A
welding torch comprising: a main cylindrical conductive
assembly with a front diffuser section having a plurality of circumferentially spaced
shielding gas diffuser orifices for directing
shielding gas radially outwardly from the
assembly, a forwardly facing threaded bore extending through a cylindrical support
nose and an elongated wire passageway coaxial with the threaded bore and opening at the rear end of the
assembly. An insulated, cylindrical protective sleeve fitted around both the support
nose and the diffuser orifices where the sleeve has a front clearance opening and circumferentially spaced openings communicated with the diffuser orifices and a contact tip having a central wire guide bore with a
diameter only slightly larger than the
diameter of the
welding wire, a threaded rear body, a front extension passing through the front clearance opening and a radially extending
flange between the rear body and the front extension to hold the protective sleeve around the
nose when the body is screwed into the threaded bore of the main assembly.