Connecting Different Metals

[catmandu]

I have a question that I could use some advise on.
I have a Beretta 92 that the previous owner added adjustable sights to.
On the rear he added a nice adjustable BoMar.
On the front a higher target sight was hand filed out of brass.
It has since fallen off.

How do I securly attach brass to aluminum?

I have tried epoxy (2 part Metalset - better than JB weld). Lasted one mag.
I then tried Pannel adhesive (professional grade Liquid Nails) lasted longer but still came off.

I cleaned and roughed up both surfaces before gluing.

I would appreciate any useful advise from those who know more.

Paul in WNY

[country gent]

Could possibly be pinned in place. How deep is the tennon on the front sight in the slide? If its thru theslide a front sight with longer tenon could be made and staked in place like a 1911. My 92 has a steel slide so brass could be soldered to it.

[oldred]

Probably a long shot but where did the brass part come from? If it was made from a scrap bushing (Bronze maybe?) then it could be what is known as Oilite, or oil impregnated, and if so then that explains the adhesion problems. I mention this because of an incident some years ago, had nothing to do with firearms, where a guy I knew had tried to bond two pieces together but the adhesive would not hold because the parts he had spent hours making were in fact "Oilite".

[catmandu]

That is a great point on the Oilite brass oldred, I would not have thought of it. :)
I will definately remember that the next time I grab an oiless bushing out of the scrap barrel.

I checked my slide and it is not steel, its aliminum.

Here are a few pics.
Hope this clears up my description.

Paul in WNY
Ace & Me

[MtGun44]

I do not believe that the slide is aluminum. I have a 92FS and the slide is definitely steel. The
frame is aluminum, but the slide would not be durable enough if made from aluminum.
A gunsmith can smooth up the butchered area of the slide and make a new front sight
from steel and solder or silver solder it on.

Bill

[catmandu]

MtGun44
I based my assesment on the slide by placing a magnet to the slide and it did not stick.
I will look closer tonight when I get home. Solder would work but its really hard to solder aluminum.

Paul

[akajun]

the slide of a m92 is steel, is this a stainless gun? many types of stainless are not magnetic.

[KCSO]

You need either to silver solder on a new steel blade or dovetail in a narrow dovetail blade. Soft Slobber is not the tool for this job. The least adheasion I would go for would be Brownell's gunsmith solder and I would be leery of that.

[country gent]

Oilite bronze is oil impregnated bronze for wear surfaces. Occasionally we would machine a batch of parts from iand set them in a bucket with oil over night. It wasnt unusual for the oil level to have dropped an 1" or so by the next morning. Makes this material almost imposible to glue or solder. If the sldie is steel I would clean it up (both surfaces) make a .010 sheet of siver solder. Flux and clamp together. Then heat till solder melts and bonds. By makeing the thin sheet and clamping it in between you know you have 100% adhesion. Aluminum is hard to work hot as there is little to no color change to see, the first sighn of to hot is it sags. The brettas band is thin at that point also a dovetail may weaken it to much.

[catmandu]

I humbly admit I was wrong. The slide ”is” steel. I found a good neodium magnet and verified it as soon as I got home. Goes to show ”It's not what you don't know that gets you in trouble. It's what you think you know and don't that causes you grief'

I will try an tin the brass first to see if it will tin. If it does I will try the sheet method you described. I have soldered electronics for many years, did F18 repairs for a few years so I understand the concepts.

Just read Goodsteel's stickey on silver soldering. Most of it makes good sense.

Thank you for the help and I will gladly listen to any advise from all.

Paul in WNY

[Goatwhiskers]

The biggest secret about soldering, silver or otherwise, is that the surfaces must be CLEAN! That means you don't wipe it off with your finger after surface prep. GW

[catmandu]

Goatwhiskers, I could not agree more.

After readind Goodsteel's stickey on soldering I decided to give it a go. I started with the brass and worked till I got a good solid tin to it, dit the same with the slide, cleaned it up (without touching) and put it together and lined them up and put the heat to it, drawing the heat in the direction I wanted it to flow. the result was succesful.

I coated the brass with ink from a Sharpie Marker (need to find a more permanant solution but this will do for now) :)

So thanks to the list and Goodsteel for his Soldering Stickey post.
I have soldered many times before but did not think I could do a gunsmiths work. (Quality)

So thanks and read the Stickey...

Paul in WNY

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