Watching a guy at the Cody museum fix a 1903 Springfield with a piece of brass shim stock changed my whole approach

I mean, I always thought you needed a perfect, new part for every repair, but this old-timer just cut a tiny strip from a spent .45 casing to fix a worn extractor. It held zero and cycled fine. Anyone else ever use something totally weird as a field fix that actually worked?

3 comments

3 Comments

sarah_hart1mo ago

Ever think about how many of these old-school fixes are basically just controlled friction? That brass shim acts like a perfect wear surface because it's softer than the steel, so it gives a little instead of galling. I used a strip from a soda can once to take up slack on a loose scope ring. It's not pretty, but it held for years.

andreww301mo ago

Is it really that big of a deal though?

kai6029d ago

Perfect wear surface" is a stretch. That soda can shim works until it doesn't, and then you get corrosion or it shifts. For a cheap plinker, fine. But on anything you rely on, that's a gamble. Proper shims are a couple bucks and made for the job.