I use 1/16 dia hardened music wire for all the pins in my builds....it's very uniform in dia so all the pins can be driven in or out w/o a whole lot of force. After finishing the stock, I hand twist a 1/16 drill in each hole to clean out any finish. I start on one side and twist the drill through and out the other side....have never had any splintering on the far side.
The pins w/ a chamfer on both ends should nearly be able to be pushed in w/ a finger. although I use a section of soft pine board to push the pins flush w/ the stock. My home made drift is a section of Allen wrench w/ the corners stoned off for a nice fit w/ the hole.....the end has a slight chamfer for easy starting in the hole. The section of Allen wrench is pushed into a hole drilled into a square length of brass.
Because the drift has a tendency to "skate" off the pin, a firm grip on the drift keeps the drift centered on the pin when lightly struck w/ a small hammer. When both ends of the pins are below the stock surface, some dark shoe polish hides the pins. This is a fairly long post for what should be a simple task.... but many pin holes can be buggered up.....Fred
