Senior Member
Soldering On a Bolt Handle
Most people say to silver solder a bolt handle on (except the ones that TIG them). Looking in Brownells, the have Silvaloy Silver Solder and they have the Hi Force 44, which has silver in it too.
The Hi Force has a lower temp requirement which I like, to keep the temp of the bolt down at the cocking ramp, but is it strong enough? What is the strength difference between the two?
I have the torch to do both.
Senior Member
I have been looking at doing this too. I have Mauser 98 action that I will have to modify the bolt handle on. The general consensus is that TIG, followed by A/O welding, then silver solder are the best options. I don't think a soft solder will provide the strength.
I was talking with a fellow at a show last weekend who made up a fitting with the bolt sleeve thread on it and an adapter that he connected a mist coolant unit to. He used a water mist to keep the cocking ramp cool enough.
I will probably forge the bolt handle on my action, but will use this method when I do.
Jim H.
Senior Member
None of the soft solders (silver/tin) are going to be strong enough in the long run. The first sticky case (over pressure or dirty chamber) you get will allow you to rip the bolt handle off of the bolt body. Remington silver brazes their bolt handles onto the bolt bodies, but the surface area is pretty huge compared to Mausers or Springfields. Easiest to do is tig on a new handle, less cleanup. Hardest to learn is to forge a handle.
David
David Kaiser
Montezuma, IA
Junior Member
A Mauser doesn't have enough surface area for soldering, It will need to be welded
Senior Member
Originally Posted by rws
Use an A/O torch and a 3.5% Nickel Steel rod. Use a "heat sink" bolt inside the bolt body and keep the lugs wrapped with well wetted rags. Roy Dunlap's book can guide you through it step by step.
Junior Member
I second this. I have done this with a Mosin Nagant. Luckily the bolt head can be removed so you don't need to worry about to much heat getting to the locking lugs ( that's where you need to be carefully about the heat not at the caming angle.) After I milled off the bead you couldn't tell it was welded.
You get the high nickel rod from Brownells. Doing a bolt handle on a Mauser is made a lot easier using the jig Brownells has.
Sorry for the slightly out of focus image. The camera is supposed to auto focus but it doesn't seem to do that well on closeups.
Senior Member
The strength of any solder job, silver or lead, depends on how the parts are fitted together.
Senior Member
I think there is a difference between welding a bolt handle, such as converting a Mauser handle, and attaching a Remington handle to the bolt body.
There are many different types/strengths of silver solder, I assume by the silver content. Here is where my original question was meant. The High Force 44 is one type, and there is the Silvaloy which I think has a higher silver content.
I can send the bolt out and have it TIG'd. I can't heat the bajjebers out of it and use the silvaloy. Or I can use less heat and use the High Force 44. My question is will the HF 44 hold? I'm not in the habit of loading to the point of having to stand up to force a bolt open.
I have tried to twist a copper pipe joint apart that was soldered with plain 50/50, and the pipe would twist and fail before the joint did.
Senior Member
David is the voice of experience. Any of the low melting point solders will not have enough strength for an adequate job. It might hold up for a while, but the potential for failure will always be there.
Jim H.
Senior Member
loose nut,
So true, however, I do not believe any solder or braze ought to be in use for this type job.
As far as the 3.5% nickle don't get all excited about that, just get their hi-tensile strength gas welding rod as they likely have no idea what % nickle is in it. I never, I mean never used that copper coated trash that is so commonly available. The Hi-Tensile is un-coated.
If you can't find it PM me, I have plenty.
Ken
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote