Solder

[Robby]

I am thinking about using a rosin core solder on the rib to barrel seam for a half stock rifle. I seems to have a very low temperature melt rate that I would estimate in the mid 200's range. My thimbles are joined at the seam with silver solder, they are attached to the rib with a cadmium solder that works at about 600 degrees. I have about a five pound spool of this rosin core stuff and would like to use it because of the low working temperature, but I'm a little worried about the strength of the finished joint out right, and how it might hold up with the heating and cooling of the barrel along with repeated shock and vibrations from shooting. I don't have any stat's for the solder itself, I got it at a flea market years ago, but I think it was intended for use in circuitry or electrical connections.
Any related thoughts or experience with this would be greatly appreciated.
Robby

[Hungry Horse]

 I think a 200 degree melting point is not likely. That would mean this stuff would be near melting on a hot day in the trunk of your car. I would think it is more likely to melt around 400 degrees, which is more like regular lead solder.
 I personally use Stay Bright, a silver bearing solder, that melts in the 400 degree range, and is five, or six, times stronger than regular lead solder.

                    Hungry Horse

[JBJ]

Ditto what HH says. There are several good silver bearing solders in the heat range mentioned and I have used one or the other of them over the years. Stay Brite seems to readily available and does the job. Just be sure to keep things clean and do not handle the cleaned surfaces more than absolutely ncessary - if then. At least it certainly seems to help the jobs I've done.

BTW, do heed the warnings about cadmium fumes on the high temp silver solders.
J.B.

[E.vonAschwege]

I would do as HH and JBJ suggest.  I personally like Oatey Silver "Safe Flo" lead free solder combined with Oatey No. 5 lead free solder paste flux - melts at roughly 400 degrees.  Ive used older flux cored lead solder and found that the rosin contained within the lead no longer worked properly.  The combination I use is the easiest solder I've ever used for tinning parts ahead of time, then joining them together separately.  With the rib, I would tin the bottom flat of the barrel first, then do the same to the inside of the rib.  Wire the two tinned pieces together with more flux, heat gently from the barrel side until both solders melt and make for an almost effortless joining. I've yet to actually do that process, but it's the same set up I use for under lugs on thin walled barrels.  Good luck!
-Eric

[kutter]

I agree your mystery solder is probably something that works in the 375/400F range.

The cadium solder on the loops is probably a 900F+ hard solder. Again just guessing, but anything in the 200/250 range would be one of the bismuth alloys or the like. Those generally are specially solders used for emergency repairs. Not a lot of strength but easy to use with nothing more than quick heat of a match or lighter.
Cerrosafe alloy for chamber castings and backing up items to be engraved is one of those low temp melt alloys,,melts in boiling water.

I'd try the mystery solder out. It's probably 60/40 or 50/50 alloy lead/tin mix. It was and still is sold both rosin core and solid wire..

Common solder,,till all of a sudden it needed to be pure tin mixed with a couple % silver or it'll fall to pieces,, or so we're told.

Millions of bbl ribs on SxS guns, underribs, top ribs, sights and swivel bases were and are attached with nothing but lead/tin solder and have held just fine for centurys.
It's the solder job,,not the amt of solder that does it.

Use an extra flux. The rosin flux in the wire isn't enough for the job. Common No-Corrode paste is fine. I've re-ribbed countless SxS guns with nothing more, everything from Stevens to Parker to Purdey.

If it really bothers you,,dump it into the bullet melting pot and buy a roll of new solder and be done with it.

[Robby]

Thank you fellows. I'm out of 50/50 and Stay Brite, they don't sell it locally and I wanted to do this job tomorrow so I was hoping for some information about my unknown stuff. I just experimented on some mild steel and I don't think it will work. Better safe than sorry, I'll order some good stuff. Thanks again.
Robby

[T*O*F]

If you can get it to tin both the rib and barrel, use it.  Once parts are tinned, it only takes heat on the rib to melt them together.  You can do sections at a time.  You don't have to heat the whole blamed thing to melting temp at once.  The strength of your joint comes from the overall surface area of the rib to barrel joint.

[gumboman]

I need to solder two thimbles to a rib and the rib to a barrel. Found a 1/2 ounce pack of Stay Brite with 1/2 ounce flux on Amazon. I wonder if this is enough quantity to complete my rib solder job. Can anyone comment on this? 1/2 ounce seems like a very small amount to my mind.

http://www.amazon.com/HARRIS-STAY-BRITE-SILVER-BEARING-SBSKPOP/dp/B0089ETUN2/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1422099040&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=stay+brite+silver+solder[url]]http://www.amazon.com/HARRIS-STAY-BRITE-SILVER-BEARING-SBSKPOP/dp/B0089ETUN2/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1422099040&sr=1-2-catcorr&keywords=stay+brite+silver+solderhttp://

[LRB]

 If you use the same solder for both processes, you may have a problem with the thimbles. The solder joint holding them will melt as you solder the rib.

[B.Habermehl]

The last rib I soldered on a barrel, after tinning the barrel flat and the rib. I clamped the barrel rib and pre tinned thimbles all together and heated the whole mess together, with a slight addition of solder at areas that looked a bit starved. That did it. I worried about it for far more time than it took to do it. BTW I used standard plumbing solder and flux. You must start with a virgin steel surface, no finger prints etc. freshly filed or sanded. BJH