How to bend a wedge key?

C

cowboys1062

New member
I am the one who posted earlier about breaking off the rear barrel lug on my GPR trying to fit the wedge keys. I ended up sending my barrel back in to Lyman to have it repaired or barrel replaced. I have learned my lesson about trying to bend barrel lugs! My question is now, how do you bend Wedge Keys? I want to bend the wedge keys to make them fit on my GPR. They are way to loose. Respectfully, cowboys1062.
 
I doubt bending will make a difference if they are the typical tapered wedges

They need to be replaced, or you need shims to make them a tighter fit

New wedge pins are cheap
 
I know you just had a bad experience but I just bump the bottom of the opening in the lug to tighten it up. It usually doesn't take much.
 
Are they too loose because they are undersized height wise? If it's height, you can peen the sides a bit to make them a bit taller. Measure before, measure after and measure the height of the opening of the key.
 
I have tightened barrel wedges by "adjusting" the lug on the barrel, as Hawg suggested. I also slot and pin barrel wedges to make them captive. If you need to put a little bend in them that is ok then when pinned the will always be just right and never upside down or in the wrong place, if there are 2 of them.
 
Bending wedge keys

The Wedge Keys are loose. They are the standard keys that came with the rifle.I looked in the owners manuel and on page 21, titled: Fitting Wedge Pins, it says to take a 1" diameter bar over the barrel lug and tap with a hammer. I did this and the front barrel lug bent in a little and the wedge key ended up fitting just fine! Then I tried bending in the rear barrel lug and ended up breaking off the whole lug off of the barrel! The barrel is now at Lymans to either be repaired or replaced I will wait and see. As for the wedge key, it seems to be a height issue. I learned the hard way about bending barrel lugs! I just want to somehow work on the wedge key to make them fit. Respectfully, cowboys1062.
 
It's easy to just take a small ball peen hammer and laying the key on a board, tap it in the middle. They are soft enough that it's easy to give it a slight bend.
 
yep , just what Old Stony said . sometimes you can also just bend them by hand with alittle pressure or if they are real heavy , then place in a vice with a 1/2 drill bit along side and center of the key . light tap with a brass hammer and bobs your uncle .
when you put them in . bow will go down.
i had to go back and read your old post . i guess i missed it
sounds to me like your underlug wasn’t on that well to begin with as it should not have popped off .

what i would have done is cut a dove tail and replaced the under lug . frankly thats how it should have been done anyway .
i just finished a job on a lyman barrel where the customer wanted the barrel placed on a TC stock . IE i had to cut off the underlugs and then dove tail one in so as to fit the TC key placement .
In that barrel the lugs actually had a post at each end . Thus I believe the lugs were set by pressure and a electric charge . In a since spot welding the tip of the post into the barrel .
But it was an older IA so ??? Your may be different
 
captive barrel wedges

DSCN5548.JPG (guess this pic. doesn't show the pins)
Here is what I like done with barrel wedges. This is an older CVA with dove tailed lugs.
The spring "thing" on the right is to latch ti the ram rod.
 
I mostly work the Wedge

One thing about double wedge rifles is that they have a tendency to fight each other. Example, the front is firm and when you install the rear, the front goes loose. Then you shoot it and the wedges my start working out. .. :mad:
To a certain extent, you have to tune both. Now then, bending the lug is a valid option but to date, mostly resolve my problem by working the wedge. My first pass, is to work on the wedges by flexing them. You will notice that to start, they will indicate a good start point on seating, firmly. Then as 44 Dave, has mentioned, you can slot or "Key" and pin the wedge. On single wedges, I index the position of each wedge just to make sure they go back where they belong.;)

Recently, I acquired a BMR and it has two wedges. One was missing and can understand how it got lost. Both wedges are "keyed" but not pinned. Sadly, have not been able to find a replacement so will have to make one. When complete, you bet I will pin them. ..... ;)

Good luck and;
Be Safe !!!
 
The barrel lug had a problem to begin with if all you did was tap it with a hammer and it ended up breaking. The other thing that you can do is use a c-clamp with a block of oak or similar on the barrel side and a half inch drill bit on the screw side of the C clamp and just work it down very slowly with pressure rather than tapping on it with a hammer. At least this way it would be controlled pressure rather than striking it.

It's worth a try and let us know how you make out.

Birch
 
When you "fit" those wedges - don't "guess". Use something like inletting black on them or even use a black felt marker on the wedge to show if and where it is coming in contact with the lug. The best way is to adjust the lug as already suggested. Your key slots in the stock are "in line" with each other (or they should be). Bend your wedge too much and it may be tight in the lug but be a bear to line up with the wedge hole on the opposite side of the stock.

Take your time . . this isn't a case of where a "bigger hammer is better". I've never worked on a GPR but I'm assuming your wedges are slotted and "captured"? Or, do they come all the way out of the stock when removed?

If you don't have a round bar the size suggested - use something like a socket and gently tap.
 
Good advice

Take your time . . this isn't a case of where a "bigger hammer is better". I've never worked on a GPR but I'm assuming your wedges are slotted and "captured"? Or, do they come all the way out of the stock when removed?
Click to expand...
Great advice, on taking your time and letting the M/L tell you what it needs. My GPR does not have slotted wedges as well as others that I worked on. Perhaps some generations did as I know they are not all the same. However, this is a good application for keyed and pinned wedges. .... ;)

By the way, you can modify an existing wedge to keyed and pinned and improve contact to boot. .... ;)

Be Safe !!!
 
It's easy to just take a small ball peen hammer and laying the key on a board, tap it in the middle. They are soft enough that it's easy to give it a slight bend.
Click to expand...

Yep, works for me too. Whack the wedge key lightly and check the fit until it's tight in the barrel lug.
 
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