Quote Originally Posted by king0581 View Post
Thanks for the reply. I used a file on the old one and it cut into it. So was thinking of using a 4140 steel. Was the original suppose to be hardened?

I don't know what the pins are made of, but as you noted, they're not "hard". As far as making them I use drill rod.

I also recommend using snap caps dry firing. Without them the protrusion nut slams into the bolt head shaft and puts all that shock on the retaining pin. If that's the reason some break or not I can't say, but why risk the chance. They are easily made by gluing a pencil eraser in the primer pocket of a case or filling it with RTV.

What's the old saying, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"? It takes me 20-30 minutes to make and install a pin, five minutes to make a snap cap!

Bill