The peening on my barrel link and pin on my Taurus PT1911 is to the point where it's no longer peened.
Is this peening there just to keep from losing the pin when diassembling, or is it necessary for the function of the pistol?
It fell out while I was cleaning it today, so I assume it's been that way somewhere in the last couple of hundred rounds I shot.
From what I can tell, the design of the pistol keeps the pin from coming out from either side when the gun is assembled, and that I just need to take care to not lose it when I clean the pistol.
I did a search online, and discovered peening is not necessary, I just have to be careful when I clean the gun to avoid losing the pin.
As I had thought, the pin is captured in place when the gun is assembled.
Whether or not peening - actually, staking - (or any other method, such a Loctite) is necessary depends on who you ask. Some, like me, would tell you it's not the least bit necessary as your search seems to have revealed.
However, others will assert that any and all steps must be take to prevent the pin from moving side-to-side. Even to the point of fabricating oversize link pins for a press fit from sets of gauge pins available in 0.0001" increments for about $100, as shown on pages 6 & 7 in this catalog:
http://www.deltronic.com/literature...uide.pdf#page=3
To put it all into perspective, a look at the Army Ordnance blueprints for the barrel and link pin (available in our Tech Issues section, 14th link down from the top) shows the largest hole can be 0.155" diameter and the smallest pin can be 0.1545" diameter.
The decision is yours to make. But if you do decide to stake it, do it this way:
I'll probably just leave it loose, as I've always been very good about not loosing small pieces when taking firearms down, and it's not spring loaded anyway.
When I do lose it, I will be sure and whine and complain on here.
My link pin isn't staked and I haven't had any problem with it. HOWEVER, when my homebuilt was first taken to the range, the link pin got bent somehow when firing and jammed up everything with a live round in the chamber and not able to eject. Took it home and pounded out the mainspring housing,etc. Put in a new link pin and no problems since.