1906 Winchester magazine ring fit

[Poodleshooter]

My dad recently gave me our 5 generations old family Winchester to refinish and repair. I have it running well, and just reblued it. But I've run into a problem with the dovetailed rings that retain the magazine tube. At some point they appear to have been pounded loose, and only ancient rust and pitting held them in place. With a nice smooth rust bluing job, they're now loose in the odd circular dovetail that Winchester used. How should I get them refitted to the barrel? Solder? Peening? Any recommendations?

[Roughedge]

Is it tight enough to lock-tite it? silver solder should hold it if it not.

[James K]

Sometimes, it is possible to peen the barrel and tighten up that cutout so the rings will fit OK. If not, you can either solder them in (soft solder; the heat needed for silver solder will damage the barrel) or fill the gap with solder and cut it down so that the rings are tight but can be removed in the original manner.

Jim

[Poodleshooter]

Thanks for the advice gents. I think I'll try peening first, then the silver solder. I wish I'd done that before the refinish, but live and learn.
Here's pics of it after my rust bluing (my first attempt at that process).

[James K]

Looks very good. Rust blue requires a lot of patience but it pays off with good and permanent results. And unlike cold blue, it won't disappear at the first use of the gun. Up to the mid-1930's, rust blue was the only bluing available to the average gunsmith and was used in many factories. (Lugers and Mauser rifles were all rust blued and most of us think they look pretty good.)

Jim

[4V50 Gary]

Use a center punch and punch the bottom of the sight instead of the barrel. If anything goes wrong, sights are cheaper to replace than the barrel.

[Dixie Gunsmithing]

Peening the dovetail over is the best way, for what you're speaking of. You might be able to peen and widen the magazine hangers base, too, so it will lock in place.

Take a heavy flat brass punch to the dovetail edge, if doing the barrel, and after each hammer lick, check the fit. Use brass, as steel will ruin your bluing. Always check it after each lick, as it's easy to get it too tight. You can also widen the base of the hangers with a prick or center punch.

[Poodleshooter]

Thanks-good advice on the brass punch. I used my brass punches to remove the sights when I blued to avoid marring, and didn't think to use them for peening.
For any interested, here's a pic of the rifle before my bluing job.
The sights were replaced sometime between the 30s and late 80s. At some point my great grandfather was annoyed with the rifle, and tossed it outside of his MN farmhouse, where my grandfather retrieved it. The buttstock toe was cracked and the buttplate broken. My dad brass pinned the toe of the stock and refinished the stock as it's seen now. I added a repro buttplate as the toe of the buttplate was also broken.
The bore is quite bad, as it served as an instruction rifle at a summer camp for nearly 25 years, but at a recent trip to the range, I was able to keep 10rds of CCI subsonic inside of a squirrels head (roughly) at 25yds. I may reline it someday.

[James K]

Those magazine rings and the barrels were usually ruined by people who thought they used a simple dovetail and tried to drive them off sideways.

Jim

[FrankenMauser]

I have the same problem, and planned to try peening the parts for a tighter fit. But, my rifle is still sitting in the safe. ...And will probably remain there for quite a while. It isn't much of a priority.

At one point in time, I was keeping my eyes out for a replacement hanger. But when one finally showed up, I nearly choked on my own tongue when I saw the asking price. I'll try peening or a shim first....

[g.willikers]

Great old guns.
One of those was my very first shootin' iron, also handed down from Grandpaw.
Wish I still had it.
Good for you for keeping and refurbishing it.

[Poodleshooter]

As an update to this thread, I examined the dovetails more closely. They show signs of having been put on a mill (rough dovetail cutter) to open up the dovetail. I ended up using a trick recommended by a TFLer who PM'd me: using RTV gasket maker to keep the hangers in place.
This appears to work, and is hardly noticeable. Not "restoration grade" certainly, but it does what I wanted it to do: keep my ancestor's rifle functional.

[jughead2]

i have my grandfathers rifle. my dad was born in the early 1900s he cut his teeth on it and it was my first rifle when i was 12. still more accurate than this old man but bullfrog head shots at 50 ft. are still doable.