I have a dumb question! Where can I get machined pins for my old S&W revolvers? Or how do I make them. I was lucky enough a few months ago to find barrel pins at a gun show in AL. However, the pins in a triple lock, the ones in the locking bolt in the shroud, are not the same. Right now I have cut pins that do not look very good. How do you dress the ends of the pins. What do you guys do? and how do you do it.

When I need a steel pin, I usually find an old drill bit of the same thickness. I than cut it to size, then use a dremel tool to polish the edges. Than I blue it.

If you need an ocassional pin, apollo99's suggestion of using a Drill Bit is a good one. If you need multiple pins, get a supply of Drill Rod (essentially what they make drills from) from McMaster-Carr or MSC and you won't need to raid your drill bit sets.

I use a bench grinder to rough dress the ends and then finish them with a finer wheel on a Dremel. After they are fine enough not to show tool marks, I'll then buff them on a buffing wheel or again with the Dremel and a felt wheel with Flitz on it. If it needs to be blued, clean thoroughly with Alcohol and heat up before applying Bluing. Repeat a few times, wash with water and oil right away.

To dress the ends, I use a ScotchBrite wheel on a grinder. With the pin spinning in the chuck of a cordless drill, I make the end slightly rounded and polished in a few seconds.

Toolguy has the answer. To get a nice even, concentric domed end, you must spin the pin; both for shaping and polishing.

And to get the exact diameter to fit the hole, spin and sand the length of the pin you need before cutting it to length.

__________________
Jim
S&WCA #819