Thimble fell off traditions Trapper pistol. How can I fix it?

[stewall]

I don't know how it fell off but what ways can I fix it?

When I put my Trapper kit together I had trouble with the screw not being long enough to secure the thimble properly and it fell off each time I looked at it..
The screw holding it was not long enough and, not having another longer screw at hand, I gently drilled the screw's countersink in the barrel rib by about 3/32, thus allowing more of the thread available to screw into the thimble. Oh, I also used some super glue and accelerator on it. Hasn't moved since.

 

[gunpa]

I've had screws strip out and found the threads in holes were fine. Screws were softer than threads.

 

[Red Owl]

I can't recall if the thread was metric- ACE has metric screws/bolts.

 

[user 33697]

Various epoxies will work, but some folks prefer soldering. One solder product that’s ‘almost’ foolproof and easy to work with is Solder-It Silver Bearing Solder Paste.

View attachment 146121

I would be very interested in your experience in using Solder-It on any of your firearms. Specifically the possibility of attaching front sights to BP revolver and rifle hex shaped barrels.

 

[Cherrybow]

I used Solder-it to add a little metal to a trigger plate. It worked great for my first time doing anything like that.

 

[SDSmlf]

I would be very interested in your experience in using Solder-It on any of your firearms. Specifically the possibility of attaching front sights to BP revolver and rifle hex shaped barrels.

I have used the Solder-It paste for things like lugs on round barrels and bonding other small pieces on guns. It’s easy enough to apply and requires low temperatures to flow, maybe 425°F or so and great for the beginning solderer. Holds well as long as you have clean surfaces to start with and the parts are held/clamped in place while soldering.

Honestly, for a gunsight I would cut a dovetail if at all possible before using solder, it should work ok, but it would not be my first choice. And for a visual joint that may see bluing in the future or get bumped around a lot that I couldn’t cut a dovetail for or use a mechanical joint, for solder I would use something like Brownells Hi-Force 44 Solder before using Solder-It. The Hi-Force takes a little more heat (475°F) to flow, requires fluxing and does not come in a paste, but it is a proven high strength low temperature solder for firearm applications.

 

[Hawk54]

The screw holding the thimble in place is trapped between the rib and barrel. Never say never but on most of these type problems it is seldom an arcane, one in a million event. The screw probably just worked loose. Take off the rib and see if you can screw the thimble back in place. Let us know if that doesn't work. Put some shellac or locktite in the threads so it doesn't happen again.

What he said. The thimble is held on with a screw. Probably just backed out and the thimble fell off. Easy fix.

 

[user 33697]

I have used the Solder-It paste for things like lugs on round barrels and bonding other small pieces on guns. It’s easy enough to apply and requires low temperatures to flow, maybe 425°F or so and great for the beginning solderer. Holds well as long as you have clean surfaces to start with and the parts are held/clamped in place while soldering.

Honestly, for a gunsight I would cut a dovetail if at all possible before using solder, it should work ok, but it would not be my first choice. And for a visual joint that may see bluing in the future or get bumped around a lot that I couldn’t cut a dovetail for or use a mechanical joint, for solder I would use something like Brownells Hi-Force 44 Solder before using Solder-It. The Hi-Force takes a little more heat (475°F) to flow, requires fluxing and does not come in a paste, but it is a proven high strength low temperature solder for firearm applications.

Excellent information about soldering and your advice of making a dovetail on a barrel and using a dovetails front sight is definitely the better option. Dixie Gun Works and Jedediah Starr Trading Company sells a hand dovetail cutter for $40.00. Ever used one?

 

[SDSmlf]

Dixie Gun Works and Jedediah Starr Trading Company sells a hand dovetail cutter for $40.00. Ever used one?

Never used one. Always used a square, some marking method (a Sharpie or bluing), a scribe, a hacksaw and a triangular file with one side made safe. Maybe 15 minutes to cut and finish a dovetail, though I’ve never actually timed it.

 

[Packrat]

I have used JB WELD for a couple projects, but a number of years ago there was a group of Span-AM rough riders here in AZ. They had a Colt Machine gun that had been de-activated.
They drilled out the plug in the chamber, spread some JB weld and inserted a cartridge to get the right diameter, When finished they were able to fire blanks automatically
Last I knew they sold the Colt for a small fortune

 

[Red Owl]

Not to start a big issue but in my experience JB Weld dries and is not as "rock hard" as some of the other epoxies like Devcon, etc. Not necessarily a bad thing. On most repairs I like a reversible option in case the repair isn't what I want.

 

[ZUG]

Gosh -- it sounds like most of the comments are about how to make this fix complicated. When looking at the diagram the thimble is held onto the rib by a screw and the rib is held onto the barrel by two screws. If it were me, I would unscrew the rib from the barrel and do as one of the previous poster's suggested by countersinking the thimble screw a bit deeper so as to get more threads to engage the thimble then I would apply Loctite to the threads so the thimble would not work itself loose again but that's just me - a retired aerospace mechanical engineer of 45 years

 

[Red Owl]

I've been at this stuff for MANY YEARS. What I have learned is that all manufactured items are going to be pretty much alike. On a few rare occasions there might be a bur on the racket of a revolver cylinder, or something like that, but the idea that one bolt has shorter threads than all the other bolts sold with a model of firearm, or that one set of threads was over bored, etc. NEVER say NEVER but the odds are in your favor that some simple thing went wrong- such as recoil loosening up the bolt in the thimble.