Originally Posted by
Vincent
I believe the Mk2 barrel bushings were originally brazed in and the rivets just peened as Flying said. Peter would know for sure.
Look in Peter’s Sten book. IIRC, he describes the repair for loose barrel bushings. That’s the only welding of the original bushing I can think of.
I cut a scrap section of receiver away from a Mk2 bushing a while back and one of the rivets just fell out.
These days the bushings are plug welded in. The closed-bolt semi-auto builds put a lot more stress on bushing than the original FA system. The semi-auto return spring is stronger and the bolt is slammed closed with every shot fired. There’s no API and you hear the ring sound of metal hitting metal as the bolt closes after every shot.