening a double

[Alex Johnson]

I found a project gun. It is a underlever damascus 12 guage of good to high quality English origin. The lockup is loose on it and I see where there is wear on the lugs that has caused this. Would it be more desirable to silver solder a patch of steel and refit it, or would it be better to build up the area with weld? I have limited experience dealing with doubles, but I do intend to rebuild this one. Thanks

 

[2shots]

Welding could prove very difficult, expensive and dangerous unless it's done with a TIG welder (you don't want to spread heat and damage the barrels). Soldering a shim of appropriate thickness works well and I've used epoxy, which so far has held up. Brownells sells shims or you can use feeler gauges found in automotive parts stores. The feeler gauges normally are a bit too thick and require sanding. Properly sized, a shim can be rounded and snapped onto the hinge pin, too. I'm surprised that your underlever shot loose. I thought the lever compensated for wear.

[This message has been edited by 2shots (edited March 09, 2000).]