Barrel Retining Pins

[frogwalking]

I guess the heading should have been barrel pin retaining holes.  I have had an issue of he pins breaking out a small divot of wood as they are removed.   This is usually an issue during construction.  I am sure there is a trick to preventing this.  Please tell me what the trick is, and in  gratitude, I may use pins instead of wedges on my new Tennessee rifle.

[flehto]

I use 1/16 dia music wire for all the pins because not only is the dia uniform but the mat'l is semi -hard and very stiff.  A 1/16 dia drill is used for the hole and the "fit" isn't all that tight. ...can easily be removed , nearly w/ the fingers. Also both ends have a chamfer to eliminate "popping" the wood when inserteing or removing.

After applying finish. a 1/16 drill held in a hand vise resizes the holes. .....Fred

[Acer Saccharum]

Round the ends of the pins, and they won't catch on the stock as they are driven out.

If the pins are short, the holes can shrink shut a little, chipping wood as they come out. So make your pins flush with the surface, and round the ends. You can also bellmouth the holes slightly with a tapered punch, so nothing catches as you drive the pins out.

[David Rase]

Place your cut off pins in your electric hand drill and round the ends off with a file as tom suggests.  I have had no break out problems using this method.  I like the idea of using a tapered punch to "slightly" bellmouth the hole.
David

[Dennis Glazener]

I do my pins as Tom suggests and another thing you might consider is making the pins a little shorter than the wood then rub beeswax into the hole. Hides those shinny pins and helps keep moisture out.
Dennis

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

My approach is similar, but I don't round them off totally.  I simply grind a chamfer on the ends of the pins so that they'll find the hole without chipping oout, but leave a flat spot on the end of the pins.  I remove the pins frequently, as I remove the barrel for cleaning, so I need something that the pin punch is not going to slip off.  On pins that have an escutcheon, I drill a tiny divot into the end of the pin so a pointed vent pick can be used to push out the pin.  I make them short of the surface, and rub the holes over with bees wax.

[mountainman70]

For building chores,I like the long pins bent at 90 degrees so they can be easily pulled out,seed this little trick on one of Acers build pics.made a couple sets for myself.I do the final pins like most here,or some variation.Dave

[gwill]

I've had good luck filing a chamfer on the ends as has been stated by several others.  I also rub a little wax on the pins before putting them in each time and it seems to help installation and removal much like waxing a wood screw does.

[ken]

I always leave the pins long during the build and camfer the ends . Use to make them too tight and fond that not a good thing. They always tighten up with finishing ken

[frogwalking]

 Thanks for the  advise.  I appreciate it.