Renegade Roper Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 I noticed one of my skb's has the lever bent & the other doesn't. Having smaller hands/thumbs the bent one is easier to operate for me. I read the previous thread on this & know you cant bend it more than 1/2" from center. So now the question is how exactly do you bend it w/o breaking something? Anvil Al had posted that he just used a pair of visegrips. Are the internals strong enough & the lever metal soft enough that you can just use one visegrip on the tip & bend the lever or do you use another pair higher up on the lever too so that you can put force against that as you bend rather than the internals? I dont want to break anything? Thx Roper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace_of_Hearts Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 You remove it from the gun BEFORE you try and bend it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I. M. Crossdraw, SASS# 8321 Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 You remove it from the gun BEFORE you try and bend it. Then place in a padded vise, heat the area where the bend is going to happen and with a padded vise grip bend it. Go very easy. Once you have achieved the correct alteration, reheat againt and then quench in oil. This is a risky way, but its doable. .Yes you do have to support the neck of the lever before bending. Do this at your own risk or If you know someone who has done it this way, asked if they can do it for you. OR another option is to cut and weld in an angle. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackey Cole Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Remove from gun. Heat it up to allow it to bend instead of break quince the part reheat treat it the reinstall refinishing if needed. If your not able to that then send to a smith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirt Merchant # 61422 Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 I noticed one of my skb's has the lever bent & the other doesn't. Having smaller hands/thumbs the bent one is easier to operate for me. I read the previous thread on this & know you cant bend it more than 1/2" from center. So now the question is how exactly do you bend it w/o breaking something? Anvil Al had posted that he just used a pair of visegrips. Are the internals strong enough & the lever metal soft enough that you can just use one visegrip on the tip & bend the lever or do you use another pair higher up on the lever too so that you can put force against that as you bend rather than the internals? I dont want to break anything? Thx Roper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirt Merchant # 61422 Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Have you considered using your loading hand to flip the lever as you bring it back from the forend? Thumb if right handed, fingers if left handed. Could save a broken lever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noz Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 I saw a shotgun with a bent lever and thought it was a good idea. I went home picked up my shotgun, Baikal, grabbed a pair of large channel lock pliers and bent the lever. Works good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anvil Al #59168 Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 I noticed one of my skb's has the lever bent & the other doesn't. Having smaller hands/thumbs the bent one is easier to operate for me. I read the previous thread on this & know you cant bend it more than 1/2" from center. So now the question is how exactly do you bend it w/o breaking something? Anvil Al had posted that he just used a pair of visegrips. Are the internals strong enough & the lever metal soft enough that you can just use one visegrip on the tip & bend the lever or do you use another pair higher up on the lever too so that you can put force against that as you bend rather than the internals? I dont want to break anything? Thx Roper That was on a Baikal, Which is not anywhere close to as thick as the one on my SKB. Have not tried it on the SKB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Brules Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 There is some understanding, knowledge and expertise required to properly heat a steel part, bend it to another profile, then reheat the part to the proper temperature and quench it, to maintain the steel's proper integrity; its toughness, strength and flexibility. It's easy to do it wrong and turn it brittle, so that it snap-breaks off quickly during use. That, plus now you've destroyed the finish on the metal. Reading up on doing this kind of work before you jump into it is the best approach, unless you are sure that a "gunsmith" you turn it over to understands what you want done and has experience making parts and heat-tempering them. You sure don't want to be paying someone to practice and gain experience on your shotgun. There's enough of that going on that you should be wary of it. You might wish also to line up a source for a replacement part before working on the lever. This isn't rocket science, but you should understand what's involved. As you suggest, hooking onto the thing with vise grips might work and it might also prove disasterous, especially if you apply that leverage with the lever installed on the shotgun. Edit..... You know, there pretty much has to be one or more informative YouTube videos regarding this type of small heat treat job. Also, the Brownells catalog might have an article explaining and guiding the process. And, a Google query will likely turn up a how-to article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc McCoy, SASS #8381 Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 Howdy Roper, Generally speaking for this kind of do-it-yourself gunsmithing I like to get a replacement part and do the modification on that. If it works, great, if not you still have the original. And I like to have original parts to put back on if I ever want to sell the gun outside the CAS world. But in this case it's an $80-100 part. That's less enticing to just buy a spare, and also would make me a lot more cautious about how radically I'd go about altering my original using unfamiliar methods. Sounds like a fun winter project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Muerto Negro Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 http://www.shotgunboogie.de/parts/parts.htm Not for the SKB, but you never know he may have one in the works for an SKB. Someone with alot more knowledge then me might be able to say how hard/easy it is to mod this to fit. Scroll down the page. EMM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyatt Hurts SASS#72737 Posted October 25, 2015 Share Posted October 25, 2015 I noticed one of my skb's has the lever bent & the other doesn't. Having smaller hands/thumbs the bent one is easier to operate for me. I read the previous thread on this & know you cant bend it more than 1/2" from center. So now the question is how exactly do you bend it w/o breaking something? Anvil Al had posted that he just used a pair of visegrips. Are the internals strong enough & the lever metal soft enough that you can just use one visegrip on the tip & bend the lever or do you use another pair higher up on the lever too so that you can put force against that as you bend rather than the internals? I dont want to break anything? Thx Roper Hi Roper, I have one SKB with the bend and another that is straight. Do you find a big difference in how you shoot them? I also have a smaller hand and am curious what you find as pros and cons of each. Wyatt Hurts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renegade Roper Posted October 25, 2015 Author Share Posted October 25, 2015 Wyatt I like the bent one. I found I was going over top of the unbent one, ie missing the lever, (which is on my main match skb) after shooting the bent one for awhile when my main match one was being repaired for cracks. Probably because I was contacting the bent one sooner and was either lifting my thumb or more distance & momentum was causing me to go over top of the unbent one. I also noticed I tend to rotate the gun to the side more w/the unbent lever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyatt Hurts SASS#72737 Posted October 25, 2015 Share Posted October 25, 2015 Interesting Roper. Now I am not near as fast as you are with the SKB and I just switched to it from a 97 during this season. So far I think I like the straight lever but I have not used both of them enough to tell if one is faster and/or more consistent. Also I shoot my long guns left handed and the bent lever is bent to the left. Is yours bent to the right or to the left? Wyatt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renegade Roper Posted October 26, 2015 Author Share Posted October 26, 2015 Mine is bent to the left. If you are a lefty that may make a difference. Previous thread on this mentioned something about left handed shooters or I saw it somewhere. Will try to find it for you. Roper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deuce Stevens SASS#55996 Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 This is actually a mod that I think a shooter would be better off improving technique. Sometimes you can't buy it. I'm sure many will disagree but there is very little in this game that can't be overcome by sound technique and practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyatt Hurts SASS#72737 Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 This is actually a mod that I think a shooter would be better off improving technique. Sometimes you can't buy it. I'm sure many will disagree but there is very little in this game that can't be overcome by sound technique and practice. My winter plan is to practice thanks to your videos. I cannot tell you how much they help. If you get really bored or want a new challenge, love to see one where you load the double as a left handed shooter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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