Pistol buttcap

[wayne1967]

Hello. Working on a dragoon pistol that has the long prongs on the buttcap that get inletted into the sides of the grip. This being cast steel can it be bent by hand to contour the grip or does it need heated to bend? Don't want to snap either one off. Thanks

 

[Zonie]

If the cap is made out of cast steel, it should bend without heat.
Just don't overdo it.

Each time it is bent, the steel will become more brittle.

The brittleness can be reduced by annealing it but this should only be needed after it has been bent a few times.

The steel casting was allowed to cool slowly so it should already be annealed when it is new.

To anneal steel, it needs to be heated up to a bright red color and then slowly cooled to room temperature. Do not be tempted to speed up the cooling by using water or oil.

 

[wayne1967]

Thanks Zonie. I've never tried bending on cast before. Didn't know one way or the other.

 

[Cheyenne]

I will be starting a Georgian style pistol soon and the butt cap is the intimidating part! If you can post pictures of you process it'd be a big help!

It's a part set a buddy bought from MLBS over a year ago and hasn't started....just because of the butt cap! And he's got 3-4 builds under his belt! :idunno:

 

[wayne1967]

I've built 3 long guns but never a dragoon. You're right that butt cap is intimidating. I'll try to round up some pics.