Front Sight Off

conradin · Post by **conradin** » Mon May 06, 2013 5:07 pm

So someone in gunbroker posted the old East German Buhag free pistol on auction. The catch is that the front side unit has separated from the barrel.

How easy or difficult it is to solder and put it back to the barrel? Does a gunsmith require to know the metallurgy of the barrel and the front sight in order to do a proper job, or is it a situation which a silver solder will do the work? Will this cost a lot of money to do so? Will this require a specialist to do the work and takes a long time?

I intend to use it frequently if I buy it. So the front side has to be absolutely solder back correctly and straight.

I have been told that this will be a very difficult work because the pistol is from Eastern Europe, and that it is an old, 1960 model.

John C · Post by **John C** » Mon May 06, 2013 10:45 pm

You might want to carefully consider whether you can get it into California. Buhag is not on the CA DOJ Olympic Pistol list. You'd need to show documentation that the pistol is older than 50 years, which might be difficult.

Good luck,

-John

j-team · Post by **j-team** » Tue May 07, 2013 12:05 am

Any chance of a pic?

conradin · Post by **conradin** » Tue May 07, 2013 1:39 am

John C wrote:Buhag is not on the CA DOJ Olympic Pistol list.

I know, but Buhag Pistol has a proof mark that is actually the year of its manufacture.

conradin · Post by **conradin** » Tue May 07, 2013 1:42 am

This is a picture which the seller put the front sight on top of the barrel. In reality the entire front sight has been detached. So I wonder if a normal silver solder can do the job, or something much complicated that I rather should avoid this pistol.

rmca · Post by **rmca** » Tue May 07, 2013 8:58 am

Without knowing what type of metal is in it, it's hard to give a correct answer.

One easy way to find out if the two metals can be soldered is to use a magnet. If it sticks to the barrel and the front sight you most likely can solder it.
You will have to remove the blueing from the areas where you're going to apply the soldering, in order to have a metal to metal bond.

As an less radical alternative you have some specialist glues that can do a "cold soldering", providing a very resistant bond. You will have to remove the blueing as well... but the cold soldering process is just like gluing something else. You should be able to find them in a local hardware store.