Fred, with the FTF I experienced it seemed to me that if the T-bar were held in the most forward and 'up' position behind the F-in that it could impart the hammer blow. Its unlikely the workers at the factory repeatedly tear down and reassemble to hand fit these parts, or only minimally, they likely just grab from a bin and assemble. By getting a little extra length I achieved that, yet the real solution is a T-bar with the taller Striker portion with less chamfer toward the pin. For whatever reason the factory redesigned that T-bar, or their contractor missed the tolerances and they installed a rash of bad ones. I understand they have rectified that, though I do not know just when. This site is the best trouble shooting/reporting network on serial codes to maybe define it, but really, the gun either works or it doesnt.
My 'lengthening the Trigger Ext.' was an experiment and expediant, and resulted in some success, though my new (old style) T-bar sits higher and better and FTF is not a concern now.
Slack, Unless one is quite the artist in small part welding I would not recommend trying it. Ive only known one guy who was good at it, and it wasnt me.
I think I described the cold forging on your post the other day. IIRC, I also said that I was quite sure your problem would be solved with the currently used factory T-bar. From your pics there Im 100% convinced of it.