Thread: LEE Enfield Carbine restoration

Keep up the good work!

Originally Posted by gundoc

Keep up the good work!

Cheers, here's a question for you: should I be concerned that the barrel around the e front sight got red hot, or close to it, while brazing the sight on? It was allowed to cool slowly at room temperature after. I'm keen to shoot it with reduced loads if it's safe to do so.

Originally Posted by tommygun

Cheers, here's a question for you: should I be concerned that the barrel around the e front sight got red hot, or close to it, while brazing the sight on? It was allowed to cool slowly at room temperature after. I'm keen to shoot it with reduced loads if it's safe to do so.

No, the barrel will be fine. Many barrels had brazed on parts and the strength of the steel is more than adequate for full power loads. The high pressure is only in the breech end for a few inches and then it decreases rapidly towards the muzzle. Keeping the temperature below full red is not a problem. Bright red/orange/yellow is the problem area and it also produces scale which affects the surface. I prefer to soft solder such parts with Brownells High Strength solder which keeps the temperature well below red heat but still giving a very strong bond. Silver solders like EZFlo are a bit hotter but still quite safe and only in the low dull red range.