Hi all,

I'll be staking a plunger tube into a new 1911 frame (Foster/Caspian) and wondering what the simplest yet effective way to stake it would be. I probably won't do another so don't want to purchase anything but don't mind making it. Everything considered from finding a tiny ball bearing to squish with a C clamp to making a clamp and threading a small bolt with rounded end, heating and bending a punch so it looks like one of those gag arrows through the head, etc. I already have a pin to fit into the tube.

Anyway, figured someone here would know a good way to do this and I'm open to education!

Thanks,

Mark

I've a frame coming in from getting the front grip checkered and am in the same boat. I have heard that some companies only locktite the tube in place, which doesn't make me very warm and fuzzy! But then again, my gun was working fine and the old tube came off with little more than pulling it out with my fingers!

I'll probably end up looking at Brownells and making something.

Use one of these: Plunger Tube Staking Tool

quote:

Originally posted by Toomany Tools:
Use one of these: Plunger Tube Staking Tool

Argh! That one goes against my Scots heritage something fierce. If I had several to do I might consider something like that, but I could mess up 3 of the cheap plunger tubes that Brownells sells for the price of something I'll probably never use again.

What I think I'll do is shape a half sphere on the tang of an old round file, put a 90 degree bend in it and come up through the mag well with it then press it with either a small C clamp or a pair of vise grips.

quote:

Originally posted by Mark:

quote:

Originally posted by Toomany Tools:
Use one of these: Plunger Tube Staking Tool

Argh! That one goes against my Scots heritage something fierce. If I had several to do I might consider something like that, but I could mess up 3 of the cheap plunger tubes that Brownells sells for the price of something I'll probably never use again.

What I think I'll do is shape a half sphere on the tang of an old round file, put a 90 degree bend in it and come up through the mag well with it then press it with either a small C clamp or a pair of vise grips.

I found when doing gun work the proper tools save a whole lot of frustration.

Perhaps you should have ordered the Caspian frame with integral plunger tube. Maybe some gunsmith near you has one you could use for five minutes? When I stake them I put drills in each end of the tube to prevent collapsing it whilst staking it.

After looking at Brownells tools, I decided I couldn't build any of them for what they charge if I paid myself minimum wage.

Oh well, when I'm gone my wife can have a really neat auction!

I had mentioned about making a staking tool out of a round file, this morning I thought that it would be simpler to make one using a triangular file and bending the tang but that way it would lay flat and be easier to position for staking. So I went out to my shop and rummaged through the can I keep old files in and came up with a medical retractor, initially the tip was bent at a 45 degree angle so I just tapped it to approximately 90 degrees:




Originally the tip was square so I put a slight bevel in it:




Next I used a rubber band to hold it in the mag well:





Here it is with the plunger tube locktited and being crimped with a pair of small vise grips:


If I did it again I'd use needle nose vise grips to do the clamping, but this wasn't awkward enough to stop me and make e dig up a different pair.

Plunger tube is tight but everything is still all taped up until tomorrow.

Once I had everything together the actual staking process didn't take more than 5 minutes start to finish.

Sorry about the crappy pics!

I did something similar. I cut a slot in the vise grips the shape and depth of the tube. On the opposite jaw I drilled, tapped and screwed in a hardened pin with a cone shape.

What can I say, I had the time and was doing several of them.

Good Post! Sometimes, necessity is the mother of invention.