Opinions on Doll's Heads and other stuff

[B. Dudley]

Originally Posted by Breck Gorman

I have seen very few dolls head extensions that were pattern welded. The vast majority are fluid steel. I don’t know why, but I have a theory.
The barrels, lug and dolls head extension were assembled and fitted to the action using an indexing screw through the dolls head extension. Once fitted, the assembly was brazed together. This was done at a much higher temperature than soldering, usually 800+ degrees to make the braze flow. Perhaps using similar fluid steel in the lup and dolls head extension was more controllable during brazing than dissimilar metals..
I really don’t know the true answer, and just posing a theory. Thanks

The rib extensions are not brazed on. The locking lug and tubes are, but not the extension. They are soft soldered just like the ribs. I have removed many of them with a normal torch right along with the ribs. In addition to the solder, they are held on with a single screw that is flush fitted to the rib surface along with the soft solder.