Has anyone tried to make Wedge keys for barrels?

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I acquired a Lyman Great Plains rifle that did not have it's original Wedge keys for the barrel. I have bought some softer steel and though I could heat up the end of it to hammer a round end on it. As anyone done that, or have a better idea, then to beat the heck on the end to make a "stop" so the key would not go in further into the stock?
 
I acquired a Lyman Great Plains rifle that did not have its original Wedge keys for the barrel. I have bought some softer steel and thought I could heat up the end of it to hammer a round end on it. As anyone done that, or have a better idea, then to beat the heck on the end to make a "stop" so the key would not go in further into the stock?
And yes, forge a key like you asked can work.
 
I acquired a Lyman Great Plains rifle that did not have it's original Wedge keys for the barrel. I have bought some softer steel and though I could heat up the end of it to hammer a round end on it. As anyone done that, or have a better idea, then to beat the heck on the end to make a "stop" so the key would not go in further into the stock?
Once you have something that will fall into the slot then the next step is to bend it to make it push the right way, to hold the barrel down as you want. If done just right then the wedge will kinda snap into place and hold there rather than wanting to come back out.
I used a WW2 era rail road spike to put that kink in the right spot, so it goes over the hump and then resists falling out on the ground in the middle of nowhere.
 
I took this image (second pic) from TOTW. If you make one, or even acquire one, you may wish to consider drilling\filing this type of retention slot.

Then, inside of your stocks barrel channel, drill a vertical hole and insert a pin through the wedge key's slot. Make the pin flush or just below flush of the barrel channel, and be careful not to drill all the way through the stock.

You can now pull the key out far enough to take off the barrel, but the key will never fall off the gun stock. The first pic shows my recent build where I installed two wedge keys
IMG_0527.JPG




Wedge Key with slot.jpg
 
I have had to make a couple for my GPR. Easy peasy. I just outlined the profile of the other key on a piece of angle iron and hack sawed it out, making it a bit long. then file/grind it down to round the edges to your preference. clamp it in the vice good, and you can cold hammer the mild steel ends out, again filing to taste. I lost the one the day before a shoot...dang....and made two while I was at it. Works just as well as any store bought, about 1/2 hr invested.
 
Well, if you have a forge, an anvil, tongs, a good vice, a decent ball peen hammer, a set of files and spare time on you hands, it's no big deal to make a wedge. Buying a ready-made replacement is going to be a lot less expensive than acquiring all those tools.
 
I acquired a Lyman Great Plains rifle that did not have it's original Wedge keys for the barrel. I have bought some softer steel and though I could heat up the end of it to hammer a round end on it. As anyone done that, or have a better idea, then to beat the heck on the end to make a "stop" so the key would not go in further into the stock?
Making a barrel key is simple. All it takes is material, ball peen hammer, hack saw, vice, and a file.
Larry


This key head is not finished off.

IMG_1586.JPG



IMG_1593.JPG
 
Do you happen to have a picture of this setup? Sounds interesting.
Probably something like this. The ‘capture’ pin is placed under or behind the slotted inlay, and goes through the slot in the wedge key. You can just make out the pin in the wedge slot in this photograph.
1631637164798.jpeg
 

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