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Anyone out there using mig welder? what wire gauge is best?

well it looks like mig or tig .. I went to Harbor frieght and got the TIG they have there for 199.00. It is a great tig and I know what you are thinking... I will answer that YES, it works F'n great.

Good luck

I used a mig welder and it came out just fine. I had no worping or shrinkage. Just take your time to keep the heat down. I think I use .035 wire with 75% argon. Build up the edges to narrow the gap first, that way it won't shrink and pull as much.

I have used mig on both mine also, .045 with straight co2, no problems, many 1000's of rounds. Only real load this rec is under is stoping rearward bolt travel at end of recoil stroke

I asked this question several mos. ago and was told TIG was the only way. This was followed by lots of guys buying a Cheapo tig which lacks the main feature of TIG welders to give it an advantage - a foot pedal to control your current as you weld. Both a MIG and a TIG use a shielding gas - very supperior to Stick welding with fluxed rod.

Now IF you have a GOOD TIG welder and YOU are good at using it, then you cen get a slightly nicer weld with a TIG. You'll grind less. I used a MIG and took a class at the votec to become certified as result... I can weld very well with a MIG. Im not good with a TIG. So for me, I can get a much better weld - structurally and cometically -- with the MIG. TIG is a bit more precise, but it very much depends on the person welding.

well I have had 1 explosion in the trunion area and the tigg weld in that area held, no cracks or deformation, if you used a migg and feel it will hold up the same in an explosion more power to you, for the $ I feel the tigg was the way to go the tigg will also weld stainless steel to build a park tank

tiggs advantage over mig is not the foot pedal its the ability to add or not to add filler rod to the weld to control what your doing.
That means you have almost complete control over the fusion of the metal 100% of the time.
thats what mig just can't guaranty because of the need to keep moving.

thats why tig is superior.

gunslinger isn't there some pics of your gun blown up somewhere here, as apposed to Tom R's bulged barrel door under similar AOB explosions.

gunslinger isn't there some pics of your gun blown up somewhere here, as apposed to Tom R's bulged barrel door under similar AOB explosions.

.

Really I'd to see them. Im sure a search of my posts would fail to find any blown up receiver pics.

Im embarrassed to say that yes Ive had more than one Out of battery explosion - more than Id like to admit especially during the early phase of the fal FCG and the 2 piece FP. Much to chagrin (sp?) of the TIG camp (and my own supprise) the receiver has never cracked or broken or stretched. We even x-rayed the welds one night to see if we could find a problem.

I will also say that you can beat a barrel door back no more than 3 times in my experience before you have to replace it.

tiggs advantage over mig is not the foot pedal its the ability to add or not to add filler rod to the weld to control what your doing.

True, but limited especially with a fixed power setting - ie. you have to stop welding and change the machine. Part of the control is the power setting in conjunction with the filler rod. One pretty crafty with a MIG - I was certainly amazed when I saw some of the things my instructors showed me with a MIG. Granted they have years of welding experience behind them.

I'll be using a mig on #2 - it worked fine the first time and after about 6 K a few out of battery explosions she's still running strong.

Another vote for MIG. I did mine that way, no warping, v.good penetration, full thickness metal in the welds. With care I don't believe there can be any discernable differences between MIG and TIG.