doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DIY Gunsmithing @ doublegunshop.com Hinge pin removal

Is there a rule of thumb that hinge pins were pressed in from one side or the other ..... or, how can you tell if you have a pin that is perfectly the same diameter on each end, or one that must be removed from a particular side?

Thanks, SRH

Have learned some things about the procedure already. Some pins have a step, meaning one end will be larger in diameter than the other, requiring that the pin be driven out by the small end, with the large end exiting first. Jack Rowe said that it is usually driven out "from right to left", meaning the pin will exit the left side of the receiver. I guess that is the "rule of thumb".

Of course, in the case of a threaded pin no drifting is to be done.

SRH

Stan,
The "rule of thumb" I learned for German guns is they go in from right to left, so would come out from left to right. This is backward from the one, you cited. I suppose it wouldn't hurt anything to check if one end is smaller than the other( or if there is a set screw).
Mike

I learned that everything on a gun goes in right to left and out the reverse. I'm careful to put everything this way, including sear axles and hammer axles.

Maybe German guns are the exception to the "rule".

I always did it that way too, Hammergun, but that was mostly with really old original muzzleloaders and such.

Thanks for the replies.

SRH

I guess if your intent is to remove the old hinge pin and replace it with a new one it does not matter much if you batter the end of the pin a bit, in order to get it moving. In that regard, if you cannot determine which way it needs to go just try one way. If no luck, try the reverse. It will be one or the other.

SRH

Stan,
It has always been my understanding of 'in from right to left'.
So I would always try to push out from the left side.

The more I learn of this the less I understand. Jack Rowe says one way, you say another ..... I dunno. Maybe there is no standard.

SRH

Jack was good , but he wasn't always right , says another Brummy apprentice.

Loose joint pins in my experience on British gun have almost always had the pin entered from the left hand side ,be it knock in or screw . If you look at the cover plates/caps on the action sides you will see that the left is usually bigger than the right . A knock in pin is mainly parallel but with a slight taper on the leading edge.
With British guns you can never take anything as a hard and fast rule as different makes made their own variations and mistakes did occur that were "corrected" so again a variation from the norm

Replacing the pin seems like overkill in a home gunsmithing atmosphere when the loop can be built up and recut.

eightbore,
It may actually be easier to replace the hinge pin( would still need refitting though).
Mike

Stan, apologies , and to the late Jack Rowe.
I misread your post and was thinking of pins in general (firing pin retention etc.
Just been doing an olde Birmingham gun and the pin is double diameters and going in from the left side .