Tempest

[chrisjames132]

just got a new trigger guard for my tempest and am wondering how to take off the old one and what is the best tool for taking out the pins that hold it in. cheers all.

[Rob M]

You need a 'parallel punch', I can't remember offhand what size as I have got a set of all different sizes, it's just a handle with a very accurately made cylindrical bar of a particular size sticking out, you have to gently tap out the pins that hold the guard into the body of the pistol by placing the punch on one end and gently tapping with a small hammer to drive the pins out. Be careful though, you need to look carefully at the body of the pistol and decide which side they were tapped in from in the first place then tap them back out that way to avoid widening the holes, also, the trigger guard holds in a spring at the front of the guard, take the old guard off carefully and it should stay in place.

[DavidDG200]

I have not got my tempest in front of me so I am telling you this from memory. There are about 5 pins on a tempest you can knock out as part of the dismantling process. I think you only need to knock out two to change the trigger guard.

First decock the gun, then remove the grips by unscrewing them. Place the gun on a bench on a piece of soft cloth you dont want to scratch it whilst you are bashing it with a hammer.

You need a piece of stiff metal bar about 1mm diameter to knock the pins out. I used a drill bit, blunt end against the pin and hit the sharp end with a hammer. I think I use an imperial size from what I remember 1mm is just a little too big. The drill bit will almost certainly break, but that is no problem you now just have a shorter stiff metal bar to hit. Don't expect to ever use the drill bit again for drilling holes after you have abused it like this. I started with gentle taps but found I ended up using quite hard taps before the pins finally moved.

The pin nearest the front of the trigger guard is obviously one of the correct two to drive out. Towards the rear of the trigger guard there are at least three pins, one for trigger bearing one for sear bearing and one to retain trigger guard, there may be another but I cannot remember. When I last did this I was stripping everything down so I was not worried about identifying which pin did what, I just drove them all out. Assuming you can identify which pin to remove do so, but be very careful, the trigger guard is spring loaded! Hold the trigger guard and prevent it from coming off then remove it very slowly. The trigger guard is used to anchor the sear return spring it can fly out and across the room, it took me ages to find mine the first time I dismantled a tempest. When replacing the trigger guard make sure the groove on the trigger guard (you will only be able to see this when it is dismantled) is aligned with the spring in such away as to trap the "tail" of the sear return spring. This will almost certainly fall naturally in to place but if you find you cannot cock the gun after reassembly it is almost certainly beacause the sear return spring is out of place.

Total time for the job you have in question is about an hour. If I were you I might be tempted to strip the main spring and lube the piston. It's about another two hours work. There are a few more gotcha's such as firing a greasy mainspring across the room and on to what used to be a clean light coloured carpet (I have rearranged the furniture to cover the mark).

Dave

[Rob M]

The punch you need is a 3/32" or 2.4mm. 1mm will be too small and will go down the inside of the pins (they're actually tubes, not solid pins, called roll-pins).

[pennineway.fswo]

As Rob M says the pins used on the Tempest are roll pins

It is VERY important when removing roll pins that the implement used to drift them out is of the correct diameter (and as Rob says parallel).

If it is too small and tapered it will try to open out the roll pin which can then seize solid and break the cast alloy. I have seen several Hurricane and Tempest bodies rendered useless by some-one using a tapered punch particularly on the holes that are drilled for the trigger, sear and sear stop pin.

[chrisjames132]

Thanks guys for your advice, i got myself a parallel pin punch 3/32, fitted just right. Pins tapped out easier than i thought, now have a nice minty trigger guard.

[Brettl]

How can you tell which which side the pins were pushed in from? I am looking at mine and both sides look the same. What is the tell tale sign?

[pennineway.fswo]

i like a happy ending
Enjoy it
John

[DavidDG200]

How can you tell which which side the pins were pushed in from? I am looking at mine and both sides look the same. What is the tell tale sign?

Mine looked the same both sides too. Maybe some have an obvious difference if not I think I would just hit it from either side.

[Rob M]

On some it looks as though the edges of the hole have been peened over a little to grip the pins more securely. Perhaps it's only older ones that have been taken apart many times, and the holes have worn a little, that have this. Sometimes you can tell from small patches of wear to the paint which side they were pushed in from. It's probably not that important but the theory is that pushing them out the way they went in saves a bit of wear on the holes.

[Firestorm]

It's probably not that important but the theory is that pushing them out the way they went in saves a bit of wear on the holes.

Especially if there tapered.....

Russ

[Rob M]

Roll pins are never tapered. They're made out of spring steel so that they don't need a taper to grip the hole.