peterdaws

Its going to depend to some extent as to what the surface prepration was for the hard chroming but from you discriprion I am assuming its bead blasted. Try getting a good polish on the parts you want to match up then bead blast them with the smallest beads and as low a pressure as you can run the blaster. Try different pressures to get a closer match. Also try well used beads that are broken up. Hours of endless fun with this one! As an aside, I have had good sucess with matching a stainless comp to a titanium cylinder using Aluminium Oxide grit then oil it. Peter

I had some bubble jet refills that use the same bottles and needles. Cost nothing. Just threw the bottles in a bucket of water to rinse the ink out. The coloured water didn't kill the post plants! (We were in drought is my excuse for parsimony) Peter Brisbane Australia

For anybody in Australia who wants to try this. My local bearing supplier didn't have them in stock but got them withing 24 hours. Part numbers are Timken NTA 815 for the bearing Timken TRC 815 for the thrust washers. Note: Those thrust washers are 1/16" thick. They did have 1/32 (.032") available but I forgot what I was supposed to be buying:wacko: Peter Brisbane Australia

Since we had a 10 round mag limit forced upon us here in Australia, all the Bul M5s I have sold have bene supplied with STI Mags (I am the Australian Bul Distributor) The STI mags are wider at the top, alongside the feed lips. The frame needs some slight modification for this. Either remove about .010" from either side of the mag opening looking down on top of the frame or completely remove the rails where the mag well is like an STI. This can be done with a file if a mill is not available. Also some STI mags are a bit too tight to drop free. If it is, very slightly squash the mag in a vice. It is usually front to rear in the area around where the mag catch hole is. These modifications do not affect the use of Bul Mags, I use the Factory mags in my gun when I am overseas without problem. Peter

I am the Australian Bul M5 distributor. All the factory supplied ramped barrelled guns I have received have been Wilson/Nowlin Peter

Wilson/Nowlin Peter Dawson Australian Bul Distributor

Manhurin used to make a specialised Bullseye revolver optimised for the .32 S&W with wadcutter ammo. It had a freebore section in the barrel longer than the length of the projectile. It was explained to me that they found it best to have the bullet supported in the freebore when the bullete hits the resistance of the rifling as the pressure on the base coupled with the sudden resistance of the rifling engaging the nose distorts a bullet that is bridging the gap between cylinder and barrel. Makes sense to me. I wonder how revolvers can be as accurate as they are when the poor bullet has to make that great leap of faith across the cylinder throat, flash gap and forcing cone before receiving the proper guidance it deserves. Peter Dawson

I am the Bul distributor in Australia. I have had enquiries from America regarding these parts before so assume you will have difficulty getting them the factory parts in the US. However the slide stop is a standard 1911 part so any aftermarket extended one can fit. Also the mag catch can be extended by drilling and tapping and putting an aftermarket extension button on. The Magwell is what will prove difficult as the bottom of the Bul frame and mainspring housing is unique. A magwell to fit the Para Ordnance might be adaptable but as the mainspring housing is plastic one, I am not sure how durable the type that screws tot he mainspring housing will be. If you can't source anything suitable in the US, I can supply factory Magwells, extension buttons and aftermarket steel mag catches. pm me if you need more information Peter Dawson Boxtrade Australia

[. Trail Boss has not been arround for 15 years so I would call it normal. Trail Boss comes from Aus. and only has been imported for just a few years. Clays comes from Australia as well. The little doughnuts are a secret Aussie additive to reduce flash. Its made from Koala, Wombat and Dingo droppings. Peter Dawson

Yes 4477 is the Flying Ashtray. I had some factory ammo both CCI Lawman and Blazer. I am now down to my last box of projectiles. I load with 6.7grains of Clays Universal which gives me 940fps in a 5". Interestingly in a recent article in American Handgunner, they report this powder as having no muzzle flash. Just the thing for when things go bump in the night. Peter

Around my home state I mostly shoot Standard division with a Bul M5 which I am very comfortable with so its called "The Wife" There are not many production shooters in my state but its more popular down south so when I go out of state for a weekend I take the XD9, so she's called "The Mistress" I built a gun for a friend who is an irascible Viet Nam Vet and he said every one reckons he has attitude so we engraved that on his gun so that he can show them that he really does have "Attitude" Bul Transmark built me a little carry gun and offered to put my name (Peter Dawson) on the slide. I thought that a little gauche so I asked them to engrave it "D-special" as I used to carry a Colt D-special when I was in the Police. That has spawned a tradition where guns I own or build are named with a prefix D-. A friend surnamed Hatzipanagiotis is in the habit of, when people stumble over his name, saying "Its pronouced Smiiith with three i s" So the S&W revolver we built has become "D-Smiiith". A Wilson .22 conversion unit on an alloy Caspian frame is a "D-light" to shoot. A gun built for a friend, surnamed Hood has become "D-hood" Pronounced Da Hood - where the homeboys come from. The same guy had a 6" slide gun built for Service Match (Aussie PPC) which he really "D-serve" d. I recently built a 10 mm pistol for a guy who is licensed to carry one because his work takes him into close contact with Sharks, Pigs and Crocodiles. That is called "D-Bo" named after Bo Derek - the perfect 10. Peter Dawson

Only a few stokes to take a few thou off. If I have .020"+ to remove I will file it down in the traditional way then just use this to true the blade up at the height I want. Peter

Than That is a bastard of a file to use for a fine cut on sights. I use a smooth cut mill cut file. Specifically this one from Brownells http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/pro...183&s=11992 rought the sight down filing in the normal way. Then, as suggested earlier, rest the back of the file on the rear sight with a shim to protect the rear sight. Press the file firmly onto the rearsight with the thumb of one hand. Do not try to push the file backwards and forwards in the conventional way. Instead use the rear sight as the pivot point and push the file sideways back and forth across the front blade. When you have cut right across the front sight blade adjacent to its rear face, stop! You can use a thicker shim - like 1/8" thick brass to make sure that the top of the front sight slopes away from the face you look at. I have never had a failure to get the sight square with the rear blade using this method. Even when, after a few beers, a mate says his front sight is not square and I go boldy forth where no innebriate should go Peter

I am currently building a 10mm for a client in the Northern Territories who has an occupational licence. He needs it to shoot sharks off big game fish and crocodiles off tourists plus, the odd marauding pig. I like the idea of the short radius firing pin stop for this application. Who makes them? Peter Dawson Australia

.330" X 60Deg Peter Dawson Bul Distributor for Australia

I have a very early 450 which I did not upgrade. The primer is transfered from the drop tube to the plattern by manually pushing a slide. Powder is also dropped by manually pushing a slide. Mine has been sitting unused on the Bench set up in .45 since our Government bought all our .45s off us. I recently converted it to 9mm and started using it. Takes some getting used to after 10+ years of 650 and 1050 Peter Dawson

There are a couple of finishes to stainless I use. Bead blasting with the smallest beads on a good polish will produce a "satin chrome" finish similar to a lot of S&W Performance centre guns. A fine Aluminium Oxide grit will produce a finish which, once its got some oil in it, looks like titanium. Sorry I can't be specific as the the grit I bought it many years ago. The packet says "White Alumina" and "120/150" If I have got the picture posting thing right (First attempt), the Ruger has the fine bead blast and the Smith 327 compensator has the aluminium oxide. Compare with the titanium cylinder. http://au.msnusers.com/e8bu60db3nhqgjr26j6...%2Drigueur1.JPG http://au.msnusers.com/e8bu60db3nhqgjr26j6...%2DSmiiith1.jpg Peter Dawson

When the .41 Came out, Tanfoglio were going to do a series of IPSC commemorative pistols in .41. Tanfoglio offered IPSC Regional Directors a pre production sample. I was RD for Hong Kong at the time and ordered one with a 9mm barrel as well as getting .41 ammo into Hong Kong would prove difficult. When the gun arrived, Serial number DVC0018 it had the .41 barrel in so I immediatly swapped it for the other barrel and loaded a magazine with 9mm. Went onto the range and chambered the round. The whole round went straight down the barrel and fell on the ground. It turned out that due to the Italian paranoia over military calibres, they couldn't send me a 9mm barrel so had thoughtfully provided me with two .41 barrels. Later we bought some of the production commemoratives. By then .40 had come out so we bought the guns to shoot 9mm, .41 and .40. (Two slides and three barrels). Used it for many years as a .40 cal gun and still have both guns but have never fired a round of .41 out of either. Peter Dawson

OK someone hit my nostalgia button. Also posted a remiscence on the .41 thread. Back in 1986 I was running the Police Shoting club In Hong Kong and doing a bit of Police work in my spare time We had good liason with S&W as the Royal Hong Kong Police were substantial users of S&W products. When the IPSC Commemorate 745 was announced I ordered some (about 8 from memory) for our members including one for myself. My contact at S&W said he would try to get us low or interesting serial numbers. When the guns finally arrived I went throught he serial number on the packing list to allocate them to club members and was a little peeved that they were not low or special numbers. But then I noticed one was DVC 1986. It now resides, unfired in my safe here in Australia. Some time later Tommy Campbell visited, I think as the Safariland Rep. He put on a trick shooting demonstration at our range using the club's 745. An incredible demonstration! Peter Dawson

I have never used the services of a custom gunsmith, I do my own work however I voted no for two reasons. a) If I have carefully selected my gunsmith, I would trust him to do the work and would want him to get on with what he is good at. I would not want him to waste his time with digital cameras, file transferse-mails and all that other IT Stuff that would eat into his valuable time. Though I don't build guns for others, I was persuaded to build one for a very old friend who lives 2000 miles away. It was done on the understanding that it was a labour of love and consequently took best part of a year. I made the mistake of sending work in progress pictures near the end. I then had great concern for the whimpering salivating wreck I had on the phone every week. I would hate to think I was responsible for someone being carried off in a straight jacket. It seems that from John's post this could be a common problem. Peter

If you need to thin your moonclips, surface grinding is the way to go. They will be absolutely true and surface grinding can be done to very fine tolerances. All your moonclips can be put on a magnetic table and ground at the same time. Just about every machine shop has a surface grinder so shouldn't be difficult to find someone to do it for you Peter Dawson

The 327 Scandium 8 shot .357 have been around long enough that a few have even got as far as Australia. They have 2" barrels but the good news for us here is that they are a Dan Wesson type barrel system, so easily changed for something longer. The bad news (for us) is that they were originally pictured with adjustable sights but came with fixed sights. They are great fun to shoot in issue configuration but we are not allowed that here and so they will end up as as longer barreled guns for steel Peter Dawson