JimmyO
You must understand that EVERYONE screws up at some point and that its an ongoing process.
A year or so ago I turned a nice piece of hard curly maple into something for carving practice and maybe a hatchet handle or 2. I started stocking MLs in the 1960s so I am supposed to "know how". I did something I could not "fix", pretty rare but.....
"It" happens.
I have done damage to other peoples guns, I used to do repair work on 18th and 19th century stuff but was able to fix it after the urge for head bashing had subsided.
I saw a normally very careful individual put a screw driver between the throughbolt head and the side of the hole on a customers original 1878 Sharps stock and break a pretty large pointed "eruption" in the side of the buttstock.
I know a very competent gunsmith with a piece of cardboard on the wall with 3 or 4 broken mainsprings glued too it, all hand made and ready to install, with $#*&!!! written under each one. These represent about a days careful work turned to scrap iron.
Barrels crushed in vises, vintage shotgun barrels filed/polished just a little too thin during "cleanup" of some pits, I just heard rumors of this one. The guy is way beyond "competent".
Trust me you are not alone.
WE HAVE ALL BTDT. Some are easy fixes, a few are catastrophic.
It is very difficult to convey body language and compassion or even humor through a keyboard.
Sometimes people here are perhaps a little blunt. If you screw up they may say so. But back in the day I suspect the masters were not always concerned with hurting an apprentices feelings over some obvious (to them) boneheaded mistake. But you will learn from it in any case.
This site is a wonderful resource. But along with the help you may get some information or see photos that might bruise your ego.
Just looking at some of the work being done by others makes me humble.
You will find a wide range of opinion here on almost anything from stock finishes to how to inlet a lock. People tend to find what works for them and think its the "way" and for them it is. But someone else learned another way and thus you will have to different approaches to the same end.
But there are some things that are just not done. Welding barrels is one. High temp silver solder is usually OK for most alloys, soft solder works, even brazing works for some things and some steels. But welding is taboo for reasons already stated.
Unfortunately you found out the hard way.
I wish you had posted the question BEFORE welding. But that is water under the bridge.
So you may either abandon the project or order another barrel. But get a swamp or taper, it will reduce the weight and is surely historically correct and likely be safer.
Newcomers are more than welcome here. But when the newcomer does not like the answers then things can get difficult.
Never, ever, use "seamless", DOM or welded tubing for gun barrels. It is not safe regardless of alloy. Gun barrels are subject to far different stress than the various drawn tubes were designed for. The manufacturing process actually makes the material unsafe no matter the alloy. If tubing made safe barrels arms makers would not go though the complicated processes being used.
When metallurgists start talking about characteristics of materials for high pressure applications you really need to listen.
I don't know of any arms maker welding barrels. Most sights and lugs are dovetailed, screwed, staked or silver brazed on barrels in modern arms making. Its FAR easier to clean up the joint than if welded. So you might want to look at the "welding" you have heard about and see if its arc welded or "welded" by brazing. I know of a maker of 1911 pistol barrels that was/is brazing lugs on barrels but its not the same or even close to the same process. If they WERE welding on barrels they have the advantage of KNOWING the process and adding preheats or heat treatment to the process to prevent problems.
The bottom line is this. Asking a question will generate an answer. It is possible, as sometimes happens here, that the answer will not be what is expected and might be unpalatable to the person posing the question. This is obviously the case here.
You may either accept the collective wisdom here, or not.
It is very likely the import Bess that failed with a BLANK was a tubing barrel.
BP operates at low pressure, by modern firearms standards, but by any other standard it is high pressure and it shock loads the container as well. If the container fails the results are often very "impressive" both in damage to the firearm and the shooter. So picking up just any piece of material for a barrel can have serious consequences. It is impossible to proof a barrel made of the wrong material and "prove" it is safe. It could easily fail with the next shot with a service load.
Proving simply "finds" gross imperfections in the material. It will not "find" the inclusions and minor imperfections that can produce failures in service. This is why steel used for barrels needs to be high quality with limited inclusions and flaws. Unless "gun barrel quality" or better it should not be used for barrels regardless of alloy since it may contain unacceptable levels of inclusions or even hidden cracks and fissures. Nor does "gun barrel" quality, indicate the alloy is suitable for gun barrels, its a QUALITY LEVEL.
While not related to ML directly...
416 Stainless is proving to be a "problem" in modern gun barrels, firearms made from this material are failing for no reason with factory ammunition. A big name maker of custom barrels does not recommend recontouring their stainless barrels or even using them at temps under 0 F.
See
http://www.kriegerbarrels.com/Calibers__Prices-c1246-wp3390.htmSako has recalled a number of stainless steel rifles starting in 2004. But it was kept pretty quiet.
Remington was sued in the 1990s over using the wrong steel it shotgun barrels and lost. A number of Remington's shotguns with 1140M steel barrels burst and people were seriously injured. On paper the steel is far stronger than needed and the barrels were proved. But the steel work hardens and gets brittle.
Barrel steel choice is serious business for ANY firearm.
But few people seem realize this when ML arms are the subject. Its something that is often learned through personal tragedy.
Dan
