How to tighten loose wedge?

[Naphtali]

I have a pair of Kodiak Safari double rifles, one of which is N.I.B. "back-up." The Safari I have had customized is well regulated and incredibly accurate - accurate despite its single barrels' wedge being loose as a goose.

The wedge is held within Safari's stock, so it cannot be lost. But it slides freely. When shooting the rifle, my hand that grasps the foreend also grasps the wedge and secures it in its proper position.

While I can live with this loose wedge, and I detect no deterioration in the Safari's accuracy or consistency, it remains something not right.

Without major surgery or defacing the rifle, how can I secure the wedge? If it makes a difference, I remove the barrels from stock every time I clean the rifle.

 

[bubba.50]

take it out and tap a little bend in it. trial and error til ya get the right amount of tension ya want.

 

[Bill Hall]

If you think the wedge is not too loose in the escutcheons (wedge plates), an easier fix is to remove the barrel and lightly tap the lug, staple, or tennon the wedge goes through. You want to bend in the lug until it creates enough friction to keep the wedge tight. If you think there is too much play in the escutcheons, then bend the wedge as previously described. You probably want to bend the wedge down in the middle.

I'm assuming there is a pin holding it in place, just under the escutcheon, so you will need to remove the escutcheon and the pin to free the wedge. Bill

 

[capt-pp]

Liquid nails. lol

 

[matt denison]

Bending the lug is a much better solution than bending the wedge. A bent wedge can dive from one side of the stock to the other and hit the escution knocking it out of the gun. Also since you remove the barrel each time to clean, it is easily accessable. You would have to "uncapture" your captured wedge to do any work on it.

 

[S.Kenton]

I've fixed a few loose wedges by bending the lug just a hair...trial and error.

 

[necchi]

What they said;

 

[Walks with fire]

I like to use a little dab of bedding compound on each side of the staple for stocks that are not fully bedded and then a slight tap to the staple will tighten it up nicely. Use a brass hammer and go easy as a barrel can be bent enough to cause a high spot in the bore at the very least.

 

[Billnpatti]

Like many have said, bend the staple. Easy does it, tap and try, tap and try until you have a fit that you like. A small ball peen hammer is a good tool to use. Tap at the staple, don't try to give it a good whang or you may well over do it.

 

[Naphtali]

Many thanks to all of you. The method having least risk, for me, is to use my glass-faced hammer to tap the lug. I'll tap during each cleaning, knowing that if I have not tapped enough, I'm no worse off than I was. The theory is that by hunting season, I'll have tapped enough. . . . That's the theory.

 

[necchi]

Actually those things are softer than one would think.
If you've gone too far, it's easy enough to put a wide flat tip screwdriver in there and give it twist to open it back up again.

I should do another photo with a small ball peen hammer but it get's the point across.

 

[tdperry]

Actually those things are softer than one would think.
If you've gone too far, it's easy enough to put a wide flat tip screwdriver in there and give it twist to open it back up again.

I should do another photo with a small ball peen hammer but it get's the point across.

I just used a small tack hammer and had made some brass punches out of a bar of brass I had. If I went to small I just used the wedge punch to open it up. Was trial and error, but now it's nice and tight - unlike before where it was trying to come out after 3 or 4 shots.

 

[mattybock]

if your wedge is just like every other wedge I've seen, then there is a wedge carrier that is dovetailed into the barrel, with the wedge going into the carrier, through the stock.

The most effective and simplest fix I can think of is to make a thin shimming out of scrap pine or whatever wood you have laying about.

Remove the wedge, sharpen the end of the shimming and replace the two parts as one, into the wedge.

You may need to get out the white masking tape and apply the enough to the head of the wedge to cover then knock the shimmed wedge into place.
This tape layer with keep the hammer from marring the end of the wedge. You will need to chance out the shimming after taking it out a few times because pine... or any wood, will wear and break away.

That should hold just fine. When it comes to working on the metal and bending it, etc. You can bend to far pretty easy and then it's an unholy biscuit to fix.

 

[necchi]

 

[S.Kenton]

maybe ANOTHER picture IS in order.. :grin:

 

[Bill Hall]

April fools? Bill

 

[FRJ]

I prefer to slightly bend the wedge rather than the staple as I am always afraid that I may have to bend it back a little and am afraid of pulling the staple loose. Just a tiny bit goes a long ways. FRJ

 

[onthefarm]

I had the same issue on a new Lyman GPR. Tap the lug like necchi says. The Lyman manual says use a pipe, and roll the pipe over the lug while giving it light "whacks". I say whacks because I started very light taps and it didn't work until I gave it a little "oomph". But start lightly as I did and you won't go wrong.

 

[Billnpatti]

I, too, have a Kodiak double rifle. The best way to tighten up the wedge pin is to remove the barrels and use a ballpeen hammer to gently tap the lug to slightly bend it until the wedge pin fits snugly. Whatever you do, don't start whanging away on the lug because it only needs a tiny bit of bend to tighten it up. The steel of the lug is relatively soft so it is not hard to bend it. Tap, try the fit, tap, try the fit until is is the way you want it. When doing these kinds of adjustments, patience is a virtue.

 

[Billnpatti]

I am at a loss for words. :shake: :idunno: