Need some help with an S'G' front band

[USGI]

The hole was tight, so I installed the spindle without pushing it all the way down.

I had only messed with a couple of these until recently. In the past, I pretty much pushed them all the way in. I noticed that the Kuhnhausen book says to go until flush with the contour of the stock or slightly farther, so on this last one I didn't go all the way in with it. On that spring that was the wrong angle - you can bend those if you are careful, and make them usable. I'm attaching a picture to show how far off the angle was on my "new" one when I got it several months ago. Actually, the springs in this picture are the exact same ones that are compared in the pictures shown on page 1 of this thread. - Bob

Attachment 29328

[Harlan (Deceased)]

Just don't try to bend them too much Bob -
(Ask me how I know)

[firstflabn]

It's not a chicken wing, Harlan (no meat anyway).

[USGI]

Yep, "just a little bit more ought to do it!" You've got my permission to trash that one. - Bob

[JimF4M1s (Deceased)]

You are supposed to support both sides of the bend. Looks like that one was held by one end and bent, snapping at the weak point. I've done that before I learned. Good thing it is a cheap part.

[INLAND44]

It's still not right - the band ought to be back to the shoulder at the same time the head of the spring snaps into the latch hole.

[firstflabn]

It's still not right - the band ought to be back to the shoulder at the same time the head of the spring snaps into the latch hole.

That's assuming all parts are in spec. They aren't or there would have been no problem to discuss. You're stating the obvious. Ordnance would have discarded the stock and the band spring and perhaps the handguard. We don't have that luxury.

[INLAND44]

What's obvious to me is that practically any front end can be re-fitted to tighten it up and allow the carbine to be fired. The main things that can be changed are the band retaining spring and it's mounting hole in the stock. If its wallowed out it can be shimmed back, or completly drilled out, a dowel glued in and re-drilled for the spring. You can find a new retaining spring that hasn't been bent or altered and that will help some, but by whatever means the band must be held to the shoulder in the stock so the hand guard retaining lip has a chance to actually retain the hand guard when firing. The hand guard also has to be matched to the stock and in good condition, so the band lip covers the front tenon. The latch hole in the band may be worn which would necessitate a band replacement. Technically, even this could be fixed but would require refinishing. A worn tenon of the hand guard can be built up and reshaped. Yes, the stock would have been discarded in 1949, but today we would fix it.

[firstflabn]

For the designers close contact between the back edge of the band and the stepdown was not absolutely necessary. Why? At the risk of again stating the obvious - it would have been on the drawings and in TM9-1276. Funny, I can't seem to find it in the TM. Actually the TM's concern seems to be the opposite, and it devotes quite a bit of space to curing the problem when the band cutout can't reach the catch. A slight bit of space from the band not being in close contact would be taken up by tightening the band screw. A complimentary element to allow fabrication tolerances to be a bit wider in the interest of productivity (and interchangeability).

This particular stock may be a bit of an anomaly. I doubt if they built a complex jig to hold the stock in position for drilling the hole; maybe used a stop on the table. They knew they had to use a lot of unskilled labor and this would have been a good job for a newbie. A minor distraction or a sneeze could have allowed the stock nose to tilt up just short of the stop, resulting in a hole drilled a hundredth or two too far forward.

I will now be on the lookout for other stocks pegged as you describe (to allow redrilling of a mislocated hole) - and then we can wonder if it was done in arsenal, field, or garage.

[USGI]

I've considered using a dowel on mine. I've decided to leave it as is, because it did work OK after only tightening the band. My main concern about using a dowel would be in hiding the repair. In my case, I think the best way would be to use a dowel very close in diameter to the size of the band spring slot. I would make a stop and drill from the right side, stopping short of coming out at the left. I'd glue in the dowel and mark the location on the right side, maybe drilling in for a short distance. Then I would try finishing by drilling from the left and hoping that the holes coincide. It would be pretty easy to stain the right end of the dowel and get a good match to hide the repair. Remember this stock is a post war SA replacement, and they may not have had the quality control standards of the WWII makers. - Bob