A method of guiding rivets around a small radius curve includes sending the rivet through a rivet supply line into a rivet brake and staging tube where it is held until the rivet hole is drilled. The rivet is then blown into a curved, arched slot in a rivet guide shoe that fits into a recess in a movable shuttle body. The shuttle body is first moved to position a drill cavity in line with a drill which drills the hole. The shuttle is then moved to align the curved, arched slot in the rivet guide shoe with the rivet brake and staging tube to receive the rivet and convey it around the curved slot and into a rivet guide tube fitted into the far end of the slot. The rivet guide tube has an axial passage equal in diameter to the diameter of the curved, arched slot, so the rivet encounters no edges or other discontinuities in the transition from the slot to the guide tube. The rivet is guided into the guide tube by an ear on the upper end of the guide tube. The ear fits into the slot to form a smooth transition between the open bottom side of the slot and the cylindrical guide tube.