Filling a hole.

[M1C]

Hello.
I've just joined here and want to ask a question about correcting a modification to a trigger housing. This is off my M1 Carbine and the drilled hole renders the housing unusable as a correct part for my rifle. This is a common mod done by armorers in the day to knock a stuck spring out the other side. A replacement housing in unmodded condition is hard to find, so I want to repair this one. The other housing pic shows one that has not been modified as an example.

What is a good permanent repair for this? The housing can't be reparked afterwards because that just makes it unusable in finish for the rifle like the hole does. It'll have to be painted or something similar to help blend it back to resemble the finish. Any advice?

TIA, Doug

 

[mnrivrat]

I have to ask this - what part of that hole makes the part unusable ?

How about tapping the hole and installing a threaded plug ?

 

[Jim K]

Carbine trigger housings show up at about every gun show and are one of the more common parts. Like mnrivrat, I don't really see a problem worth spending a lot of time or money on.

Drilling and tapping the hole is one idea, another is just to taper the end of a nail, drive it in and then cut it off, polish down and touch up with cold blue. Or a dab of JB Weld would be easier and should look close to the original finish.

Jim

 

[M1C]

Thanks, all. The answer to the first question is people like me look at that side of the rifle and say, "That hole's not supposed to be there."
It's a wart. So it's purely aesthetic and purist, not functionality. Removing the hole would be a restoration to original config, but it has to be hidden when done. As it is, you stick that housing on something you want to get rid of and replace it with correct. I have two of these I'd like to restore for my rifles. I like saving junk.

I thought of JB weld with a little shading mixed in, but wasn't sure it would keep. This housing has a marking that's correct for my rifle so it has to be the same maker if it's correct. Hard to find, and this is the only thing detracting from the aesthetics.

 

[M1C]

At our shows we're not as fortunate to find Carbine parts. You can find complete rifles, magazines and an occasional stock, but no parts other than some reproduction oilers and slings. I especially like the .30 carbine and would buy plenty of parts if available. If anyone is selling parts or rifles I'm interested.

 

[rcmodel]

Jim K has the best solution I think.

A tapered nail, or other tapered soft steel rod driven into the hole, dressed flush, and retouched or Dura-Coat matched as close as possible will be less noticeable then a tapped screw hole, or JB Weld.

Screws filed flush always have a splinter of thread sticking up, or broke off.
JB Weld, is ahhh? -- JB Weld.

But regardless, the Army repair facility didn't use tapered nails, JB Weld, or Dura-Coat.

Was it me, I'd rather see it left original then jury rig repaired with something the military would never have done, or even heard of back then.

A hole left open to drain or breath is less likely to rust in combat then one plugged with a friction fit steel plug.

PS: See the following post by MountainBear.
Thats what I should have said too, but didn't find the right words.

rc

 

[MountainBear]

I suppose I would argue that since an armorer put the hole there for a legitimate purpose (i.e. knocking out a stuck spring), that it's more collectable in its original condition, with the hole, than it would be if you tried to jury rig a fix.

If you just want a wart gone, then have the hole properly welded up and the part reparkerized. Otherwise find a new part on gunbroker or leave it as is.

I mean no offense by any of my comments. Good luck with your project.

 

[Jim K]

No guarantees but try www.gunpartscorp.com (Numrich), Sarco, and www.billricca.com for trigger housings. Specify the maker(s) you want. But note that in WWII the Army had carbine parts shipped where they were needed, so a given carbine maker may have used parts from other maker(s) or subcontractors who made only parts. If you have War Baby with its parts lists you know what I mean.

Or call it an oil hole.

Jim

 

[rcmodel]

Trying to match all the parts in a military service weapon is kinda strange to me anyway.
Especially an M1 Carbine which was built using various manufacturers parts in many cases anyway.

Folks who weren't around in the Army when the M1's were still in service probably never saw 50 or 100 weapons broken down and thrown in a supply depot solvent tank.
I have.

If all the right parts ever got put back on all the right weapons, it would be a major miracle.

IMO: An all matching, perfect M-1 carbine either was stolen in WWII, or got pieced together again by a misguided collector in the 21st. century.

Even then, unless the right M1 Carbine manufacture built it, it wouldn't have been all matching when it came off the assembly line in WWII anyway.

rc

 

[M1C]

I guess it makes sense to keep looking for one that's not modded or not worry about it. There's more important things.

Most Carbines came with coded parts for the maker when new. All had some contracted out parts on them, but still had coded parts. Most all went through a rebuild and storage at some point. There is a percentage that did not or didn't have much done to them. Some never left the country and were never needing to be rebuilt and already had upgraded features. Many were sold off legally thru DCM/CMP. There were also those that were imported back in that were not always arsenal rebuilds. The imported versions that were being brought back from foreign countries by Intrac, Blue Sky, CAI, Sherwood, etc. weren't always rebuilt and some had etchings on several parts from the foreign nation. And yes a lot were stolen from the government too.
I know some people bought a DCM rifle and it had mostly all original coded parts on it but might have no rebuild other than a stamp on the stock indicating it went through the program. Some of those stocks surely got changed out later with unstamped stocks and presented as not rebuilt originals and would have all original type parts.

 

[rcmodel]

All I was trying to say is, in 1964, I was a Private E-nothing in the U.S. Army.
And I spent days on end, elbows deep in cleaning solvent tanks without rubber gloves, cleaning turned in small arms and getting them ready to re-issue to somebody else again.

Nobody gave a rats hind end if all the right parts went back in all the right weapons, as long as they passed simple safety function checks when we got done putting them together.

The only thing we couldn't take apart and put back in something else was the barrel screwed into the serial numbered receiver.

And it's a wonder somebody didn't figure out a way to do that too!

These were not arsenal re-builds.
We were just a bunch of PFC's assigned to weapons cleaning duty at brigade supply.

rc

 

[M1C]

Yes sir, I got that. With 6 million or so of them produced they were all mixed up in no time. I was just addressing the ones that didn't get much part swapping and how it could've happened.
I've heard guys talk about the Carbine they were issued back in the day but couldn't remember which maker it was. Now people want to find an example of every maker to complete their collection.