eastonx7

Hi JCB, I failed to mention that I'm using a Truncated Point, so it's the reason why my OAL is much shorter than what you may be experiencing. I chambre checked my ammo against my Limited Custom and it fits very well at 1.126". Also, I've had no issues with feeding, nosedives or jams (knock on wood). I went through my process described above and I could actually lengthen my cartridges to 1.132". My recommendation at this point is to ensure you discover the correct length, but use everyone else's base data as your starting point. Each barrel is machined slightly different so it wouldn't be uncommon to have slightly different lengths. In contrast, a friend of mine - who also shoots an STI Edge - has cartridges that are 0.030" longer and they don't work in my gun, we use the same bullets, but my slide does not always go into full battery.

Hi Jostein, I approach OAL a little differently, I customize OAL based on the barrel/chambre that the cartridge will fit into. I start by passing a casing through stage one in my press (shaping and deprime), I then pull out that casing and place it into stage 4 (seeding, set to about 1.180") and then finally into stage 5 (crimp). I take my barrel out and slide the cartridge in. If the bullet meets the lands and grooves of the barrel while the base of the cartridge does not create proper head space, I continue to reduce the length by setting stage 4 by quarter turns until I get the right head space while just meeting the lands and grooves with the bullet. By doing this, I know I'm getting the perfect length and a good initial seal for when the cartridge is fired. Oh, this was for fitting a cartridge in my STI Edge. In my pistol a perfect fit is 1.127", I have a OAL of 1.126" for the deviation between casing... In my wife's gun, a Tanfoglio Eric Open, I had to take a slightly different approach. I took an empty casing and slid it into the chambre, there's a lip on the inside of the barrel where the casing will meet and not go any further. This is what I feel for, when I found the OAL for my wife's pistol, I shortened and shortened the OAL until the bullet met the lands and groves while the casing was able to meet the inner lip of the chambre. Why do I do this? Well, when I took a friend's OAL and made some cartridges, I found that the slide didn't always close all the way. I'd have to press the slide forward a bit - just a little bit. Also, there were times during the "Unload and show clear" command where a cartridge was very difficult to extract. It got me thinking that the OAL was too long...I came up with this method and I've not experienced failures to extract nor the slide getting stuck. You may find that OAL will be close to what everyone else uses, but at least this way, it'll be perfect for your pistol. Now, when it comes to working up your power factor, you'll have to start light and work up properly - especially if your discovered OAL is shorter than what was recommended by others.

I had a request come through to share what the modified hammer looks like; I had my wife's gun apart to clean it this evening; so I thought to share a couple of perspectives. I hope this clears things up a little further!

Good morning Everyone! I was able to fit another EGW Hammer to a Limited Custom II; I thought to share a picture of the material I carved off with a Dremel before the work was done. Hope this helps,

She's all smiles now!

Good evening Everyone! I'm happy to report, we no longer have to shave off our half-cock notches! Skydiver had the right path! Here's what I did: Removed the slide, ambi-safety, and sear cage. This enabled me to see how the EGW Hammer engaged the trigger bar. By physically moving the hammer to 90 degrees, you should see that the trigger bar ramps come down to almost the bottom edge of the inner rail. The idea is to have the hammer come to 90 degrees - like it is going to hit the firing pin - and have minimal movement (if possible, have no movement) to the trigger bar. Now that we know where the trigger bar needs to be, we take the hammer out and carve out material from the underside of it. What I did as a guideline was take the factory hammer and trace out the shape on the excess material of the EGW hammer. In fact, what I traced on the EGW hammer was the only material I needed to carve out. Without the hammer spring, I fit tested the hammer to trigger bar engagement, when I brought the hammer to 90 degrees, the trigger bar barely moved. I polished the surfaces that I carved out to a mirror finish. Cleaned up all the surfaces with a ceramic stone - because when I used my Dremel, some rough edges were left. Put the pistol back together and...presto! No more hammer bounce back! If everything is done to plan, the hammer should fall as it should and the trigger bar to sear connection should remain. Which means, you should be able to reset the trigger, pull it back again, and freely bring the hammer back without the sear catching on the hooks or half-cock notch. The only time the disconnect happens is when the slide comes back and engages the disconnect ramps on the trigger bar. Yeah! We did it!

I'm with you 100% Tanfogliocoe, I don't feel comfortable removing the half-cock notch because I made the mods and it's not my gun, it's my wife's. The last thing I want is for her to have a pistol that goes full auto and lose control as it keeps going. I think Skydiver has a very good theory. I'm gonna follow the curvature of the underside of the factory hammer and implement it on the EGW hammer. The modification should allow the sear and trigger bar to keep connected as the hammer falls. With no cartridge in the chambre to activate the slide, the sear should stay up, allowing clearance for the hammer to strike the firing pin and settle into "hammer down" position. Since disconnect will happen when the slide comes back (when a round is fired), the sear is free to engage the hammer hooks and keep the hammer back. When the operator resets the trigger the trigger bar plunger should reengage the trigger bar and sear relationship as per its design. Wish me luck!

So, I took some time this evening to look into the theory that Skydiver had above. Interestingly enough, after comparing the effect the factory hammer had on the trigger bar vs the EGW hammer, I noticed there was a slight variation in the trigger bar's position - the EGW hammer lowered the trigger bar's position about 0.045". Because its position is lower and the fact that the hammer pushes the trigger bar down, disconnect would happen if the underside of the hammer hits the trigger bar hard enough. Allowing the rebound to happen - the sear will catch the half-cock because disconnect happens. I noticed that when I rack the slide and activate the trigger, but catch the hammer before it falls, and lower it manually, I can feel the hammer touch the trigger bar ever so slightly. As I keep the trigger back and let the hammer fall by letting it go from its cocked position, no disconnect happens. All this said, I think Skydiver has it right. By carving the same curvature under the EGW hammer - as the factory hammer - it should reduce, if not eliminate the contact it has with the trigger bar. Allowing the trigger bar to keep contact with the sear and to allow clearance for the hammer half-cock. Disconnect will happen properly when the slide comes back and drops the trigger bar via the disconnect groves on the slide. I didn't have the opportunity to make the modifications yet, but I hope to try tomorrow. I haven't decided what the best way is; my gut says mod the hammer, it's what the factory hammer's geometry tells me to do; I suppost we could also take the material off the trigger bar, but it's not what my gut tells me to do. I'll report my findings when I'm done.

Hi Skydiver! Thank you very much for your reply. Yes, this issue came up after I installed the EGW Sear and Hammer. You're right! I did read your post, but I have a somewhat difficult time visualizing the modification. I'm wondering, would you be able to share a picture of the two areas that you have modified? Thank you.

Hello Everyone! In shooting a local match, my friend came across a particular RO who didn't like the idea of the hammer going into half-cock after the, "if clear, hammer down..." command was issued. This post comes in two parts. 1) how many of you have had the hammer go into half-cock during a match; and, do you just lower the hammer by hand afterwards? 2) are there modifications I may perhaps be missing that could help alleviate this side effect? I have lowered the half-cock notch to an appropriate height to ensure clearance; however rebounds to half-cock seem to happen every now and again. No issues with light strikes, nor sear/half-cock notch rub. This also happens with my wife's open pistol. Any thoughts? Thank you.

I couldn't agree more, especially after shooting my wife's gun tonight. It was amazing how easy it was to "feel" the difference, it was like night and day. I'd be all over it! I found a welder that's willing to do the work and I'm prepared to get the work done to try; I think I'll wait until the winter time so that the gun isn't between fittings before having to take it to a match. I'll be one of the first on your list when they become available - I'd even help alpha/beta test if you'd let me! I think - not unlike what STI has available - it'd be smart for Tanfoglio to make slides, frames and barrels available for "pistol smiths." After performing all these mods to my wife's pistol, I'd be more than confident to create a Limited Tanfo project. I should actually be thanking you for all your help and advice you've provided me over the phone and via email. It's always a pleasure to talk with you. I enjoy sharing what I've learned because I hope in turn, it helps others and perhaps better/more efficient techniques can come of our discussions. I can't wait to see some of your pictures! I look forward to the sights because as you know, I'm waiting for my Limited Custom to come in; I'll be placing a large order from you to get my parts ready for when it arrives! I'll work on it through the winter and hopefully have it ready for 2011 (Bwaaahahaha, pun intended). Thanks again Henning!

Eye-carrumba! So, I just came back from testing the sear and hammer pins, along with the safety and sear engagement. Wow-wow-wow! I didn't get through as many rounds as I'd like, but the trigger pull was way more consistent than what it was before. The feel is the same from shot to shot; not like the way it felt with the factory pins - where it would feel like the weight would be slightly heavier or lighter than the shot before. Now that the sear and hammer engagement is tighter, I'll be way more confident to work with the sear's primary angle and hammer hooks. I'll probably just work with the sear angle - to reduce the positive angle a smidgeon - so that the hammer doesn't move backwards as much as it does right now. I suspect this'll be very tricky because the angle is tough to judge with just a loupe. I wish I had a sear to hammer jig so that I could check how they engage outside of the gun vs putting it together and looking that way... Wish me luck!

Holy Guaa-caaa-moooo-le! What a HUGE difference these two little pins make! At first, my wife and I thought the EGW sear and hammer felt great in comparison to the factory sear and hammer. However, after fitting the Henning Sear and Hammer Pins, yet another huge difference was discovered. After looking at the sear and hammer engagement under a loupe it was clear that more sear surface area was meeting the hammer hooks, which resulted in a more consistent trigger pull activation - weight-wise. I did notice a slight increase in trigger pull weight because it went up to 2 lbs and 7 oz vs the 2 lbs and 3 oz I indicated in my last post. When I moved on to the safety and sear engagement, I wasn't too surprised to find that I had to refit these two parts. I wish I measured how much materia I took off, because it was significant - relatively speaking... When the hammer was back, the safety wouldn't even engage - which goes to show you, at least with my wife's pistol, the pins have really taken away a lot of the movement. Once I finished the safety, it was back to working on the hammer half-cock notch (bringing the profile down). I had to take yet a little bit more off to ensure proper clearance. It was just a touch because after keeping the trigger back, I could feel just a little rub between the sear and the half-cock notch. A few passes with a cutting stone and a dozen or so passes with the ceramic stone cleaned it up nicely. There are two more areas of work: 1) The sear's primary angle (I don't know if a relief cut like a 19/2011 is appropriate), and; 2) The sear/ejector housing fit to the frame - which requires some welding/metal work. I definitely have control over the first task, but I'm not sure who to talk with about the second. I'd be curious to know how many of us have made the welding modification to properly fit the sear housing to the frame. Anyone? As far as the sear cut, I know the angle needs to change a bit; looking at how the hammer moves under a loupe, there's definitely a positive angle to the sear - the hammer moves backwards slightly when the trigger is pulled. I think it is possible to bring the trigger pull closer to 2 lbs once the angle is adjusted, but in my mind, most of the weight left over is in the sear spring. Other than modifying the sear spring (which I don't think is a good idea), I'm not too sure what else can be done to make the Tanfos feel like a 19/2011 trigger. After my experience, it's definitely easier to perform trigger modifications to a 19/2011; however, the feel and recoil control of the Tanfos are better for my wife. I've got a Tanfo Limited Custom - not the LC2 - on order, I'm looking forward to making the same mods to it and comparing it to my STI Edge. I'll probably play a little more with that pistol vs my wife's because her pistol needs to be on the conservative side - she's new to IPSC and I wouldn't want her or her pistol to be DQ'd, nor anyone to get hurt because of my mods and curiosity. With 97% of the pistol's innards replaced with EGW and Henning components; I ask, so why doesn't Tanfoglio just sell fitted frames, barrels, and slides? As an aside (I understand that everyone reading these posts perform their own due diligence and research before and after modifying their own pistols), I test my wife's pistol with over 500 rounds to ensure there are no problems with safety and repeat fires before letting her use it for practice; and, she herself shoots another 250-300 rounds in practice before using it in a match.

Hi Henning! I'm looking forward to the new plunger; let alone the new springs. I've been toying around with the factory spring and I've cut 2 coils already. Basically just enough spring tension to reset the trigger bar after disconnect. I was surprised to discover how much this spring affects the trigger pull.