JB weld and guns

[amoebicmagician]

So, I have been using JB weld for years on a variety of different projects and have found that if it is used properly, that is, with proper surface prep and the correct ratio, which I've found is 55-60% Resin, and the rest hardener (slightly more resin than hardener), the stuff can work some minor miracles.

So, after bedding a stock of a Mosin I have with it and getting INCREDIBLE results that I wildly exceeded my expectations, I decided to give it a go on fixing something that has been bugging me for years.

The safety on my TTC Romanian Tokarev. Or rather the lack of one.

I bought the thing used, and the previous owner had removed the added-for-import safety. Now this is not really a problem functionally, since I usually will take the thing off before going to the range anyway on my other Tokarevs with the same kind of safety, the thing really does not function very well as anything but an annoyance.

So, I did an experiment, whereby I mixed up several small batches of weld with varying amounts of black pigment added to try to match the color of the bluing, just to see if it was possible.

So I let the batches cure, and then compare them to the finish on the gun, and batch number two actually looks darn near identical, even down to the light reflection qualities, depending on the texture of the epoxy-steel it can either be nearly mirror reflective, to a dull shiny, to anything in between.

So, I mix up a new batch of the weld with the black pigment, tape off the holes with electrical tape, and very very carefully fill the holes with the epoxy mix while it's still in it's most fluidic state.

After allowing it to cure overnight, I removed the tape, and it looked very good, other than the filled spaces not having the same grain pattern (or any grain pattern) as the surrounding metal, and the pictograms for the safety settings.

just to experiment, I very lightly brushed some 00 steel wool over the area in the same direction as the grain of the gun.

Wouldn't you know it, it looks GREAT!

Now, I'm not saying it's seamless by any stretch of the imagination. If you look close, you can certainly tell that a repair has been made, and the red dot pictogram draws the eye right to it at least on the left side of the gun, but it matches extremely well. Much better than I could have imagined before starting the project. The right side of the gun is much better looking, since there is no dot or anything else to call attention to the area, and the color and grain are really spot on to the rest of the gun.

Even though the mix stayed EXACTLY where I put it, I was afraid that somehow it would affect the functioning of the gun, or that mixing the pigment in would somehow not allow the mix to adhere as strongly to the frame as it would otherwise, maybe being shaken loose during recoil.

Well, after firing 80 (VERY EXPENSIVE!) rounds through the gun I can now say that the precaution of degreasing the bejesus out of the area to be welded with acetone had the desired effect, and the plugs are not going ANYWHERE.

Furthermore, the gun functions FLAWLESSLY, and now actually looks like it was supposed to from the factory.

I'm so happy I could spit!

Just thought I'd pass this on in case anyone else had the same problem, or just wanted to ditch their goofy import safety and get their gun back to stock.

My buddy is currently trying it on his Yugo M57 with the safety mounted in a 1911ish area. Will let you know how that turns out.

So, has anyone else had any other gun fixes with JB weld? Anything NON gun related?

I have to say, I've always liked the stuff, but this episode has rekindled my love affair with the stuff.

My gun looks so GOOD!

 

[Demoneyes86]

So, I have been using JB weld for years on a variety of different projects and have found that if it is used properly, that is, with proper surface prep and the correct ratio, which I've found is 55-60% Resin, and the rest hardener (slightly more resin than hardener), the stuff can work some minor miracles.

So, after bedding a stock of a Mosin I have with it and getting INCREDIBLE results that I wildly exceeded my expectations, I decided to give it a go on fixing something that has been bugging me for years.

The safety on my TTC Romanian Tokarev. Or rather the lack of one.

I bought the thing used, and the previous owner had removed the added-for-import safety. Now this is not really a problem functionally, since I usually will take the thing off before going to the range anyway on my other Tokarevs with the same kind of safety, the thing really does not function very well as anything but an annoyance.

So, I did an experiment, whereby I mixed up several small batches of weld with varying amounts of black pigment added to try to match the color of the bluing, just to see if it was possible.

So I let the batches cure, and then compare them to the finish on the gun, and batch number two actually looks darn near identical, even down to the light reflection qualities, depending on the texture of the epoxy-steel it can either be nearly mirror reflective, to a dull shiny, to anything in between.

So, I mix up a new batch of the weld with the black pigment, tape off the holes with electrical tape, and very very carefully fill the holes with the epoxy mix while it's still in it's most fluidic state.

After allowing it to cure overnight, I removed the tape, and it looked very good, other than the filled spaces not having the same grain pattern (or any grain pattern) as the surrounding metal, and the pictograms for the safety settings.

just to experiment, I very lightly brushed some 00 steel wool over the area in the same direction as the grain of the gun.

Wouldn't you know it, it looks GREAT!

Now, I'm not saying it's seamless by any stretch of the imagination. If you look close, you can certainly tell that a repair has been made, and the red dot pictogram draws the eye right to it at least on the left side of the gun, but it matches extremely well. Much better than I could have imagined before starting the project. The right side of the gun is much better looking, since there is no dot or anything else to call attention to the area, and the color and grain are really spot on to the rest of the gun.

Even though the mix stayed EXACTLY where I put it, I was afraid that somehow it would affect the functioning of the gun, or that mixing the pigment in would somehow not allow the mix to adhere as strongly to the frame as it would otherwise, maybe being shaken loose during recoil.

Well, after firing 80 (VERY EXPENSIVE!) rounds through the gun I can now say that the precaution of degreasing the bejesus out of the area to be welded with acetone had the desired effect, and the plugs are not going ANYWHERE.

Furthermore, the gun functions FLAWLESSLY, and now actually looks like it was supposed to from the factory.

I'm so happy I could spit!

Just thought I'd pass this on in case anyone else had the same problem, or just wanted to ditch their goofy import safety and get their gun back to stock.

My buddy is currently trying it on his Yugo M57 with the safety mounted in a 1911ish area. Will let you know how that turns out.

So, has anyone else had any other gun fixes with JB weld? Anything NON gun related?

I have to say, I've always liked the stuff, but this episode has rekindled my love affair with the stuff.

My gun looks so GOOD!

 

[budman93]

^ definitely. Lets see it!

 

[revobreaker]

Jbweld seems much easier then this guys method which I tried to follow,but it does not look as good as I wanted it to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K4tZ0mIfoM

 

[photoracer]

One of my shooting buddies who is a Ph.D. is the guru of JBWeld. Mag extensions, reshaped triggers, shotgun ammo carriers for 3-gun, you name it.

 

[Baccusboy]

We need a downloadable internet file on how to make a gun out of JB weld.

Hahaha.

 

[SCARCQB]

I have used JB weld on HK MP5 mags and trigger housings to improve fitment. Used it to add texture to grips, repair cracked stocks and use it as a filler for custom stock work/ recoil pad/ buttplate installations.

 

[byf43]

The only thing gun related that I've used JB Weld for, was the seater plug for my .45-70 Goobermint dies.

I got a RN seater plug with the dies, and after calling RCBS, they sent me a seater plug that was not shaped for any LSWC profile that I'd ever seen.


So, I took the RN seater plug and using a Dremel 'stainless steel wire wheel', I removed the finish from inside of the seater plug nose.

I then used an inverted "V" grinding wheel and made "divets" in the seater plug, to give the JB Weld some 'tooth'.

I then used CRC BraKleen (red) to degrease the seater plug.

I then used Breakfree CLP as a release agent, around the seater plug exterior.

I made up a batch of JB Weld (slow-set formula) and filled the seater plug cavity, and used an old, clean putty knife blade to leave the JB Weld flush with the top of the plug.
I let it cure for almost 2 days before I touched it.

Here's what it looked like when it was done, and a photo of the boolits that I use in my .45-70.












I've loaded hundreds of rounds using this seater plug, and the JB Weld is still just as 'tight' as the day I first used it, and it shows no signs of failing.

 

[amoebicmagician]

My Romanian TTC is at my buddy's house so he can spend some time with it and see if it's something he wants to do to his guns or not. Luckily, my other friend, the one with the M57 he wanted to modify lives down the street from me.

Sorry about the picture quality, I had to do it on my scanner cause my camera is on the fritz.

These pics do not do justice to how good it really looks.

I asked why he didn't bother to mix in the black pigment, and he said he was afraid that it would weaken the bond. Since the pigment I used was printing toner, and that's actually made out of iron, which is a consituent of JB weld anyways, I told him that was stupid. He still says he doesn't care, he just wanted the holes plugged so he could shoot the thing the way he wanted to. I still prefer mine, with the matched color and grain, but to each their own. And for what it's worth, it doesn't look half bad.

 

[tc617]

I built an AK and one of the pins for the gas block was not as tight as I would have liked; I could push it into place by hand with a punch - No hammer needed. It probably would have stayed in place as-is, but I put a dab of JB Weld in the pin hole just to make sure that it didn't walk.

 

[Qbeam]

I've seen JB weld used to eliminate magazine wobble in WASR-10s. Seems to work well.

 

[amoebicmagician]

It's true, if you make a little guide and fill it in up to the mag guides in the well of a WASR, it pretty much will eliminate all mag wobble problems.

Just don't go any higher than the metal guides or else the mag won't go in at all.

You can basically duplicate the contour of the dimples if you're real careful.

 

[amoebicmagician]

I built an AK and one of the pins for the gas block was not as tight as I would have liked; I could push it into place by hand with a punch - No hammer needed. It probably would have stayed in place as-is, but I put a dab of JB Weld in the pin hole just to make sure that it didn't walk.

I've seen the stuff single handedly hold a mini-14 front sight on rock solid- and it's been nearly a decade now.

Once I saw that, especially the way he runs his guns, I lost all worries about it getting hot and coming loose.

 

[tc617]

I've seen the stuff single handedly hold a mini-14 front sight on rock solid- and it's been nearly a decade now.

Once I saw that, especially the way he runs his guns, I lost all worries about it getting hot and coming loose.

I originally thought about using Loctite but figured that it would ooze out once the barrel/gas block got hot.

 

[amoebicmagician]

yeah, it's non thermoplastic, so no matter what it won't melt. It may fail if you get it EXTREMELY hot, but it won't melt. That same Mini-14 had the sling swivel on the wooden stock get it's hole threads stripped out, so we drilled out the hole, filled it with JB weld, coated the screw in acra-release, waited until the weld was about 2/3s of the way hard, about the consistency of warm clay, and screwed the sling swivel in. Also holding tight to this day.

I think he also filled in some pitting on underside of his bolt with it also. Man, that whole gun is basically held together with the stuff.

 

[Sirex]

LOL. I use JB Weld regularly at work to patch fixes while a part is on order. I have to say, company policy is to replace, not patch the part, but the JB Welded part IS stronger than the polymer used. I typically reinforce the breakage points with JB before putting the new part in. I actually bedded a Mosin and my SKS receiver last year, but didn't post for fear I'd be laughed off the board, but the stuff works. Don't know how more accurate it made it till I get my eyes fixed

 

[lennyk]

Any thoughts of using jb weld to fill holes in the upper receiver and re-drilling for a perfect match to the lower? I always wanted to try it.

 

[ColonelHurtz]

I used it to fill the channel in an AR charging handle for my ST-22.
No more .22 cases getting lodged up in there.

Also repaired a flip cap hinge on a Butler Creek Scope cap.

 

[amoebicmagician]

LOL. I use JB Weld regularly at work to patch fixes while a part is on order. I have to say, company policy is to replace, not patch the part, but the JB Welded part IS stronger than the polymer used. I typically reinforce the breakage points with JB before putting the new part in. I actually bedded a Mosin and my SKS receiver last year, but didn't post for fear I'd be laughed off the board, but the stuff works. Don't know how more accurate it made it till I get my eyes fixed

no, you wouldn't be laughed off the board.

Glass bedding a stock is literally just acrylic, methylacrylate, another Epoxy, not quite as strong or heat channeling as JB weld.

I bedded an SKS stock myself this way, with incredible results, as well as bedding a replacement stock for my 91/30 that I was forced to do some work on. I am not a bubba, but some water had sat on top of a plug of cosmoline in the bore, and caused some terrible rust, but the rest of the bore was fine- so I had to chop her, and then figured while I was at it I'd thread her for a 14x1LH threads for brakes and such. Had to take off about 4 1/2 inches, and the brake I have on there right now is a Tapco AK-74 style. I had bought a cross-brake in 7.62 from CNC warrior, but the Tapco works better.

Anyways, the stock was messed up, but I still could not bring myself to chop it, so I got a polymer stock.

The groups were not very good, however. Not awful, but not spectacular.

After bedding the stock, it's a tiny bit more than a 1 MOA rifle if I do my part.

That was like five or six years ago, and even the bedding around the recoil lug shows no signs of cracking or wearing out in any way.

Just for the record, I've found the best release agents for JB weld are Acra-release aerosol from brownells, and CLP breakfree. Don't use anything with alcohol in it, and if you clean the area to be mended or bedded with alcohol, make sure you let it dry COMPLETELY first before applying the weld.

 

[amoebicmagician]

here's that mosin with the cross brake on it, and right after threading: