Question

I fix quite a few old guns. Stretching metal to make worn part work again is almost a routine. The normal method is to peen it with hammer. The tap-tap-tap can go on for quite a while before enough stretching is effected. I actually broke a part or two because of insufficient support. I was aware of the need for solid support. But things just shifted when the tap-tap-tap went on for too long.

I found another method. Instead of peening with hammer, I use beefy bench vises to squeeze. It is fast and well controlled. I even heat up the part when necessary. It works much better than peening. Just want to share that with folks. -TL