16 guage Savage Fox model B double barrel shotgun

Question
Mr. Lark

My 16 guage double barrel Savage Fox model B is about 52 years old and is there a way to tell if it contains soft solder? I want to have it reblued using the hot chemical bath but have been told about eight percent of these old doubles contain soft solder which will result in severe damage.

Any idea?

Thanks,

Ron Gould
Lupton, Michigan

Answer
Hi Ron,

I would play it safe and assume that your Fox indeed has had soft solder used in the manufacturing process. You are correct in regards to hot bluing causing a problem if done to a gun with soft soldering.

You could have a qualified gunsmith take a look at it and confirm this for you then proceed from there. You may also want to consider having the gun rust-blued. This is however a relatively expensive process in my experience. That said, it can be done without any danger to the soft solder.

Also if you are at all handy, you may want to take a look at doing a rust-blue job yourself. Take a look at information on this process at www.realguns.com/Commentary/comar51.htm This will at least give you an idea of what you are dealing with.

I hope this helps. Thanks for the question.

Sid Lark