Need help locating a barrel band swivel

[Buckshot Bill]

I am in need of a barrel band type sling swivel the ID needs to be around .948" . The largest models I can find are in the .860ish range. I did find one the correct size but at nearly $70 it is out of my budget, I'd like to find something about 1/2 that cost. I want a one piece permanently affixed (silver solder) band, not a two piece clamp on. I have tried those in the past and they always shift on me unless I used an adhesive with them. If I'm going to do that I'll just use a one piece and solder it in place so it NEVER moves. So, do I have any options apart from machining one myself that I have missed?

[LAGS]

Can you not Lap the smaller diameter Barrel Bands to the diameter you need.
They have a.088 difference but that comes out to .044" off each side.
You might be able to lap that with a dowel wrapped with wet and dry sand paper spun in a drill motor with light oil to help with the polishing.

[Buckshot Bill]

I thought about that but was concerned with making the wall too thin.

[LAGS]

It will be soldered to the barrel when you are done.
See if you can find out the wall thickness before you order one.
They should be able to give you the O.D. and the I.D. so just subtract the two, then divide by two for the wall thickness.

[LAGS]

If you can only find the Two Piece ones the right size, and they are steel, then why not just Solder them in place and not rely on the Clamping Pressure.

[Mk42gunner]

Sounds like a perfect opportunity to make one yourself.

[enfield]

I made one by cutting a piece of pipe about 1/2 to 5/8 inches long ( find a piece with about the right size inside diameter ). then cut out about a 3/8 to 1/2 inch section. Slide it over an old tapered barrel and tap it on until the desired diameter is achieved. drill a hole and tap it for your sling swivel. Now you could use the sling swivel screw to lock it in place or solder the ring to the barrel. This will cost about .02 cents to make. Get out there and check that scrap bin.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Yes, I would be inclined to make one. You could take a piece of 1in. OD tubing and tap it thinner and larger over a piece of 7/8in. rod until it reaches the point in the barrel you want. Then push it onto a wooden dowel, and taper and polish it by allowing the dowel to spin in your fingers against a sanding disc or belt. I would then attach the most basic type of Uncle Mike swivel by silver soldering, and then soft solder it to the barrel.

I'd like to just thread a sling swivel into such a band, for a shooting sling is most comfortable if its attachment can rotate about an eighth of a turn. But it will be clumsy if the band is thick enough to do that in safety. You would probably have to extend the thread right up to the shoulder of the swivel with a die too.

But if you are prepared to silver solder on the barrel, why use a band? I would weld up the screwholes in one of these, file or mill the bottom concave, closely matching the barrel, and attach it with Brownells 355 silver solder, which comes in a thin ribbon. Alternatively if that heavy barrel is a rifle, you could thread it for the screws. I wouldn't trust either them or soft solder on their own, but the two combined should be fine.

http://www.brownells.com/rifle-parts/stock-parts/swivel-parts/swivel-studs/swivel-stud-prod6754.aspx

[Buckshot Bill]

A silver soldered pedestal swivel would be perfect, not sure why I didn't think of that over a barrel band type. It is a shotgun, it just has a fat barrel. The forend is spring loaded so I can't attach the stud to the wood like I normally would on an H&R or any other type of single shot. I have some shotgun bead pedestals and some spare studs with machine thread in my parts bin. A simple re-drill and tap and I'll be good to go without any further expense. Thank You!

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Some silver solders (e.g. the jewellery making ones) have never flowed well on steel for me, and the heat may produce scaling. But the Brownells stuff I mentioned doesn't need to flow, being in thin tape, and has the right combination of melting point and strength. It is very expensive but very good, and a half-ounce will do a lot of jobs. There must surely be some cheaper commercial equivalent, and a mixture of flux and filings would surely work, but identifying it is the problem, and Brownells are hardly going to tell you.

http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tools-supplies/general-gunsmith-tools/solders-flux/silvaloy-355-silver-solder-prod584.aspx

I wouldn't use anything as small as some bead front sight blocks, though, and I think a contour to suit a muzzle might leave a bit much of a gap in the middle. You could modify it with the right size of half-round file, or probably the sandpaper sleeves made to fit a 3/4in. spindle sanding machine. A ramp made for a dovetailed rifle sight, like one of these, could look rather good if the front end was reversed and shaped to match the front of the forend.

http://www.brownells.com/rifle-parts/sights/sight-parts/ramps/dovetail-front-ramp-prod8809.aspx

[Buckshot Bill]

I only use the brownells silvaloy 355 stuff. It flows great and is very strong. I don't even mess with their Hi-Force or other lower temp solders on guns (and sometimes even on knives) because I have had them fail on heavy recoiling guns. The bottom contour would need a bit of fitting which is no big deal, I normally have to fit the blocks to the muzzle anyway. The blocks I have are about 3/4"x1/2" which should be plenty of surface area to support the wight of a -6 lb gun.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Yes, that sounds big enough, and using a little of the solder you have is a whole lot better than lashing out $54.99 for some you will use who knows when.

If the swivel is to be removable from the block, it ought to screw in until its flat surface, not just the end of the thread. If you can't thread the swivel that far, you could chamfer the edges or the hole, or insert a hard black plastic washer.