Most of you guys are pretty knowledgeable on welding in general, but your a little off on welding bolt handles to bolts.
The accepted procedure used for years and years by Gunsmiths and still taught at the gunsmith schools as far as I can tell is as follows:
- Clean everything, and keep it clean.
- Wrap bolt body in damp rag, pack in wet sand, or use "Heat Stop" as required.
- Use a victor # 2 tip (0.045), with Ox/Act. Pre-heat the bolt and handle, just hot enough to drive off any moisture. (As tip size #'s vary among different welding suppliers the correct size for this job should be able to form a weld pool in less than 10 second on preheated metal. Ideally in about
- Weld with a neutral flame and 3½% nickel rod.
- File or machine the bolt weld. Polish or jewel the bolt body. (A little purple or blue discoloration doesn't mean squat, as long as the whole bolt body wasn't over heated, just polish it out.) The only part of the bolt that is heat treated and critical for hardness/softness are the bolt locking lugs, and they aren't nearly as hard as most people would think. Usually about RC 36-42. Yes I know that there are a few rifles that use the bolt handle as the locking lug, but these use less powerful cartridges, and depend on the mass of the bolt lug for strength, not necessarily heat treating).
Can you TIG a bolt handle? Of course you can! The purpose of this post was just to tell how it is done using Ox/Act as some of the previous post tended to give the impression that it couldn't or shouldn't be done with Ox/Act.
"Heat Stop", 3½% nickel rod, pre-shaped bolt handles and other gunsmith supplies can be purchased from
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No I am not connected with them but have purchased from them since the early 1970's and I have never been disappointed about their products or services.
Q.E.D