Quote:
Originally Posted by G.T.
Hi Olli, you may want to leave the ends square as they were a press fit into the holes, then slightly expanded to where they were flush to the inside of the frame mag well, i think the popular thought was that, if a few thousands upset will hold tons of force, anything at all would hold a couple of pounds of pistol... best to you, til...lat'r...GT...  |
No, it really doesn't take much. One way to do it (which I have used with great success on other projects) is to drill a tiny hole in the end, then stake it with a center punch. The end will look kinda like a short tube, and the wall will flare out easily by hitting it with the center punch. However, on a P.38 you'll have to stick the staking tool through holes on the opposite side of the frame, so it takes a pretty slim center punch to do it. I want this to be an easy DIY installation that doesn't require any special tools, so that's why I want to go with the Loctite. Still, it wouldn't be a problem at all to make another version for those who really want to stake it in one way or another.
Anywho, I spent some time in the shop last night, scrutinizing the loops on my P.38s to see if I could find any forensic evidence of the manufacturing process. One interesting observation is the presence of a mark on the straight part, it clearly shows that there was some kind of "stop" in the tool. It only makes sense, an industrial tool wouldn't have the cap I'm using so it needs to come to a stop somehow. Of course, this is no big surprise, but if I can use a similar arrangement I will not only be able to straighten the loop, I will also be adding an authentic tool mark.
I believe the next step will be to fabricate a die and a saddle that I can use for an additional straighening step, like what you described earlier. These tools will need a slight bend to compensate for springback, but I believe I can actually hand form that with a riffler file. Stay tuned.