Good eye Steve...

Bill...the idea is to protect the thin areas of the inletting around the trigger guard during the bending procedure....truth is one never knows what to expect when working with 100 year old wood, so you learn to take precautions.
The bend takes place mostly trough the grip area, the trigger guard is there only for the above reason, I don't want it to resist the bend... and because these are case hardened and very tough they don't give, so I left if unscrewed to allow it to move freely.
If after the procedure it no longer conforms to the original inletting, it needs to be refitted.
If you think fitting metal to wood is tricky...try modifying metal to fit existing inletting.

All best

CJ

The taste of poor quality lingers long after the cheap price is forgotten.........