Repairing a Garand Trigger Guard for Stock Fit

The trigger guard pins on an M1 Garand need to be “round” for proper stock fit, much like the late production SA stamped trigger guard that came with my Winchester rack grade.

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However, this part was designed to be softer than the receiver legs for good reason so often the pegs become flat on one side which can cause the trigger assembly to fall out of the stock.

This picture of some old manual seems to be floating around the Internet indicating that worn out pegs can be peened to improve lock up.

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A friend of mine gratuitously sent me a proper WRA milled trigger guard. Here is the “before” picture.

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As you can see it’s not that bad but I can’t stop myself from fiddling with it.

You will need a 1/2″ piece of wood to support the ears, American made ball peen hammer, and a shim.

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I used my big vice and supported a 1/2″ piece of plywood with some scrap wood so I didn’t hammer the wood out of the vice.

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There isn’t much to it after that. I carefully whacked ball peen hammer in the middle of the peg until the peg seemed a bit “rounder” You may consider using a wooded or rubber mallet and tapping the ball peen hammer.

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This seems to really just roll the edge back down and doesn’t reshape the entire pin however it should help with fit.