Thoughts on this weld job?

Shit job and not the ideal spot.

Hopefully they were incompetent enough to not even touch the barrel and you’re only out the A2 hider.

Most gunshops are not pro welders. It's effective, legal and you probally got what you paid for.

To prep, weld, clean/grind and refinish you are talking a couple hundred in labor. I would touch it for less than $250.

That is bizarre. Did the drill the hole down the the "valley", leave the pin long then sorta dun-lap the weld over onto the high spot?

(Do the not own any files?)


I'd honestly wonder if it was really welded and not JB Weld or something.

They did you a favor, seriously.

The more obvious the weld, the less the ATF will probe your rectumus eximus.

They might still try to probe your prison wallet and steal your property, but there won’t be much of a case to take up in court.

It’s why I like my P&W jobs blatantly-obvious. Not all the ATF agents are remotely-competent in this stuff, but someone will eventually see it and say, “Tell him to pull his skinny jeans back up and let him go. Keep the weapon in evidence for the boss to see if he wants it, then if he doesn’t want it, we get it."

Think about how a low-IQ connected family Mafia gang would operate and expect that. You won’t be disappointed.

I’ve seen a lot worse from places. It’s not the cleanest job but I’m sure it’ll hold just fine plus it’s easy to see that it was pin/welded if someone were to check it.

sroc112 said:

Had a basic muzzle brake oinned/welded on a new upper. Used a new shop, was the most convenient based on location and timing. generally speaking, does this look how it should on this type of brake?

Sorry, not all pics are super clear.

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terrible

send to Monmouth arms in NJ. Absolutely the best I've ever seen, can't even see it.

The real question is why the hell
Would you P&W am A2 lol.

Right now somewhere in the US an ATF agent is reading this and laughing his ass off at how you ruined your AR and brake following their dumb ass rules that accomplish nothing

Its an a2 on a factory barrel. It's every bit as good as it needs to be. Move on and be happy about your saved money

sroc112 said:

Real bummer, because I was going to use monmouth arms and last minute ended up using this shithole. Steve is a good dude, dealt with him in the past. Hopefully he is able to undo and remove the hack job I have. I'll reach out to him. Was debating shipping out to dwilson but monmouth arms would save me the shipping time/costs.

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he really is a great guy and does fantastic work. I could upload some pics on the ones he did; you can't even tell!. I'd go Steve only cause I trust him having known and used him for 15yrs. I'm actually dropping something off at his house later on my way to pitching practice with my son

you in NJ?

sroc112 said:

Yes sir, unfortunately

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I give you the new jermany salute!!!! lol

let me know if you ever want to head to cjrpc to shoot. always good to meet a fellow comrade behind enemy lines

It is what it is. If you don't like it, it's easy to replace. Nothing is ruined, just drill out the weld (best done with a special two flute carbide drill), chase the threads (the old pin hole is not a problem), and pin and weld another brake.

Have you asked them why it looks like Ray Charles got a hold if it? If they said FO, name the shop so others will know to stay clear.

I always drill the flat myself. That way you can smooth the weld enough to blend in but still be slightly visible so ATF can easily see it

sroc112 said:

Lol will do brother, thank you

Recently signed up at Cherry Ridge, it's an awesome spot.

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cherry ridge is great too! great part of the state as well

How many people here have had their pin/weld barrels inspected by the ATF? Hell, how many here have had any interaction with the ATF- beyond admin/paperwork bullshit?

If it meets the ATF criteria and is not affecting performance, stop sweating it and shoot the gun.

Although I have lived in Florida since 2018 I came from California and the DOJ there has shown up to many ranges and checked for any violations they could find so pretty much I expect big brother to look for things to f me on

Luckyshot said:

Its an a2 on a factory barrel. It's every bit as good as it needs to be. Move on and be happy about your saved money

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I'll drink a bottle of beer to that an console my self with the though of that and move on as well

hlee said:

How many people here have had their pin/weld barrels inspected by the ATF? Hell, how many here have had any interaction with the ATF- beyond admin/paperwork bullshit?

If it meets the ATF criteria and is not affecting performance, stop sweating it and shoot the gun.

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I would also say that how many innocent people sitting in Federal prison right now, getting their backside gaped by the guards and inmates, had any interaction with ATF before they were targeted by a paid informant (criminal who did a plea deal with ATF to act as a stooge for them), in order to pad a regional ASAC or lower supervisor’s numbers?

They’ve even done it to people who have gone through the process with other NFA items. Just depends on the malfeasance and criminal intent of the local ATF office culture in how bad they want to hurt innocent people.

This is why obvious P&W jobs are a blessing in disguise. They will still steal your property and you’ll never see it again, but someone above them in the chain will see it and not want to waste their time with a case they probably can’t win.

Don’t ever make the mistake of thinking these guys and gals are well-intentioned, legitimate, law-abiding officers of the law. That’s just a cover for their Mafia jobs program for loosely-connected families.

Even the whistle-blowers’ names read like a Scorsese mob film casting list, without fail.

ironpony52 said:

Right now somewhere in the US an ATF agent is reading this and laughing his ass off at how you ruined your AR and brake following their dumb ass rules that accomplish nothing

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More like, “A2 flash hider, pass. I need me a KAC. Didn’t boss say he wants another SR-15?"

They normally are targeting street and motorcycle gangs since the Mafia doesn’t like competition in distribution of narcotics across State lines. That has been their monopoly since Prohibition. They let them fester and murder so it looks like there is always an enemy to justify their existence.

Most of those offices were made up of former local and State LEOs who worked homicide and theft, who put in for Federal GS service because their cousin Lou told them there are openings.

One of the biggest complaints from ATF Whistleblowers is nepotism, followed by EO, sexual harassment, and retaliation when officers who thought the law applied to the ATF filed reports against their corrupt supervisors. The corrupt supervisors, ASACs, and RAICs get promoted regardless, and career UC guys get their homes burned down or forced out of ATF.

These are fundamentally bad people, with bad blood, enabled by organized crime in government. A big problem is that they have hired younger and younger woke types, more Didn’t Earn It hires, who know nothing about firearms or the Constitution, and only to make arrests and get convictions. Those types of employees prefer to target peaceful citizens exercising their rights, not go after hardened street gangs and truly-violent criminals.

DeathBeforeDismount said:

Most gunshops are not pro welders. It's effective, legal and you probally got what you paid for.

To prep, weld, clean/grind and refinish you are talking a couple hundred in labor. I would touch it for less than $250.

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You WOULD? Or wouldn't? Thats an awful price when the best in the business are under 150, but.. you do you.

There are a lot of so called "Gun Smiths" out there that do some really shit jobs.

I need to do a bit more research on the ATF guild lines for permanent muzzle devices but one of the ideas I've been kicking around is to mill/drill the Muzzle devices/ barrel the same way you would for a standard P&W job but thread the Muzzle device pin hole and use a threaded set screw like the picture below. Then Cold Spot tig weld the top pin hole on the surface of the Muzzle device.



That way down the road you can have you smith drill out the spot weld and pull and salvage the barrel, Gas Block and Muzzle device for other builds or if you aquire a SBR lower you can free to try other Muzzle devices.

Its fine if it works but its ugly, in the wrong spot and theres a hole.
Its obvious which is good. Doesnt need to be THAT obvious though.

I'll bet the the "smith" drilled that out on a vise with a hand drill, slipped and missed a couple times trying to bore into that smaller shoulder. Now you got the BBC (Black Bubblegum Cover-up)


added: Ive seen worse...

Hell here’s one I did myself. I took a drill bit and marked how deep I wanted to drill into the barrel. Cut the drill bit off and stick it in the hole into the barrel through the brake. Then welded the drill bit in place so it’s capturing the brake and the hole in the barrel. Grinder it down with a sander and painted with hi temp paint.

Have shot the hell out of the 14.5” without any issues. Coming up on changing it to a 13’7” and will be doing the same set up with a different brake to accept my suppressors.

If I lived in a hellscape where I thought I would be instantly thrown in federal bang me in the ass prison, over 1.5” of barrel, I’d just get a 16.5” or even 18” and call it a day.

I did one for someone, generally im pretty precise and detail oriented TIG welding, in a previous life I had every weld cert except underwater. ... but he put in a broken drill bit in as a pin and wanted me to put a small tack weld on top. 1. The pin being a different hardness or material is a pain in the azz., wont flow the same or melt evenly. 2. The ridge that its on, same as yours, concentrates all the heat..... pain in the azz. It turned out about the same as yours.. couldnt get 100% of the coating removed, that makes it worse. I was going to sand and finish it more but then he said if you hide and smooth the weld it might not look welded, and the entire idea is to make it look welded to be legal... so I guess having it look like its welded is ok.

Best place to drill the hole to pin it would be on the flat for a wrench, not near an edge. This would create a better area for a weld. Then us a pin made of the same material and leave it out 1/16 of an inch.. all you'd need to do it touch it with a tig welder and it would be perfect.

As someone that does thousands of pin and welds a year, I'm not sure how so many shops managed to screw these up so badly.