Reloader98

I still have a plastic grip with silicon carbide but I’ll shave down the barrel a little and see if that makes a difference.

So I sprayed some dry lube into the inside of the holster’s mechanism. I did notice my trigger guard screw isn’t “loose” as in the individual screws themselves, but the whole barrel screw assembly is moving in and out slightly when pushed side to side. I tried to tighten them but they won’t seem to tighter anymore without potentially stripping them. Should I shave down the barrel of the barrel screws ?

Silicone lube like grease ? Or something like graphite powder? Because I have some grease I could use

So this one does have the removable block.

Alright, so I shoot an 2011 open gun, and I have the DAA Alpha x holster. I’ve had the holster for about 2 years and it’s always been easy to reholster the gun into the block of the holster. Basically it would normally “drop in” freely without applying any pressure. (For those wondering it’s a frankengun of an STI DVC frame and a defions arms anarchy slide in 9 major) Whats happening is when I go to put the trigger guard into the holster, I have to actually press down with some force to get the gun to snap into place and I’ve noticed I have to finagle the trigger guard into the block, basically angling it perfectly until I force it down into the block. Sometime the gun won’t even fully lock unless I move it back and forth a little while pressing down onto the gun. For context I usually would have no resistance and the weight of the gun would just get it locked in place plus I normally just have to get the trigger guard into the angled portion of the block and that would guide it into place, but no it had to be perfectly angled and pressed down to lock. So, has anyone else experienced this? If so how do I fix it and should I be worried? The holster is not dirty and doesn’t get wet when it rains (thanks to a gun cover for the rain). Thanks gents !

So I’ve found that using my micro Dremel ( it’s a stand alone unit smaller than the engraving unit), you can get these small brass end brushes, NOT THE STEEL Brush, but the brass. Not only does this remove all the carbon and the lead but it does it quickly and cheaply without the use of nasty chemicals like “the dip” that can destroy your barrel and your finish. I also personally made a a couple scraping tools out of a solid bronze rod that also removes some of the chunks nicely. I got about 10 end brushes on Amazon for $9 and a side note, you can also get the Real Avid cleaning brush’s that are specifically made to be cleaning small spaces like railways and comps, they help remove the build up on the from of the barrel crown without messing it up. it’s also good to just generally clean the comp more often before large amounts of build up form in the comp. This is especially true if your shooting lead bullets.

So all though I haven’t thought the frame rails were bad at all as the whole slide and fit is tight, what dimensions should I be looking for that is too small ? Does anyone have a minimum dimension for 2011 frame rails so I can measure my rails and see if they are over worn? We can end this potential problem with some quick measurements from a caliper if anyone could give me said dimensions.

Alright guys. I appreciate all of your insight, with that in mind, I’m just going to get a new slide built and probably keep the gun.

Here is the link to a whole bunch of new photos and the old ones. also thanks to all that have contributed. It’s much appreciated. And just to reiterate. Trying to get some info, even from others experiences in doing similar things that are not my exact situation. I ideally want to get a new top end and get somewhat close to paying for s new open gun after selling this, like 3-3.5k maybe more maybe less, just getting an idea on what I can expect as this is obviously s very niche product. https://photos.app.goo.gl/DJTopqQM9gVmThoF8

And to follow the original reason for this posting. I’m trying to gauge how much I can expect for a a gun like this, if it had a brand new top end. Because I do want to sell it to fund the new open gun eventually. So if I got a new top end that was about 1300-1400, how much could I expect for this thing? I’ll ad more pics.

Yeah the picture doesn’t do it justice, but the crack actually goes through about half of the metal in the slide itself. It can be seen passing through the material if you look at the slide from a top view (not pictured) when the slide it off. It’s definitely a crack. and for konkapot I wish I had the fund for that. That’s why I’m going through getting this gun fixed as I would HAVE to sell this one to afford a new open gun. I just graduated college so I don’t have the funds for that unfortunately.

alright gents, sorry I was busy today but here is the link to some photos of the gun. One is up close to the crack. All the others are just to get a general idea of its condition. I wanted to note the left side of the comp has some scratches from when I forgot to take my pocket knife off at a match and it ate through my shorts and a little of my comp lol. Benos won’t let me add photos directly for some reason so here is a link. https://photos.app.goo.gl/scu4Bit1ia7toNdQ9

Following explosiveo, just based on the aspect of metallurgy, heat treating, and generally finishing gun after all that ( I’m no expert), and All though it may be a “ band aid” I don’t think it’s a realistic option for long term usage of any firearm. I defiantly want to get a new slide anyway. It’s a matter of figuring out wether or not it’s worth anything for resale a value with a new slide. I’ll ad photos of the gun tomorrow in a link, but it’s really just new slide and keep or new slide and sell to fund new open gun.

Thanks for both of y’all’s insight, I did talk to defions arms a while back ( about 6 months ago.) after talking to him about a few things he said the general price for a whole entire new top end of the gun, would be about 1300-1400. Given the price variance across the various different well known brands, does that seem like a good price ?

So my slide cracked on my shorty open gun. Mine is old and I’m the second or third owner. It’s an older J.L Hardy “Shorty” 4.25 gun with two popple holes in the barrel. The crack is on the edge of the ejection port towards the chamber. Small but undeniable. I only put a few thousand rounds through it but I’m unsure of how many were put through it before me, I’m sure it was a lot. my question or questions are, can it be repaired and is it worth repairing as compared to a new slide ? secondly, if getting a new slide for it is the better option, would the frame start to over wear at some point ? And If I decided to sell the gun after all that, given the slide is made by a different builder, would it be worth less in the resale market with the frame and slide being made by different people? Eventually I want to buy a brand new open gun built for me so I kinda want to sell this gun eventually so I can help fund a new one. What would you do? thanks!

Well it’s a long story because I had the gun after it was cracked (didn’t realize that a scratch was a crack) . It was super tiny and I honestly didn’t realize it was a crack, it was my first open gun and I was just excited to shoot open, I didn’t even look for a crack. Now it makes sense why the guy accepted a $300 price reduction at the time. Now this thing is pretty old, the builder (JL Hardy) is apparently dead or doesn’t build guns anymore and hasn’t for a long time. So the gun was built in or around the late 2000’s or early 2010’s, there really isn’t any info I can find on the gun besides one guy in shoot with that used to shoot withJL Hardy in the 90’s before he was building guns . I only have had about 3k rounds through it. But it’s definitely well used, so I’d say it was day for a new slide at some point anyway. im gonna say wear and tear tools it’s toll as it’s a 9 major gun.

Well thanks for continuing the thread guys, I haven’t been in here for a little while. And honestly I’ve talked to him a few times. He is very helpful, understanding and polite. I found out I had a crack in my slide on my shorty open gun and he even walked me through the process of how we could make a new slide, gave me an accurate estimate (he has great prices). Overall I think he’s just and underrated up and coming builder. Everyone I’ve talked to has said nothing but great things and so far all his guns have been working great. even the videos that he puts on YouTube and his IG are showing some very promising performances of his builds. Once I save up for it I’m getting home to build me a new slide

Thanks, will do.

I thought I posted this in classifieds??. When I chose the topic I chose classifieds. There was nothing else to choose besides subtopics under the classifieds section. I don’t understand why it has to be removed. If you could explain to me how to post directly into classifieds that would be nice because I chose the classifieds section to ask this given that not being able to add the photos was because I’m trying to add them in a classifieds post.

Thanks ramnj , appreciate the feedback, good that the link worked for you. Have you ever had the problem with not being able to add the photos? Obviously I can see that you don’t have that problem now but have you ever experienced it in the past?

So when I try to add photos to a forum post, I can’t actually add it. When I do the site says the file is too large. I’m using an iPhone 11 and take good resolution photos but their not 4K or anything crazy. So for, I have had to make a google link to the photos and some people have said they can’t see them, so idk what to do. as I’m trying to add a photo of my gun to this post, it said the file was larger than 1.95 mega bites and was skipped. With todays tech that’s really small. Any reliable way to add photos ??? has anyone else had this problem, what helped, if anything ? here is the link to the photos of my gun. As a test please tell me if you can see them or can’t access them, thanks gents. https://photos.app.goo.gl/yhF9Gs2wqxx6GwPz9

Personally, I think it’s important to check loads, but at the end of the day it’s more important to keep track of your powder drops while loading the ammo. Let me explain. if your making a few thousand rounds for the shooting season all at once or all in a couple of weekends like I do. Then you have to ensure that your powder drops are staying consistent while loading the ammo. what I do is check every 50 or so rounds and take a price of brass off the press and check the powder, I do that with three pieces of brass that have powder in them (I have a progressive press). Then wait until the next 50 or so rounds to make sure the drop of powder is consistent throughout the thousands or rounds made at a time. Kind of annoying, I know, but you will never question your loads come range day at a major match. It all starts with your load development, when doing load development with new powders, primers, bullets etc. you want to chrono and work that load dev until you have the desired PF. And maybe once winter comes, check that load again. But for the most part, what I have described has worked well for me and others that I know. or you can just have 173 and above PF and say f*#k it to chrono lol. Still good to check in winter though. Personally I’m in VA so winter is basically the end of matches for a couple months until it’s no longer snowing and freezing cold. So I don’t have to worry much. If your up north or farther down south you may have other things to worry about such as cold weather during most of the shooting season or high moisture from high humidity areas like Florida. hope this helps, Tony

Well damn, all I’m seeing is nothing but good feedback from owners and alike. I think I’m gonna go with Defions for sure, now it’s just a matter of saving up, selling a couple guns, and putting in my order. thanks guys!!!

I load with blue bullets RNFP 180 gr and use like 3.4 gr of titegroup, it’s a dirty powder but it’s gets the job done really well for me. If I could buy more Autocomp between my regular 9mm loads and 9 major I would use Autocomp for it as well. If you can get your hands on some CFE pistol that might be a better option.

Thanks ogie, I’m happy so many people have had good experiences with Defions. And not to mention that he is here in this very forum post! I think I will be going with Defions. I’ll have to actually call him and talk for a bit to knock out some of the details but for the most part it seems like the way to go for me personally. all I have to do is sell a couple of my guns to get it. I’ll be selling a DVC-L island barrel in 40 and my JL Hardy shorty. Once I sell those I’ll order it. thanks everyone for contributing, it’s been a big help.