graycrait

This is an excerpt of a conversation I am having with a friend of mine in the Middle East. What does a company that makes springs know about lubrication properties on a molecular level? They may know a lot... I wish I were a petroleum chemist with the know how and equipment to test all these gun lubes chemically, not for performance, initially. I am beginning to think any modern lube works on guns as long as it is changed when dirty, but I somehow don't feel that most "gun guys" have the chemical and physics backgrounds in many cases to scientifically back up their claims. But then "gun guys" know a lot of things. I bet if I really clean my guns good every 1,000-2,000 rds, I mean really good, and use CLP, Mobil 1, any one of a 200 off the shelf gun lubes, arcane garage mixtures or even, god forbid, Rem Oil, I will never have a failure to function attributable to poor lube at the sustain rates of fire I employ. However, if I were in a FOB and with zealots armed to teeth heading "through the wire," then I would hope against hope that whatever lube that DOD provides is as good as it can possibly be. If that is CLP then so be it. If not, then what is it? I have no real dog in the fight, being an old retired guy who doesn't live on the edge. I simply want the best value without getting blatantly ripped off. OK, so paying 9.95 for 1.5oz of "Super Duper Gun Lube" ain't that much money and that 1.5oz bottle will last me a good while at my rate of useage. But if I can buy a quart of "Super Duper Gun Lube" under its generic industrial machine or automotive label for $4.00/qt, divvy it up amongst friends for free, then that is pretty cool and makes me look "gun guy" smart. That doesn't mean I can shoot worth spit, or even know how to save my butt with a firearm, but does give one a certain "all knowing" cachet where, as we know, "gun guys" know nearly everthing. "Gun guys" know how to solve the mortgage crisis, can fix American foreign policy, and know how to make women hot. Knowing the secret ingredient to gun lube would be like finding the Masons secret treasure to this "gun guy" because I can't do those other three "gun guy" things I just mentioned. Craig P.S. Back in 2001 I had two interesting conversations with petroleum experts. One was a patent holding hydraulic engineer who in his retirement had become a hydraulic consultant and patent agent. The other was a petroleum engineer from Exxon Mobil concerning protection properties of various lubes in fast moving hydraulic systems where wheel motors were used to move equipment. What I learned is that I don't know anything worth talking about in relation to molecular physics and chemistry. What I did learn that "junk" that goes into lube "concoctions" can have bad or good effects on equipment depending on composition of both lube and material being lubed under various heat or friction loads.

I had to have the FNP 9 and after 4 weeks I gave it up. Nothing wrong with it, and worked 100%, but I thought, "It ain't giving me anything I don't already have with my Glock 9mms. Craig

That is one cool site! Thanks!

Dave Shooter, Good Advice! This is a must when working on old semi-auto .22 rifles! Craig in Clarksville

Again, never believe someone who tells you that you can't do it. This site has good tips for Keltec pocket pistols : GoldenLoki.com I have used these tips on my own Keltecs and other folks'. One thing I have learned is that the hard chrome Keltec pocket pistols are out of the box in better shape to load 'n go generally better than the blue/black ones. The paper bullet tip that dremel sells is a great ramp throat polisher if you are careful and use non-aggressive abrasives. Otherwise 6-100 grit paper on popsicle stick works great for much of the deburring.

Just never believe anyone who tells you not to do it or you can't do it. The frame and small parts can be a fustrating booger from time to time, but is doable. Fitting the hood, lugs and link and bushing to the slide is another thing altogether. You may want to look at putting in a Kart EZ fit barrel. I'm going to look into that Remsport tip an earlier poster mentioned.

If you want to ask the question "why?" just ask me. Excel Accelerator in .22WMR

The first time I saw that lawyered up mag disconnect on a MKIII I was shocked, but as Capbyrd said, get rid of that thing. There is even a guy on rimfirecentral.com who markets a replacement for the loaded chamber indicator. So far mine has not been an evident problem. I figure if it becomes one I'll just grind off that little blade that pops into the chamber.

I've done the same thing as Leadwaster and after you do it a 41 seems hard to justify.

Ken45, How about Glock and 1911 in the same picture (see my Avatar). I think I have owned around 10 1911s, from 9mm, .38 Super and a small pile of .45s. It would be embarrassing to count up the number of Glocks I have had In 1911s I've had several Springfields, several RIAs, a DW, A Norinco and a couple I don't remember. As you might imagine I have more than few gun totin friends in the 1911 club, which gives me a wide variety to shoot if I want to. Currently my only 1911 is a Mixmaster in .45acp I have put together from free to me parts. It works really well and is reasonably accurate. Hood fit is nice, lugs lock in firmly, link is sized right and bushing is tight enough. I've pretty much done the same thing with a Glock before, making a Mixmaster with CCF steel frame, Lone Wolf Slide, aftermarket barrel and other parts. I do on occasion swap a couple of uppers back and forth on Glock frames, but because of tolerances and design this doesn't pose much of a problem with Glocks as it does with 1911s. Having said that I have another free to me Brazilian Army surplus slide that is nearly 60 years old with a WWII era Colt barrel and who knows what small parts and it works atop my ny Cerakoted old Essex slide. It works too. The Brazilian slide set up is a little sloppier than the old Colt upper in all aspects but functions and runs accurately enough to launch bullets at bad guys. I've handfitted small parts and tuned up a few 1911s. When I saw that S&W had come out with essentially a series 70 1911 in their E Series and then I actually handled one I said to myself that this is one 1911 I might want spend some money on. From what I have read it is 100% American made which surprises me at its price point. Then I said to myself, you already have a 1911 in .45 that works and you have a 6" Glock 9mm in the 17L. I decided it is better money spent to tweak and tune the two safe queens/range-only guns I already have rather than spend money on another. P.S. That old Colt slide looks rough on the exterior but was hardly shot at all when I got it. It amazed me how pristine the barrel, link and working side of the slide were when the extterior pitting would seem to indicate a ruined slide/barrel or whatever was stored in or with the slide.

Those things are sure fun with a 32 rd mag. Make sure you mention it is a Glock 9mm version and it should quickly around 300.00.

did you pull the trigger and allow the hammer to go forward and if the hammer didn't go forward push it from the slot in the grip, but they generally will fall forward if gun muzzle is pointed down. Then stick the mainspring pin up through the frame so that the pin protrudes through the bolt fully. Then tilt the gun so that the hammer strut falls into its slot on the mainspring housing, then lock in place. Once you do a few times it becomes easier. Tilting the gun too and fro seems a little odd if you are used to working on 1911s, Glocks and revolvers, but darn it if it doesn't work and seem simple when you get the hang of it.

I had a pre-top of the receiver safety Puma .357. I should have never gotten rid of that rifle, haven't seen another since. That was in my "everything" has to be .357 magnum phase.

Ken45, thanks for the tip on the 10-8 review on the E Series by Yam. It does look like S&W needs to tweak production a bit and it is good that Yam has a good relationship with S&W so that they do address the shortcomings he found. I would be bumming if that had been my 1911. But seeing that the 1911 is sort of tinker toy, the spring change issues don't bother me much. That extractor pin deal caused me some concern. As far as a semi-auto pistol being able to fire all types of ammo that can be a little trickey in any pistol with slide velocities vs mag spring and feeding. After reading the review and seeing that cost is around 900.00 I have only one thing to say - Glock:)

After trying quite a few aftermarket parts I stick with Glock stock and just polish, not dimensionally change, engagement surfaces. where the cruciform and striker engage I just barely knock off the sharp release edges of the striker and cruciform. If you want some more fun just get a Wolf competition trigger kit. Lastly the safety plunger can have the "sharp" edges radiused by using a small dowel and holding it against a fine grinder like a paper wheel grinder. Just don't make the plunger smaller in length or width. This makes for a safe and fun gun at the range when riding the reset.

Reassembly - what Capbyrd said.

The two listed websites is where I learned to fiddle with MKII/IIIs. Now I have made shims, blast shields, converted MKIIIs to MKIIs and generally enjoy doing trigger jobs on these things. My beater MKIII *that is really a MKII now" has a 2.25lb trigger. I used to love those adjustable Bob Marvel triggers but I have really learned to like the new Volquartsen triggers. Gun Talk Online www.1bad69.com

That is a serious looking rifle. That thing should be CLIII on looks alone.

Only one word for that sort of experience - "Glock"

I've tried a few stocks and there doesn't seem to be a good inexpensive alternative to the Ruger birch stock. I have have both a Hogue overmolded rubber stock and a Hogue hard sided stock and while adequate they ain't great. I've tried a couple of tacticool stocks and while effetive especially for red dot or Halo sight close in shooting folding foregrips and pistol grips seem to get in the way more than they help when your main game is charcoal briquets, clay pigeons, styrofoam cups and paper. Here are some decent and dumb ideas I have tried out.

leroy, makes you wonder why they even have such a title as "glock armorer" doesn't it? ONce you start poking around in that thing (Glock) it ain't hard to figure out. The first time for nearly anything raises a little apprehension but the Glock is pretty simple as far as firearms go. The Glock is so simple of a design that anyone with a little common sense can completely service the weapon. Once you do it you won't forget and if you do forget that opnly means an extra 5 minutes or less relearning that particular step. Those are the reasons, as well as the price of parts and complete weapons that make me a Glock believer. Those boys in Austria really designed an effective tool, one that rarely needs to be but can be completely serviced by the end user. What an "elegant" design. Craig

Colt Pistols For around $1,000.00 you could get a Colt, an elegant sufficiency.

Trekbike, I like the way you think. Craig in Clarksville

I like 1911s and I really like 1911 triggers. But I think some put way too much cachet into the 1911 design when it is what it is, a steel on steel, reliable enough, accurate enough service pistol that can be made into a carry pistol. I do have a friend in the FBI who is not an accountant or lawyer, being both former Army and big city PD, who now carries a Springfield Pro as his daily carry piece. Even though he is the best Glock and Sig shooter I know he really likes that SA Pro, to the point I am tired of hearing about it. On the other end I have a friend who was an Army Marksmanship Unit gunsmith who merely shrugs his shoulders when you try to get him geared up about 1911s. If I had a spare grand I would get the the new E Series S&W. I've said this before though: I had an older fella, retired Special Forces and a former member of the AMU ask me to tune up an Armscor 5" 1911 a relative had given him as a present, as it had an 11lb trigger measured digitally. He had never shot it. I got the parts working better and took it to the range prior to returning it to him. I met too VN era Army vets there who look at my Glocks with disdain, both members of the 1911 fan-boy club. When I started to shoot that "cheap" Phillipine-made gun I thought something was odd. For some reason I thought it shot more accurately and smoothly than either my previously owned SA Loaded or Dan Wesson Pointman. I hauled my buddies over and had them shoot the Armscor. They were both shocked at the gun's inherent accuracy. All I did was the trigger mechanism so the gun's accuracy had nothing to do with my simple armorer skills. Will the Armscor hold up to 50,000 rds like a SA Pro is warranted to? I dunno, sort of doubt it, but don't really care because I can't afford to shoot that much. When I returned the Armscor to its owner, getting "paid" for my work with a breakfast at Becky's Diner, I asked my old friend why he thought this gun might work so well. He told me that back in the day AMU armorers would put together a gun using a bunch of parts mixing, matching those Colt parts till they got them to shoot. I went hmmmm.... One thing I have noticed fiddling around with 1911s is that each person's hand fits various triggers, grip safetys and mainspring housings differently. So to have someone tell you that this or that model is the best may not be entirely so. Compound an ill-fitting 1911 with fatigue, injury or loss of focus and you may have a 1911 that doesn't work quite right for you. One of my greatest sick range pleasures is to hear someone tell me that their 1911 won't work right. I take a look at it, function test and then slam a mag home, slingshot the slide home and rapid fire till the slide locks back, handing a perfectly functioning 1911 back to its owner. Then I show the owner I carry a Glock. The 1911 is not a baby bird you hold in your hand so you won't kill it, hold it firm, lock your wrist and shoot that "thang." So, when you go to buy a 1911 better than taking a brand and model name with you in your pocket you might be better off taking a 1911 expert with you to help you check out various pistols. It seems to me that as long as the gun is spec'd - never mind, read this thread: The M1911 Pistols Organization Forums Site - The National Organization for 1911 Specifications Although the question is different I like what the below poster said on this thread. most accurate mid priced 1911 - TheFiringLine Forums most accurate mid priced 1911 actually any name brand 1911. Accuracy has to do with barrel lockup and how tight the bushing is. Just check the barrel lockup on a 1911 before buying and pick the one with the tightest barrel lockup. Then spend $85.-$100. for a smith to have a match bushing put on AS NONE OF THE 1911 COME WITH TIGHT BUSHINGS.. A match busing has to be so tight that you need a metal wrench and a rubber mallet to get it off. That is a true match bushing. Anything else has to do with personal preference. Like checking the trigger for creep (before you buy) and GOOD sights help a lot to. But for the guns accuracy the barrel lockup and a matching bushing that IS FITTED PROPERLY IS THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS ON A 1911. All of the 1911's under $1500 don't have a match bushing that is fitted. bHowever, FOR AROUND $100. a competant 1911 smith THAT KNOWS WHAT a true match bushing is, can install one that is fitted to your barrel. Slide loosness has very little effect on accuracy and a full length guide rod has no effect at all. A simple short GI guide rod is fine. IMO buy a SA mil spec. Pick one with the tightest barrel lockup and have a smith install a fitted match bushing. that gun will be as accurate as a $4000. 1911. Second thing I would get is a crisp 3.5 trigger job and third good sights.

It needs some pearlite grips and chrome accessories to become pimp-a-liscious.