PDA

View Full Version : Broken Trigger Guard Tab


Quiet-Matt
07-05-10, 13:07
Well, an old college buddy of mine brought me a lower receiver with a broken trigger guard tab that he traded for and asked if I could fix it well enought to make it a truck gun.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_5kA3JwNkBxc/TDITnI9JF0I/AAAAAAAAGHM/rZMrbIMz680/s720/mms_picture.jpg

He didnt want to put any more money into it by buying a MIAD grip with the integrated trigger guard.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_5kA3JwNkBxc/TC6dNUEQVBI/AAAAAAAAGGI/TwVfSvqZ53o/s720/mms_picture.jpg

We decided to go the JB Weld route instead. De-greased the pieces, mixed the JB Weld, let it set up for 20 minutes, applied it to the piece and let it cure.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_5kA3JwNkBxc/TDITyOmR07I/AAAAAAAAGHU/G0TOa4Hw6Bs/s720/mms_picture.jpg

The next afternoon I filed the JB Weld down and re finished the area of the break.

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_5kA3JwNkBxc/TDIT8n0Y0UI/AAAAAAAAGHc/mt9tyo1Vmv4/s720/mms_picture.jpg

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_5kA3JwNkBxc/TDIUJxdjbpI/AAAAAAAAGHk/EoPrjpJKfUU/s720/mms_picture.jpg

Random picture....

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_5kA3JwNkBxc/S7egAKsrJAI/AAAAAAAAF0U/WQQ5vBPKW4Y/s800/Christmas%20265.jpg

-Matt
Quib
07-05-10, 13:15
Good job blending in the repair!

How well do you think the repair will hold?
Quiet-Matt
07-05-10, 14:26
I've heard some good tails of the JB holding up, we'll see. I formed a taper style roll pin so that it is tight in the trigger guard and in the good tab. The repaired tab is essentially a hanger now, hopefully that will help since no pressure is put on it now or while inserting the pin.
Peanut
07-05-10, 15:22
Very nice work Matt
kmrtnsn
07-05-10, 16:21
If it breaks off again the SE-1 pistol grip with integrated trigger guard made by Stark completely encloses those tabs.
The Great Santini
07-05-10, 16:45
A+ for effort. That area is not under a ton of stress so it should hold. Worse comes to worse find some one who is REALLY good at welding Aluminium , but then you will have to refinish.

The Great Santini
m4fun
07-05-10, 17:01
Matt - awesome fix. I too would enclose the tab with an aftermarket trigger that doesn not depend on and encloses tabs as I would have no faith once the aluminum is has broken, although I too have heard good stories about JBweld.
opmike
07-05-10, 17:10
I, too, am interested in how the JB Weld will hold up over time. Being the lazy person that I am, I probably would have just tossed a Stark grip on there.

Nice job regardless. I hope it works out for you.
Boss Hogg
07-05-10, 17:22
Thank goodness for Stark grips. ;)

What brand of lower was that?
DesertDawg
07-05-10, 17:33
Looks good..
LEOCRRNZ
07-05-10, 17:39
great job you can barely tell
KingsideRook
07-05-10, 17:40
That's a pretty subtle repair - good job, I'd be a lot happier with that for a plinker, than with a missing tab.
skipper49
07-05-10, 17:56
That was an excellent repair. In my "other" life long ago as a dealership mechanic, I saw and participated in some really remarkable repairs using J-B Weld. The stuff is amazing, as long as you prep the repair site properly. The only thing I might have done differently on yours is to drill one or two TINY holes in both pieces to give Mr. JB a little more to hold on to.
At any rate, good job!
Skip
arizonaranchman
07-05-10, 18:03
Wow looks great, impressive job of prepping it after. Let's see how it holds up. Advise us again sometime on how it fares in the long term.
Quib
07-05-10, 18:27
That was an excellent repair. In my "other" life long ago as a dealership mechanic, I saw and participated in some really remarkable repairs using J-B Weld. The stuff is amazing, as long as you prep the repair site properly. The only thing I might have done differently on yours is to drill one or two TINY holes in both pieces to give Mr. JB a little more to hold on to.
At any rate, good job!
Skip

I see some pretty incredible adhesives in the aviation industry. Especially with the trend over the last decade or so with aircraft manufacturing leaning more and more towards composites structures.

Below is a cheap aftermarket gas block mounted FSB that I cut down to rail height. At the bond joint I used a similar technique to what you mentioned above with drilling holes. For added bond surface area I dimpled both mating surfaces in preparation for the JB Weld.

This was my first and to date, only experience with JB Weld. For a metal to metal adhesive, it seems to do a good job. I guess only time will tell though…..


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4121/4765981400_95e90a5e1b_b.jpg
Quiet-Matt
07-05-10, 20:48
What brand of lower was that?

That was one of the very first lowers that Del-Ton put out. My friend got it on trade and the fella he got it from apparently tried putting it together with two rocks and a putty knife. If the JB doesn't hold up I'll just file the break down, and throw a MIAD or Stark grip on there for him. He's not concerned with the looks as long as it goes bang when it's supposed to. I was going to take it to a friend here in town that does some of the best tig welding that I've seen. I use him to do other repairs for me and other things like perm flash hiders. The problem is that welding 7075 T6 aluminum is un-reliable. My friend and his multi-thousand dollar welder could no doubt make a flawless weld and re-attach the tab, but the resulting weld might not even be as strong as the JB. So, we chose the cheaper route. JB Weld = free;)
kmrtnsn
07-05-10, 22:44
Please report back how this held up if you can. I am sure that this is probably a more common breakage than I thought, especially with all of the trigger guard changes that people are doing now.
Bubba FAL
07-07-10, 11:15
Nice job on the repair.

I've seen JB weld do amazing things on dirt bike parts, even when prep was less than optimal. Had a glob of it plugging a hole in the clutch cover on my 250 for years, never leaked or fell out. I think it'll hold...
eternal24k
07-07-10, 11:27
looks good, i wouldnt put a standard roll-pin guard in there and expect it to hold, I think i would have either done that for cosmetics or just smoothed the break with JB and still used an integral trigger guard MIAD.

great job though
Pumpkinheaver
07-07-10, 18:36
Nice work, looked good when you were done.
Quiet-Matt
08-04-10, 20:07
Please report back how this held up if you can. I am sure that this is probably a more common breakage than I thought, especially with all of the trigger guard changes that people are doing now.

The repair is still holding strong. The guy who owns it keeps it in his trunk and hits the range about three times a week at lunch. I told him not to baby it and it still looks like the day he picked it up from me. So far so good.
kmrtnsn
08-04-10, 20:37
Thanks Matt!