I was looking at the barrel and locking mechanism of my Encore the other day and it seemed to be a very simple design. A block with two machined slots, welded to the bottom of the barrel with three holes located for retaining pins and frame alignment.

My questions are:

1. Has any one ever tried to make a Contender/Encore barrel by welding one of these blocks to a blank?

2. Does anyone sell these blocks?

3. Has anyone tried to make one of these blocks? (the design looks pretty simple)

It seems like this process would be much easier than threading and chambering a barrel for a bolt gun. (This should only require owning a welder Vs. owning a lathe)

When reading these forums there are a number of people who have taken a shot at making their own barrels for bolt guns. How about it folks? Any Contender/Encore experiences to share?

Mr. Belk,

Thank you for answering my question. The breadth of your experience never ceases to amaze me.

If you’ll indulge me one more dumb question:

Could the barrel block be cold welded with an adhesive like JB Weld?

According to JB Welds website :

The adhesive has been designed to effectively replace traditional welding, soldering and mechanical jointing methods in the joining/repairing of rigid surfaces. Adhesiveweld has a tensile strength of 278.4kg/cm2. A strength of over 70kg/cm2 is considered structural by industry. The end-user can therefore use Adhesiveweld instead of using other bonding and repair methods such as soldering, heat welding and mechanical systems. We call our resin epoxy steel because it contains fine particles of iron and steel. This is one of the reasons for the immense strength of the adhesive and high temperature it can resist. The physical properties of the adhesive allow you to drill, tap, machine, and grind the product after it has cured. And just like metal you can sand paper it, polish it and paint it.

Would this work or is it just a good way to get a separated barrel lodged in ones forehead?

I think I'll pass on a glued barrell.

When the gun is fired the barrel and the action try to seperate. That means the joint you're talking about is mostly in shear instead of tension..... Since sheer is usually half of tensil......and epoxy turns loose all at once when heated.....and barrels get hot....and foreheads aren't designed to catch hot brass as it blows out the back when the barrel goes down range.....and since barrel are REALLY cheap when compared to funerals.......I think I'll pass.

J.W. Blute

All I can say is "You first!"

I'll take the first shots out of the glue in .22 LR and .22 Hornet, if you take the first shot out of the .30-'06

Scott

I think that idea needs a gun vice, and about 50' of string

Surely we jest.

I dunno where you plan to get your chamber reamer from, or the barrel blank, but if you are going to spend any decent amount of money on them, then it will be cheaper and highly likely that you will have a better result by buying a factory or custom made TC barrel.

Now if you just want to do it for fun, then if you are good and careful you MIGHT be able to wire weld it before chambering and make it work, particularly if it was a heavier contour barrel, and if I was going to try this, I would start off with some low recoiling round and check my weld seams often.

Of course, if it doesn't work, then you have wasted a lot of time and effort to achieve a result that, even if it did work, is likely not to be as good as a factory barrel. Or you may have a barrel hatchet in our forehead.

In other words, I don't think it is a good use of your time.

[ 12-06-2002, 18:07: Message edited by: Gatogordo ]

J.W.

Go over to the Single shot pistol area of this site and pose the question there. Mike Bellm can tell you what you want to know about attaching lugs to the bottom of Contender and Encore barrels. He's built these and has learned a lot from the experience.

Malm

If you're really interested in welding try to get a copy of Lincoln's "Procedural Handbook of Arc welding" Read it carefully, especially the section on high alloy steels. You cannot allow any extra carbon, hydrogen or other contaminants into the weld or you'll ruin the metal. Carbon and hydrogen are both in ambient air in enough quantity to ruin a weld as well as the low hydrogen rods you'll need to use. In addition heating/shrinking etc all need to be compensated for when laying up and executing the weld.

JB weld, in my limited experience, is a poor substitute for heat fused metal. It may have steel in it, but it's not a weld by any streach of the imagination. I've used it for lots of things, but would never consider it for any safety critical role in a firearm.

I once welded a rear sight onto a shotgun barrel. It was a pretty nice looking job if I do say so myself. After a look down the bore and some reading on the topic of welding high alloy steels I immediately destroyed and disposed of that barrel and the more I learned over time the more glad I am I never tested my work.

[ 12-07-2002, 02:18: Message edited by: Loren ]