lug has come loose

[mossyhorn]

I removed the barrel from my 38" octagon to round 20 ga. fowler and discovered that the back lug had came loose.
Will the front two lugs be sufficient or should I try to re-attach the back lug. How would be the best way with someone without any experience to do this and the most simple way also.

[flinchrocket]

How was it attached?

[Top Jaw]

Pictures are going to help a lot to give you some advice on the repair. If it’s the rear lug, that one’s pretty important. It should’ve been dovetailed into the octagon section of the barrel. It could’ve been soldered on like the front ones were but that’s a chintzy way to do it.

[Cory Joe Stewart]

Did it come loose or slide out?   

Cory Joe

[mossyhorn]

It was the back lug and was soldered on. Brass lug on the octagon part of the barrel.
I probably need to dovetail it back on and why didn't I think of that. Gun was made for me
by someone else that builds guns.

[thecapgunkid]

Can you bring it back to the craftsman who made it?  I don't know enough to comment on why he used solder, but Most of the guys in this sport are pretty good about backing their work.

Dovetailing a new lug is not all that hard if you need that alternative..  If I can do it, anyone can

[flinchrocket]

You need to make a new one and dovetail it on the barrel. If you dovetail the one you have it may be to short because the hole will not line up anymore and will need to be lowered.

[Top Jaw]

As you know, if you dovetail it, you will need to redrill it.  If the hole is already near the edge, it may be too short after dovetailing.  Or the drill may want to wander into the existing hole, and go off center.  I would probably procure a new one and start fresh.  You may need to recut the lug channel slightly one way or the other to seat the new lug.  Also, I would drill from both sides toward the middle to avoid run out of your existing pin holes in the forearm.  Not hard.  Just takes a little extra attention to perform a neat job on the replacement. 

[Daryl]

If dovetailing, be very careful and not go too deep.  Gun makes usually solder when the barrel is too thin for dovetailing - just saying.

[mossyhorn]

The octagon part of the barrel is 1" across the flats and not tapered. The thickness of the barrel
is very close to 3/16" at the breach where the breach plug is installed. A rear sight is dovetailed
directly above the formerly soldered barrel lug. This should be enough to installed a new lug
I think with care.

[bob in the woods]

I would have dovetailed the lug into the barrel at that location, however, the balance of the lugs are soldered, and still holding, so the reason the lug came loose in the first place is because of a poor soldering job.  The soldered lug would already  have wood removed from the stock to accommodate it ,
so just desoldering it [ an extremely simple job ] seems the best and easiest way to go to me. What is there to gain from dovetailing it now and possibly ruining something ?    If done correctly a soldered lug will be just fine. I use regular lead based soft solder and have never had a lug come loose.

[mossyhorn]

Thanks for all the help. I think soldering may be the best overall and if that doesn't work
I can still install a dovetail.

[Daryl]

& re-drill, if you do dovetail it.  As bob noted, I'd simply re-solder it. properly.
You will still have to be careful to get the holes to line up & may have to re-drill, anyway.

[B.Habermehl]

If there’s enough metal at either end of your old lug simply drag the lug over a file until you have clean metal. Do not touch this surface. Clean the bottom flat the same way. Flux with common soldering rosin heat the barrel and lug slowly till 1/16 dia rosin core solder sucks into the joint. If you did a good job of putting the lug back into position you will only need to slot the hole in the lug which should have been done to start with and may have contributed to the lug coming off. Just don’t use so much flux that it runs down the sides of your barrel as it will probably take the finish off.

[mossyhorn]

The lug was not slotted and I think that contributed to the failure. I slotted the other lugs and
will  slot this one as well. You learn a good bit about a builder when you remove the barrel and
look inside the stock where everything is covered.