Brass barrel repair?

[msellers]

I have an older brass blunder buss barrel that has a hole drilled through into bore; where the underlug was supposed to go. Was wondering if it would be salvageable with a brazed repair, or if it is a paper weight now?  Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.  Apologies if I and posting in wrong section or repeating topics. Didn't find anything in my searches.

[smylee grouch]

It sounds like an ornamental barrel to me but I'm no expert.

[bob in the woods]

What's the bore size?  Perhaps a steel liner ?

[msellers]

Will try and get pics up tomorrow.  Bob, not sure on bore size off top of my head unfortunately. Hadn't thought about a liner, could be a real possibility.

[rich pierce]

This is may be wrong but I can be corrected and no worries. The threaded open breech is essentially a huge hole in the barrel. We "fix" that hole with a breechplug. The threaded hole for a drum and nipple is essentially a huge hole in the barrel. We "fix it" with a threaded drum and nipple. The hole for a touchhole liner is essentially a huge hole in the barrel. We "fix it" with a threaded touch hole liner. So we do not need to debate whether threaded plugs fix holes in barrels. All of these are intentional holes in the barrel and all are fixed with a threaded plug well fitted.

A blunderbuss is not intended for accuracy. Would I try to plug a hole drilled into the rifling of a barrel?  No. I cannot see how I'd ever get it to where it did not impact accuracy or loading.

That's all.

[jerrywh]

In my opinion rich is correct but it also matters where the hole is and how big it is.  How far ahead of the breech is the hole, What is the diameter of the hole and how thick is the barrel at that point? A breech plug, a touch hole and a drum have off setting factors. Another thing is brass ages over time and the grain structure changes so it matters how old the barrel is also.  Over enough time brass will become sort of rotten.

[Bill Raby]

   I think that it can be salvaged. Get a piece of brass wire that is a tight fit in the hole and solder it in place. Make the solder by mixing up an alloy of 62% brass and 38% fine silver. This will give you a melting point of about 1300 degrees. The trick is to get the solder to flow all the way around and all the way through the barrel. Make sure your wire is longer than the distand from the hole to the end of the barrel. Run most of it through a couple holes in a drawplate. That way the wire is mostly thinner than the hole, but fit tight on one end. Melt the thick end into a ball and coat it with a good layer of solder. Pull the thin end through the hole from the inside of the barrel until the thick end is in the hole and the solder covered ball is tight against the inside of the barrel. Then you can heat the barrel from the outside and flow the solder through from the inside. Grind the inside smooth and polish it. It will give you a repair as strong as the rest of the barrel.

   Problem you have that it will anneal the barrel in that spot. I would think it best to anneal the whole barrel so the hardness is the same through the whole thing. I think better to have the whoel barrel and even hardness than to have the repaired spot softer than the rest of it. That might make the barrel too soft to use. Or maybe not. I don't know about that part.

[Carl Young]

You present the possible answers as salvageable or not. I would take into consideration the expected use of the barrel, and as Jerry mentions its age/condition (what does "older" mean?).

If the use will be to restore an antique to presentable condition (seems unlikely if the hole is near the lug on the bottom of the barrel, as the fore-end would cover the hole, but for the purposes of discussion...) then yes, I can see several ways to accomplish that. If restore means shooting blanks (powder without shot or ball, so relatively low pressure) probably so. If restore means shooting 200 grains of powder behind a 4 ounce ball, probably less so though possible.

If it is "old" (pre 20th century for example), corroded, or of questionable origin (middle-eastern tourist souvenir grade), as Jerry says, many more variables to consider.

The more you tell us (maybe including photos?) the more helpful the answers will be. You are getting good advice from the previous posters. Me maybe not so much

Regards,
Carl

[Hungry Horse]

I have to mention that there were a lot more nonshooting replicas made of blunderbusses than actual proofed shooting versions. Dixie sold a kit way back when, and CVA sold a kit, and a finished gun, but other than those I don't remember any. If this is a wallhanger replica, the barrel may be made of pure junk, which would make it a pipe bomb.
 If it is an antique barrel, there is a good chance the brass, or bronze, has degraded over time. So be very thorough in your inspection.
 If it is a shooting replica barrel, I would plug the hole, and line the barrel. That seems like the safest solution to me.
 I did plug a touchole that was drilled too far back some years ago. I used high heat jewelers hard silver solder, and it worked just fine.
 Hungry Horse

[P.W.Berkuta]

If it were mine I would not waste my time on it but just put it on the wall and tell friends it was an old pirate gun used by Captain Jack Sparrow .

[JCKelly]

Hang it on someone's wall

Maybe braze the touch hole shut

Why would any person want to REPAIR and shoot any "Older" blunderbuss? Do you guys know how very bad some of the replicas, specifically from India, are? Horrible design, using fine threads in brass is a no-no in anything, Oh, it was my first exposure to muzzle loader failures. Plug blew past (yes!) the shooter's head, blank charges with a 12ga shell full of Black Powder and heavy newspaper wadding. Threads were just barely damaged on the tips. Because the plug was just a little too small for that threaded breech. Val Forget said he was sorry, didn't know that was how his Indian source made them. 

Enough raving. I would have shot it too, when I was 15.

[Hungry Horse]

Some of the Century Arms guns made in Belgium were not much better. A friends neighbor bought a whole "collection" from an old geezer who assured him they were all shooters. The first one he shot leaked so much smoke, and fire, from the breech, that if he hadn't been wearing glasses he no doubt would have been blinded.
 The barrel Dixie sold was pretty good quality, and the CVA blunderbusses were safe enough, but ugly as sin. I would not repair any other production blunderbuss barrel.

  Hungry Horse

[msellers]

It is appears to be a barrel from one of the dixie kits. But after thinking more about it and after reading all of your input, I am just going to shelve it for time being. Was leery of it to begin with being brass.  Thanks for all the input and suggestions.

Mike

[Marcruger]

I imagine that reenactors, and cos-play folks might pay good money for a non-functioning blunderbuss to go with a costume. 

Might be worth offering it and seeing what it brings if you don't want to keep it. 

Best wishes,   Marc

[Goo]

Send it to me and I'll stress over the use or don't use question and reimburse you for the shipping!