Trigger guard

[Xring]

Can anyone out there tell me the best way to straighten a sand cast brass trigger guard,with out breaking it?

 

[rich pierce]

It must be anealed. Heat to dull red in a dark room and dunk in water to coolor let cool slowly, no difference.

Then make a form from a piece of 2x4 to the profile you desire, using a jigsaw or coping saw or whatever. Then place the guard on the form. Strike a rounded piece of hardwood where it needs to be hit. Move along the piece, working things gradually.

If it breaks, it was meant to break.

 

[F.G. Ford]

Yep!
Send it back to the vendor!
Or, cast a new one.
Been there...don't ask why.
Old Ford

 

[TGeorge]

After you anneal and bend it, you have to reharden it, no? I think you do this by heating it again and let it air cool.

 

[mckutzy]

brass cannot be "hardened" as we know about that, but it work hardends when bent back and forth, or when struck. air cooling brass is just simular to quenching it when red hot, it just cools slower, altho i think that the parts can warp....

 

[TANSTAAFL]

brass cannot be "hardened" as we know about that, but it work hardends when bent back and forth, or when struck. air cooling brass is just simular to quenching it when red hot, it just cools slower, altho i think that the parts can warp....

Ditto.

And, make sure that brass, is really "BRASS" before, working or anealing. Bronze can mimic brass in looks, but IMO, bronze can often be a real *itch to muck about with.

 

[Stophel]

Wow, I just bend them with my hands...

Sand cast brass is real brass and is dead soft. If it is a good quality casting, you can bend it plenty before it lets go.

If it is a bad quality casting (and I don't know the reason for this), then it will crack very easily even when bending it with your hands, and no amount of annealing will make it stop. If you get one like this, and it cracks pretty easily upon even minor bending, just throw it away and start over. No sense in putting any more work into it.

 

[dlemaster]

Chris is right, good "brass" guards can be bent by hand. If it breaks it probably had a casting flaw that would have made it useless anyway.
I don't recall ever have cast a guard or purchased a guard that didn't require some bending to fit the stock shape I was using.

Regards, Dave