AR lower welding/repairs

**27hand** · February 22nd, 2010, 10:36 AM

Originally Posted by TXDMERC73

buy another lower , even if it does get TIG welded it wont look as good as a newer lower , there will be alot of bumps and imperfections where the broken lower is after its welded.

Originally Posted by RaisedByWolves

The way that piece came off its going to be a bitch to weld it back on. I get stuff like this done for free and my guy wouldnt even touch that.

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Not if the weldor knows what he's doing.
The piece would have to be jig mounted and beveled to ensure the weldor gets complete penetration with no voids and the piece is secure before lighting up.

Another option (if welding a new part is what is wanted) is to cut off a half inch or more and reweld an entirely new piece on. For this, another junk lower would be needed to cut apart. Any weld will need to be dressed up a bit with some kind of grinder.

If some garage weldor is going to do this, make sure he is using the right tungsten (pure) and not the 2% thoriated for mild steel.

edstephan has the right idea short of just replacing the lower.

I'll give ya $10 for it

I no longer have access to the facilities to do this without bribing someone.

They used to advertise some Al rod for use with a torch flame and could weld anything down to soda can thickness. Maybe a google will see if anything like this is still available. Worst case is it's FUBAR'd and the lower will need replaced anyway.

27hand

**Kaos** · February 22nd, 2010, 10:42 AM

Magpul MIAD with the trigger guard front strap.

Problem solved

**lilb93** · February 22nd, 2010, 12:31 PM

I do TIG welding and have a CNC mill.... in order to do that i would have to clean a good portion of the coating off to TIG.
After welding it would have to be re-machined back then recoated (coating system will not be in til next week, we are just starting to do powder coating, duracoating wont be much more already got the oven)

So after all that you can prob just go buy a new gun...

go with the stark idea or post it for sale in the classifieds it is just not feasible money wise to fix the lower.
i will have to look i has some rods from the flea mkt. that you would melt with a mapp gas torch and it would bond Al back together kinda like solder but 10 times stronger i fixed a bunch of crap with them motorcycle side covers, aluminum oil pans... I just dont have anymore and haven't been out to a good ol junk show in a while to find more... but that may be your solution they worked great and after it was there it held excellent and cut and reshaped perfectly

**justashooter** · February 25th, 2010, 03:43 PM

you guys are making a mountain out of a molehill. this is a $35 job that could be done in 20 minutes by anybody with a heliarc and experience. the object of the repair would be to build it up adequately, the OP would then take it home, reshape, and redrill. no problem.

as for the value of a preban, it is considerable. put this thing back together and reshape it so that the repair cannot be detected, paint it satin black, put a $500 kit on it, and you have a $900-$1100 rifle in NY.

look in your local yellow pages for welding repair shops, and pick up your phone.