Soft Brass hardware

[rennikselum]

I'm using some of Reeves Goehring brass, great stuff, very soft. I was drilling the lugs through the stock with a "death grip" on the brass and bent it. pulled it off straightened things back and finished pinning it. There is still some springiness to the guard.

Does anybody treat the brass to stiffen it once its fitted to the gun?

Forming other brass parts I understand that brass stiffens as you bend/work it and it needs annealed as you are forming. Unsure how and if hardening is a practice some use for softer trigger guards.

Thanks,
Jeff

[jerrywh]

 There is a process for hardening brass but the difference is not much and most cannot tell the difference.
 Brass can be hardened somewhat by heating it to about 500° F and holding that temp for several hours.
I have tried it and found that the difference is not worth the process. Other than that it cannot be hardened without deforming it. It will get harder in about 100 years because brass age hardens.

[JCKelly]

I would just live with it being soft.

There are a number of ways to ruin a soft cast brass guard