tripping lever - sten

[philb]

hi all

found this in some parts I just acquired. is the top one rare ?, as it looks milled to me.
bottom obviously stamped

thanks

Information

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[Vincent]

Yes, it looks milled. That’s an expensive way to make a tripping lever.

[browningautorifle]

Could it have just been machined to tolerance? Could it have been stamped from thicker stock and then surface ground to spec? Still, yes, expensive. Maybe it's early.

[Peter Laidler]

We can only see one side of one edge and those ribs aren't (?) milling machine marks in my opinion. There's only one part of that tripping lever that really need to be accurate, measured from the very loose fit and oversize (to allow for left/right articulation) axis pin hole. And I use the word 'accurate' as to indicate within +/- .030" or so. That's the sear tripping bent that you see just to the rear of the upturned part of the lever. That has got to be hardened of course. As has the actual tripping part contacted by the breech block. The top one looks like a more angled (or is it well worn.....?) later variant usually fitted to Mk5's in production.

Might it simply be that those totally irrelevant ribs are simply a visual reminder of the rolling process. The actual thickness of any tripping lever would be dictated by the width of the tripping lever slot in the change lever. I say that those ribs are just a feature of the strip rolling process. Then punched out as per usual, sear pawl bent ground and hardened.

Incidentally, if my memory serves me right - it's been a long time - this part is quite hard and tough throughout. You find this out when you try to bend it left or right a bit to get the A and/or R mode to operate correctly. Otherwise it's change the change lever

[Brit plumber]

Agree with Peter, the marks are from the rollers used to roll the bar stock into a thinner sheet. I have some somewhere.

[browningautorifle]

Makes more sense than machining even the prototype. I'd think the whole of it would have been made with files and such.

[Vincent]

We can only see one side of one edge and those ribs aren't (?) milling machine marks in my opinion.

I agree. They are not milling marks. It’s the crisp sharp edges that show it was milled. Stamped edges are not that clean. Also, those “ribs” are very fine and would have been crushed a bit if the part had been stamped.

[Flying10uk]

They are not milling marks but I wonder if they are shaping machine marks? You know the machine that goes backwards and forwards with a lathe type tool doing the cutting; the machine that most of us have seen but hardly anyone has actually used. (Including me.) The marks look too wide apart to be rolling marks, although difficult to tell from a picture. If we could see the edge philb we could tell you if the profile had been punched out.

[tankhunter]

I have made quite a 'Few' of these by hand would you believe? They are simplicity itself to cut out with a hacksaw, file to profile. heat harden & oil black finish! A LOT are missing from UK Deacts, & some owners wanted the levers for their Deact Stens. Not a difficult job at all!

I suppose I didn't need to harden them. But, when you are trained to do the job PROPERLY. I guess their is only one way to do it. Correctly!

[philb]

pic of other side