GPG Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 I have a vaquero in stainless that I bought used that had the front sight filed down to about half. I want to replace with factory front sight to match my other vaquero that I use for cas. I would like to try this myself to save shipping costs etc. Has anyone attempted this on their own and am I crazy for wanting to try it? thanks from North Dakota Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Sure, if you are real good at soldering, the stainless Vaqs are not bad to do. I have good luck with Brownells silver solder. You MUST get a good silver solder flux, clean well, and use a good clamp to hold the sight in place. But, I've done two and had them stay for years. The stainless guns are kinda easy because you don't have to reblue when done silver soldering. If you want me to look at the exact type of solder and flux I use, I can do that tonight. Good luck, GJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost, SASS #50125 Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Sure, if you are real good at soldering, the stainless Vaqs are not bad to do. I have good luck with Brownells silver solder. You MUST get a good silver solder flux, clean well, and use a good clamp to hold the sight in place. But, I've done two and had them stay for years. The stainless guns are kinda easy because you don't have to reblue when done silver soldering. If you want me to look at the exact type of solder and flux I use, I can do that tonight. Good luck, GJ Joe, I lost a sight during CAC. I need all the details, like the clamp, etc. Ghost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prof. Fuller Bullspit Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Brownells has everything you need. They (at leased used to) have an anti-scale paste to protect the bore from the heat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Ghost - I'll send that info tonight. As for the clamp, although Brownell's has a front sight clamp designed for the purpose (at about $100), I got one and then found it really doesn't hold the sight tightly to the barrel during soldering as I'd like. So, I use a larger needle nose vise grip plier, and put a brass shim inside the barrel and on top of the sight to keep the pliers from scratching the SS. And I don't lock the pliers, I just put some clamping pressure on with the left hand while running the acetylene torch with the right. The bottom of sight and slot in the barrel both need to be lightly "tinned" with the solder, as I could not get solder to wick in very well - it's a tight fit. Good luck, GJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost, SASS #50125 Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Ghost - I'll send that info tonight. As for the clamp, although Brownell's has a front sight clamp designed for the purpose (at about $100), I got one and then found it really doesn't hold the sight tightly to the barrel during soldering as I'd like. So, I use a larger needle nose vise grip plier, and put a brass shim inside the barrel and on top of the sight to keep the pliers from scratching the SS. And I don't lock the pliers, I just put some clamping pressure on with the left hand while running the acetylene torch with the right. The bottom of sight and slot in the barrel both need to be lightly "tinned" with the solder, as I could not get solder to wick in very well - it's a tight fit. Good luck, GJ Thanks Pardner. Ghost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlicLee SASS #16638 Life Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Before you do anything call Ruger giving your serial number ask if this was done at the factory. Some years back a large group of vaquero's were made with a problem requiring the front sight to be almost 1/8 or 1/4 high. Some guns had to be remade by factory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPG Posted November 12, 2011 Author Share Posted November 12, 2011 Thanks for all the help on this front sight problem. I will contact Ruger first on the sight problem from the past and after i will work with Brownells to get all the items I need. Is the paste you put in the barrel going to protect the barrel from getting too hot while soldering? Will a hand torch get hot enough to do this soldering job? thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 The following is for the couple of folks who wanted to know how to silver solder the front sight. It is your decision to attempt this, and you can do damage to the gun if you are not careful. These instructions may help, but you also need a general knowledge of gunsmithing and some practice with silver soldering to pull this off. Ok, got my Brownell's catalog out and found the materials I use. (Dontcha just hate trying to find any parts or tools on the Brownell's on-line search engine?) Anyway, the silver solder I use is Silvalloy 355, round wire. 080-538-432AB gets you ten foot length for about $25. Lots of silver, don't be surprised if it's more $ now. Flux - Ultra Flux 080-538-050AB $13 You can use some heat stop paste, but I don't really think it's needed for a front sight job. That would be 083-012-100AB $16 Here's what technique usually works for me. This stuff is real silver solder. It requires about 1200 deg F. It will be pretty hard to do with a propane (plumbers) torch. A small tip acetylene torch makes it much easier. The flame should be set to be a soft flame - the outer flame about 3 times the length of the sharp light blue core. This keeps the solder from oxidizing. Scrub the metal parts well with a wire brush - stainless brush is best, or you will leave fine carbon steel bits on the surface of the parts. Also, some alcohol or acetone to degrease. ALL traces of grease have to be GONE. The amount of heat you add is the hard part with silver soldering. You want enough to let the silver solder flow, but NEVER to get so hot that the solder balls or the base metal starts to blacken. If you get to that point, re-start by cleaning everything again, degrease, and flux and solder again. On the clean parts, brush on a generous coat of flux, melt that down until the flux goes liquid and cleans the base metal. Immediately add just a touch more heat and, with torch off the part, rub the silver solder wire on the surface. If you start "tinning" the base metal with solder, you have the right temp. Get both the groove in the barrel (this is the hard part) and the sight blade (bottom third) tinned slightly. Just a thin coat, then let the parts cool, apply a little more flux, and fit them together. Then, I put a sheet brass shim in the barrel and one one top of the sight, apply slight clamping pressure with vise grip pliers, and heat until it just settles in place. Try to wick in a little more solder right at the sight-to-barrel joint, to result in a just visible, fine fillet of solder. This alloy matches stainless steel very well in color, so it won't be visible when you get done. Let cool, then test the sight - grab with padded pliers and try to pull it off. If it won't come off, great! Cleanup with a scrub brush, maybe some nylon scrubbing pad, and get all the flux and any solder specks off. Blend the solder surface and any scratches you put on with the right sizes of sandpaper to match the finish on the gun - a bright polished gun will probably need a touch up with a small buffing disk chucked in a hand drill and some polishing compound. The heat NEEDED is not enough to affect a Ruger barrel. Way too much heat certainly would. Heat control is important. And don't water-quench your work just because you want to get finished fast. Good luck, GJ In theory, Brownell's HiForce 44 soft solder will work for this job. In practice, I find I like silver solder. HiForce and I just don't always get along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost, SASS #50125 Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 The following is for the couple of folks who wanted to know how to silver solder the front sight. It is your decision to attempt this, and you can do damage to the gun if you are not careful. These instructions may help, but you also need a general knowledge of gunsmithing and some practice with silver soldering to pull this off. Ok, got my Brownell's catalog out and found the materials I use. (Dontcha just hate trying to find any parts or tools on the Brownell's on-line search engine?) Anyway, the silver solder I use is Silvalloy 355, round wire. 080-538-432AB gets you ten foot length for about $25. Lots of silver, don't be surprised if it's more $ now. Flux - Ultra Flux 080-538-050AB $13 You can use some heat stop paste, but I don't really think it's needed for a front sight job. That would be 083-012-100AB $16 Here's what technique usually works for me. This stuff is real silver solder. It requires about 1200 deg F. It will be pretty hard to do with a propane (plumbers) torch. A small tip acetylene torch makes it much easier. The flame should be set to be a soft flame - the outer flame about 3 times the length of the sharp light blue core. This keeps the solder from oxidizing. Scrub the metal parts well with a wire brush - stainless brush is best, or you will leave fine carbon steel bits on the surface of the parts. Also, some alcohol or acetone to degrease. ALL traces of grease have to be GONE. The amount of heat you add is the hard part with silver soldering. You want enough to let the silver solder flow, but NEVER to get so hot that the solder balls or the base metal starts to blacken. If you get to that point, re-start by cleaning everything again, degrease, and flux and solder again. On the clean parts, brush on a generous coat of flux, melt that down until the flux goes liquid and cleans the base metal. Immediately add just a touch more heat and, with torch off the part, rub the silver solder wire on the surface. If you start "tinning" the base metal with solder, you have the right temp. Get both the groove in the barrel (this is the hard part) and the sight blade (bottom third) tinned slightly. Just a thin coat, then let the parts cool, apply a little more flux, and fit them together. Then, I put a sheet brass shim in the barrel and one one top of the sight, apply slight clamping pressure with vise grip pliers, and heat until it just settles in place. Try to wick in a little more solder right at the sight-to-barrel joint, to result in a just visible, fine fillet of solder. This alloy matches stainless steel very well in color, so it won't be visible when you get done. Let cool, then test the sight - grab with padded pliers and try to pull it off. If it won't come off, great! Cleanup with a scrub brush, maybe some nylon scrubbing pad, and get all the flux and any solder specks off. Blend the solder surface and any scratches you put on with the right sizes of sandpaper to match the finish on the gun - a bright polished gun will probably need a touch up with a small buffing disk chucked in a hand drill and some polishing compound. The heat NEEDED is not enough to affect a Ruger barrel. Way too much heat certainly would. Heat control is important. And don't water-quench your work just because you want to get finished fast. Good luck, GJ In theory, Brownell's HiForce 44 soft solder will work for this job. In practice, I find I like silver solder. HiForce and I just don't always get along. Thanks Pardner. Ghost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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