For a Loose Fitting Wedge Key

Remove the Barrel, turn it upside Down and Place on a Solid Surface (Clamped Just Snug in a Well Padded Vise Works Great) Take a piece of Round Stock Steel about 3/8” Diameter, Place it in the Center of the Wedge Lug, Give the Round Steel Bar a Light Smack with a Hammer, Test fit, Repeat as necessary

Like this

I have never seen a Lug Crack? Not to say it can’t happen, Just that i have never seen it happen? I have done a TON of these Things, Sidelocks are my Preferred Rifles. The Hawken’s and Renegades have Soft Metal Lugs that Sit in a Dovetail like a Front Sight, They bend really easy. Following the procedure above, it takes very light Taps to Get the Desired Bend in the Lug. My Lyman Great Plains Hunter Rifle was Very similar to my TC’s (The Method i show in my Post Above comes From Lyman, it is in their Manual for their Great Plains Rifle)
The Wedge Lugs on my Green Mountain Barrels are MUCH HARDER, it takes noticeably more Force to get a slight Bend in them

As i said in my 1st post, Go easy on it, and Check Fit often, It’s an EASY Task

I have bent wedge keys, Folded a Cleaning Patch and Layed it in the Barrel Channel to Create “Lift”, Built up in the Stock Channels With Tape, RVT Cement, Etc., Again to Create “Lift” They all Worked, and Got me by. But they were nothing more than a Bandaid on the Problem. The Correct way to ACTUALLY Fix the Problem is how i Showed in my 1st post, Post #4

Of the “Bandaid” Fixes I Mention above, My Favorite, and Simplest to do is the Folded Cleaning Patch, Place it just Forward of the Wedge Lug, Try Different thicknesses til the Wedge Key Tightens up.

Some of the Things I’ve Done



This was a Different issue, I did this to tighten up a tiny bit of Play Back at the Hooked Breech, This is my Rice Barrel in a TC Hawken Stock.