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Military Firearm Restoration Corner

Mig Welding?


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I'd defenantly opt for the gas kit. It makes a world of different even with my cheap little lincoln mig. Not that I'd use either for gun work though. Actually the mig works fine for things like magazine work I used mine for years before I bought a tig machine.

-Don

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I'd defenantly opt for the gas kit. It makes a world of different even with my cheap little lincoln mig. Not that I'd use either for gun work though. Actually the mig works fine for things like magazine work I used mine for years before I bought a tig machine.

-Don

 

+1

 

The flux core stuff makes decent enough welds, but get into a welding project and you'll fly through it quickly enough that you'll be amazed how expensive it is compared to the gas-shielded wire.

 

Small MIGs are good for small welding jobs around the house, but aren't really that great for firearms work. I'd hold out for a used TIG if I were you.

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Thats what I was thinking that the Tig would do better for bolt work and other fine work. I had a chance to buy mig that had no gas attachment used flux shielded wire for 100.00 but I was thinking that it would not do a very good job on bolt handles.hence the question here before I spent money on something that I would regret later. So I 'll just wait till tax refund and buy a Tig welder. Got a parker hale barrel on Vz24 reciever that needs bolt done and get a decent trigger guard for.Wanting to do the bolt work myself instead of getting someone else to do the job. got several more projects that need things also like my mosin sporter tht Im workin on. well thanks for easing my mind on which to get..I guess thats enough rambling for now.

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It has no ability to add gas,flux wire only..so you do bolt work with your mig and it turns out good? Ive used both mig and tig at work but I cant carry my practice bolts in there and try them out that would cost me my job. So Im trying to figure out which works better for doing bolt handles. At work the tig does the best at being a real pretty weld with less grinding cleanup.but the mig does good with some grinding required to look nice. but Ive never used the flux shielded wire and was wondering if it would make a good weld ,but I figure it will take more grinding to look nice,but if it leaves gas blowout on the weld it will look like crap and will need considerable more work than really needs to be done. looking for a little guidance on this trip as to what road to take... I appreciate all the help and guidance I get on this journey..

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No I use the tig for bolt handles, IMO a mig is to weak of a weld for it. With a mig you can spray alot of weld fast but at a penetration cost. Before I had a tig and even though I owned a mig I would gas weld my bolt handles (or send them out to be tig welded. The mig was used for extending mag boxes and that sort of stuff where it's more of a filler than a strength weld. I've seen alot of mig welded handles break off.

Don

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I will most likely never live this down but anywho...

 

I'm going to start doing my own bolts and odd jobs around here at the farm. I have an old Lincoln buzz box...220. It needs a new set of leads, and i'm good to go. This is going to be my tool for bolt work. Currently I don't have the money for a tig, nor the know how or experience to operate one. I used to be pretty handy with a stick welder (about 5 years ago :huh: ) I believe if you take your time, get the right stingers for the job, and know what the hell your doing, you'll be alright. I've always told myself, if can't afford to pay somebody to do the work for me, i'd better get my stuff and learn to do it myself if i'm gonna contuine to build rifles. Its a learning process. I've seen bolts welded on with less and they some how hold. A mig will do the job too, my last one was done with that, they dude just wouldn't listen to how i wanted it and did it his way, thats why Rod has it. other than that it would be there till the cows come home.

Brenden

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Ive built a few rifles and going to build a few more if things go well.Ive always let someone else do the bolts,but decided that was not gonna work on 3 days a week check. so Im gonna do my own Ive welded before almost 10 years fixing leaks on AC compressors at work.I bought a vz24 reciever w/parker hale barrel on it and will have hunt up parts to finish it out. I have a bolt out of fn k98 that Im gonna use,it will need new handle so Im just gonna have to get busy and get it done,got a mosin Im gonna do the bolt handle on it to.got several more projects in the works various calibers.just got to let the money build up little by little and just be thankful .

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OA does a wonderful job, you can pick up a set of torchs cheap and they came in real handy around the job. That's how all the old time smiths did it. I did my first 5 or so handles that way. Other than that I would use a stick long before a mig, escpecially a cheap one. I think weaver here sticks all his do a search.

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i've done a couple bolts with a mig & one with a flux core. it was all i had at the time. i still don't have a tig so now i'll usually tack the handle where i want it then send it out to be tig welded. the main problem i ran into was to get a good weld you had to grid part of the root & the end of the bolt handle pencil thin where they met then build up the weld with multiple passes allowing it to cool between them so it didn't get to hot. if you used flux core you would also have a ton of spatter to clean up between passes.

i picked up a small stick welder at the pawn shop for $40 yesterday, i'll test it out this weekend.

i still need to get a tig but i haven't found one at the right price yet

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The welding supply stores have nozzle spray that keeps your mig nozzle from building up with splatter crap,and I found you can spray what your welding with it and keep all the BB's from sticking to the part.It feels waxy,so I'm going to try coating my next project with Johnsons floor wax to see if it'll work to keep the splatter from sticking.I'm right on the verge of dealing a dude at work out of an old tig he said he has that he never uses.He said it's a big machine,old,and suppose to work good,but he's no welder.He gave me a Shopsmith already,but I haven't gone to get it yet. Jerry

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We have that antispatter stuff at work and looks like vicks salve.It works. They also have a liquid that is green that has to dry before you can use.Never thought of putting on part to keep the spatter off.Your lucky on the deal..

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$100 for a flux core only MIG (which isn't really MIG as there's no Inert Gas) is not a super deal. You can get those all day long for that price, any day. Now, if it was $50, that would be interesting just to keep handy when you need to weld something away from the shop.

 

I've done a bit of stainless with a HF MIG and Argon. About a car's worth. I use flux core in it on carbon steel, but it works better "double shielded" when you run the gas with it. I would not want to do something as heavy as a bolt handle with it. I would consider SMAW (stick) for that, but the small diameter would be tricky to get to look right. I use a Miller 230 amp SMAW on anything heavy, like 1/8" and up, and the MIG on lighter, like 16 ga. I use the MIG with shielded wire last weekend patching the holes in the floor of the Truck, which was in serious jeporday of doing a Fred Flinstone. It is great for sheet metal like that. I also ran out of Argon during the process, and the welds I did after that looked like crap compared to the ones I did with the Argon.

 

I use the spray anti-splatter stuff. It works well.

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  • 1 year later...

Get some of the spray on splatter guard stuff from a welding supply shop. Also, get some aluminum foil. Lay the foil around stuff you don't want splatter on. The spray on stuff works well too, but if I really don't want splatter, I put aluminum foil on it. I buy it at the dollar isle at the local grocery store.

 

You can weld thicker stuff with the smaller MIG welders, but you have to do it right, and I don't think it will end up as strong as with other methods, but may be strong enough for you. The joint has to be ground in a V and do multiple passes. You could probably do 1/4" with what you have if you were real careful with it, and 1/8" would be OK and about the max thickness you'd really want to do with the smaller MIGs.

 

I have gas, MIG and SMAW (stick). If it's thick and I really want it to stick, I might tack it together with the MIG then get the SMAW out and hit it with that. I have up to about 230 amps available with the SMAW. It will do anything I need that's thick.

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I'd like to get a Lincoln arc welder when we move. I have a small tank acetylene set-up. It runs through the oxygen pretty fast. Never tried TIG, nor have even seen it used. Thanks for the advice.

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try looking in pawnshops and on craigs list for a used mig.

i weleded with flux core for a few years but there is no way i would go back to it now.

i found my mig in a pawnshop for $100, brand new campbell housfield with a very nice cart. it was missing the regulator but i picked one up on closeout at tractor supply for $15. i also got my mig gas bottle at tractor supply, they are more expensive but if you even need a new bottle on sunday they are the only option where i live

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