Ok folks a question about my rifle build. I have a metal butt plate to install on my long rifle. It has too much curve. What is the safest way to take this bend out without breaking the butt plate?
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shaping/bending a cast steel butt plate
- Thread starter Pilgrim
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If you want to bend the tail of the cast steel butt a little , put the return (top) in a good vise and clamp between brass or thin wood vise jaws. Use two 8"or bigger crescent wrenches . Put one on the butt plate and one on the crescent wrench clamped on the plate. Bend a little at a time , until the plate's shape is is where you want it. File out the kinks and done. If the plate breaks , order a better shaped buttplate. Remember , cast steel is brittle and unforgiving , don't think it can be bent back into the shape it previously was. ........oldwood
I have to agree with Fred, I bought a buttplate for my fowler that had to be cast from scrap ball bearings, a file wouldn't even touch it. Later I found from reading here that this wasn't uncommon and the knowledgeable builders annealed their steel buttplates before they started a build.
I spent more time inletting this buttplate than most spent building a rifle. No mater how carefully I worked on the inletting I couldn't get rid of slight gap at the toe. Finally out of desperation I put the buttplate in my vise, heated the toe red hot and smacked it hard with my blacksmith hammer. Even red hot and and smacked very hard with a 3# hammer the toe only moved 1/16" but this was enough to close the gap. I was finally done with this nightmare.
You can give you buttplate a bending test run and you might get lucky, it sure won't hurt to try. Of course a thorough annealing will be the first order of business.
This was on my second gun, I was still pretty green, but even so I won't pick this style of buttplate again.
I spent more time inletting this buttplate than most spent building a rifle. No mater how carefully I worked on the inletting I couldn't get rid of slight gap at the toe. Finally out of desperation I put the buttplate in my vise, heated the toe red hot and smacked it hard with my blacksmith hammer. Even red hot and and smacked very hard with a 3# hammer the toe only moved 1/16" but this was enough to close the gap. I was finally done with this nightmare.
You can give you buttplate a bending test run and you might get lucky, it sure won't hurt to try. Of course a thorough annealing will be the first order of business.
This was on my second gun, I was still pretty green, but even so I won't pick this style of buttplate again.
Guess there is a first time for everything. I've used 20 or 30 cast steel b/p's and trigger guards , and luckily never had the experience Erlc told about. 40 years ago , a couple different m/l gun part dealers and foundry workers selling parts said , that it was common practice to pour some parts using left over metal from a specialty cast steel order . That left over metal might be the wrong formula for m/l parts , and I have a feeling Eric's experience might be due to that. ...............Wish you well...........oldwood
54ball
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Longrifle can mean anything....
Metal??? brass or steel? Soft brass or hard brass?
If this is a "Tennessee" you may can tweak it just a little.
If it's a steel hand made Tennessee or Southern, you can go to town but I assume you mean an investment cast Lancaster style.
On the investment cast stuff and hard brass stuff (Track)....You can't really bend it much and it's really difficult to take the curve out without braking the piece or making it look goofy.
With the little info provided, I'm with Fred, find another buttplate to your liking.
Col. Batguano
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Bending it while very hot (like white to pale yellow--not orange to red) will be safest. The hotter it is, the easier it will bend.
It is investment cast steel, I am installing it on a traditions Kentucky kit, I don't like the brass buttplate supplied, the curves are a little different between the two. This is my first attempt at a kit but I have some experience with minor gunsmithing and woodworking, less with metal that is why I posted the question.
