Tester

Thanks for all the help. I guess your telling me I keep the barrel too clean OK OK ! I thought going three matches before pulling the gun apart and cleaning it was pushing the edge, so I guess I let it get a little dirtier. Which color/number of Lock-Tite do you recommend using? I have red, green and blue but if something works better, please let me know. I was looking at the Permatex purple because it has a lower breaking strength for those times when you would like to take the comp off. Thanks again everyone for all you help!! Steve

I've done a few searches but can't find anything that makes me feel warm and fuzzy. I am setting up a Glock 17 to shoot Open with a KKM barrel and an SJC aluminum comp. The KKM steel comp had set screws to hold it secure to the barrel and seeing you can't get the barrel out for cleaning with the comp on, it seemed the best way to do it. Then I got the SJC aluminum comp and came to the conclusion I had no way of fastening it down short of Lock-Tite. The problem I have is, how do you easily and reliably hold the comp in position and still get it off to clean the barrel when you need to? I would think the aluminum comp would not like the heat needed to break down the Lock-Tite without warping the comp and damaging the threads. How do you Open Glock shooters handle this? Thanks for your help.

The other thing to keep in mind, besides the grip, is the trigger pull (double action if shooting Production). The women that shoot at our club, and shoot Production, have more of a problem with the double action trigger pull than the recoil. A few of them have moved to Limited and Limited-10 just to not have to deal with the DA trigger. When you go to the store shopping, make sure she checks the DA trigger pull. Do you know how lucky you are to have found a girlfriend that wants to try this. The ladies at our club are pretty good, and I'm not ashamed to admit that they have kicked my butt a few times, but thats another story. They sure do have a good time doing it. Good luck and let us know how things work out. Steve

Hi chris573, I just finishing up the AGI Pro Gunsmithing Course and I feel I got a lot out of it. There is a lot of information that seems at first to be a waste of time but it is to reinforce how things work and the different ways they can be implemented. After I got further into the course I started to understand why some of the information was presented the way it was. The point is to understand how things work in general, because if you can understand that you will have an easier time figureing out a syatem you have never seen before. Having taken this course I would not call myself a gunsmith. I do have a much greater understanding of how guns work, what can go wrong with them and what needs to be done to fix them. What the course doesn't teach you is the feel and touch you need to apply to do things that can only be achieved by hands on experience. The AGI training is no substute for good technical college training with the hands on component. But the AGI training will give you the information on how guns systems work and what can and will go wrong. Couple that with hands on work with some gunsmith that will let you hang around and help out, will get you the rest of the way. If you have any other questions let me know. Hope this helps. Steve

Hi Richard, I also use the 45ACP McCormick 10-round Power mags in a 1911. They feed much better than any 40 cal mag I've tried to date. It also allows you to load long if your chamber can take it, which really improved feeding in my gun. The only problem I'm having is about half the time the slide locks open with one round still in the mag which is due to the follower coming up higher with a 40 cal round than a 45 round. I have a question posted on this forum about the best fix for the problem, but I'm still thinking about what I want to modify to fix the problem. If you go this route you will probably have to deal with this also. So far the choices are, bend the followers lower tang down to clear the slide stop pad, replace the followers with something else, or file the underside of the slide stop pad were it contacts the follower. Good luck on making a decision. Steve

Hi, I am shooting a 1911 in 40S&W, in USPSA Limited-10 Div. that I built from parts. The gun shoots great but has a habit of locking the slide open with one round left in the mag every now an then, but usually at the worst time in the COF. I am using Chip McCormick 45 ACP 10 round Power mags because I have them when I shoot 45 ACP 1911 in L-10. According to the FAQ these mags can be used for 40 cal but there were some small modifications to make them work better, but they weren't listed. I have a number of 40 cal mags but they don't work when you load long. The CMC Power mags have fed very well and are reliable so far except for the slide lock problem. I think the problem is that there seems to be slight upward contact between the lower leaf of the follower and the slide stop pad when the last 40 cal round is ready to be fed that sometimes, with some mags locks the slide open. This is due in part to the difference in diameter of the two rounds and that the 40 sits a little higher in the feed lips. I think there are two possible fixes to this early slide lock problem or a combination of the two. The first would be to shave the bottom of the slide lock pad so there is some clearance between it and the mag follower when the last 40 cal round is in the mag. This would leave the mags unmodified and usable for 45 also. The other method would be to bend the lower leaf of the follower down enough so there is clearance between it and the slide lock pad with a 40 cal round in the mag. I'm not sure if this would cause a problem when using the mags for 45 ACP or not? The other question would be if you did bend the lower leaf of the follower down how long would it last with the spring pushing it back up all the time. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions please make them because I want this gun to work more reliably because it is so much fun to shoot USPSA with. Thanks Steve

Hi Benny, I am a pistolsmith, although still pretty new at it. I've built and tuned some 1911's for customers but have never worked on a slide with a rib on it. The measurements for the rib are 0.460in wide and 0.060in high. I guess I am searching for something that would look right on this slide as well as work right. All of the adjustable sights I have worked with seem to be too wide to look right. I think maybe a Novak adjustable would work if it's width could be trimmed in the front to blend it to the rib and still have some adjustment. I don't know if one of the Millett sights with the narrow front end would fit and look better on that rib. Thanks for any ideas, they are all welcome. Steve

I am looking for advice on how to mount an adjustable sight (like a Bomar, Novak or other) on a flat top ribbed 1911 slide. I'm not sure how far down to inlet the sight into the rib so it looks good and works well. Maybe I should ask if this kind of slide should even have a adjustable sight mounted on it? It looks like it was originally set up for a standard goverment type fixed rear sight mounted into the rib. If anyone has any ideas I would be happy to hear them because I am confused as how to proceed on this project. The rib is just under 0.5in wide (don't have the exact measurement with me) and is flat and not serrated. I think an adjustable sight sitting on the rib and hanging over each side would look really stupid. As a last resort I would use a fixed rear sight but would rather have an adjustable sight because this gun will be used to shoot a lot of different powered loads so adjustability would be nice. I guess my main problem is that I just can't visualize how a sight would have to be cut into that rib to look and work right. Thanks for any help you can provide. Steve

Thanks Troy, for trying to explain. I think I am still having trouble picturing that measurement. I guess I'll ask when I get to the range Sunday maybe they can show me. I don't understand the part about 'to the center of the longest dimension' and how it relates to the outer and inner set of mags on the Blade Tech quad mag holder. There is probably no use in trying to explain it further as I just can't visualize it with out seeing how the measurement is made. I know I'm making this harder that it probably is but that's me. Thanks again to everyone for the info. Steve

Sorry I should have done that. Blade Tech Quad Mag Holder Tester Steve B.

I have a Blade Tech, quad, single stack mag holder. I was wondering if it is legal to use in Limited-10. I'm not sure how the 50mm from your side applies to this. If it is 50 mm to the center of the outboard mounted mag it is probably OK. The holder stacks two single stack mags next to each other and a second set to the rear of those in a 2X2 configuration with the flat side againt your side. I sure hope I was clear on that. I couldn't find anything in the rules to prevent this unless I completely missed something. I did a search and didn't see anything related to these. I may be shooting my first match the end of this month and would like to use what I have, if it's legal. I will be shooting a Kimber Stainless Target in 45ACP out of a Blade Tech belt holster. Any help would be appriciated. Thanks Tester Steve B.