Jeff686

Darn! Maybe it's just me, but I'm really frustrated at the cost and lack of options for this part. I know I've been spoiled by all those 1911 aftermarket parts, but one could hope for a decent alternative to the factory Tanfoglio stuff.

The new SP-01 mag release looks the same as the Tanfoglio. Unlike the CZ-75 mag release, the SP-01 has the 'dual lobe symetrical' design. Has anyone tried one in their Tanfoglio? Description Here - CZ SP01 Release Tanfoglio Release Just wondering if this is a cheaper and softer option for us arm-chair gunsmiths... That Tanfoglio release is expensive and hard, it must be made of diamond.

I've looked at them. I thought it would make a good brass striping tool for pistol caliber, but I don't know what kind of dye to use. I did a search here on them, some said they were messy to get started, and that you had to use the lube made for them. They sound like a great idea if you ask me. I have one on my wish list for 223. However, consider what your processing order may be. If you resize then trim, you kinda have to go offline anyway, making the lube die less interesting. I'm thinking about using those special trim-once dies from RCBS, so I can run 223 through my press similar to pistol loads (with no offline processing).

You really should use the oil in the ultrasonic. You have to get the water out and oil into all the little nooks and crannies to protect them from rusting. I had a 1911 with a Virgil Trip chrome job that started to rust in the corners in a matter of minutes after ultrasonic cleaning. I would not count on breakfree (spray) to get rid of all the water. It can't penitrate as well as the ultrasonic. Someone in this thread recommeded cleaning in WD40. That sounds like a possible option. I tried using ed's red. It worked great, but also took the paint off the plastic frame of my ultrasonic.

Jeff, The gizmo is just an adapter that lets you easily push a case all the way through a die. It comes with a die attached (similar to a lee FCD). The die included with the gizmo is not undersized. In the setup described in this thread, they have removed the gizmo from the die, and attached the EGW undersize die to the gizmo. Since the EGW die is threaded to accept a decapping pin, they drill out those threads, creating an undersized pass-through die. They then use the gizmo+EGW to resize to .415. After they get to .415, they put the brass in the progressive press. The resizing die in the progressive press is normal size, so it doesn't do anything except deprime. You could replace it with a universal deprimig die instead. See the picture of the gizmo. Maybe it will help. http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?...36&hl=gizmo

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=71797

Thanks for the great feedback. Unfortunately, I may execl in my imagination, but lack for mechanical fabrication skills. Plus, I only have a drill press and dremel. I was hoping to pass my ideas to someone willing and able to make them happen.

I started thinking about Henning making a 40% strength spring for the magazine release. Then I started thinking about the shortcomings of the current factory release (hardness, location, and size) and the aftermarket extended release (doesn't work yet for me). Maybe I'd designing something that is not needed or wanted, but the magazine release really bothers me, and I really want a good solution. So, I came up with my own design ideas. Please let me know what you think. Feedback welcome. Understand that the drawings are not meant to be blueprints, so the dimensions might be off, or I might be missing a small feature somewhere. Here are some of the features: 1. Slotted hole for plunger. This is intended to provide more lateral strength over the factory half-moon cut. Additionally, it is smaller in size, so the plunger bushing won't slide down into the hole and cause binding (problem with my aftermarket extended release). 2. Strong side spring/pin layout. In the factory design, you have to remove the trigger and plunger to get to the spring. The little pin and spring can fly across the room. Assembly requires a punch or small allen wrench to compress the pin/spring so the plunger can be pushed into place. On my design, the spring and pin can be installed from the strong side after the plunger is installed. The spring is held by a set screw, and the tension of the magazine release can be adjusted by changing the depth of the set screw. Now that I think about it, I should make that hole go all the way to the other side, so you could still assemble/disassemble in the traditional manner, once you set the tension. 3. Modular button size/height. By using spacers and several different button sizes, you can customize the feel and reach of the release to fit your hand better.

Yeah, I'm thinking that would be the way to go unless you have small hands. Then you don't have to worry about dropping the mag on table starts or a big release gouging your hand. My......oops, I mean Leslie's CZ TS has a mag release that looks like a kickstand. If it wasn't made of depleted uranium I would take about half the length off. . Yea, I'm one of those guys with the small hand. I have to rotate the grip in my hand to reach the release. I installed the extended release, and added an extra button to it, and it fit my hand perfect. However, I'm still working to get it functional. More on that later when it is done. As far as the low power spring, I'm in. I was going to buy a bunch of regular strength springs and start clipping coils. The problem with that is two fold; they are $10 each, and you don't know you've gone too far until you've gone too far. You'll need at lease two (one to experiment with, and one to actually modify for shooting). I'm using a sidewinder on the same side, so I'm not worried about the table starts. However, with my 1911 with a lightened release, I went too light at first, and was bumping the release with my weak hand. Hey toolguy! Where can I buy the carbide spade bits? I need a #43 (4-40) ??

Please let us know how that works out for you. Details to replicate the tempering process would be great too if it works out. Thanks! Well, annealing went fine, but didn't soften like butter. The cobalt bits worked OK after annealing. The biggest problem was that I used a lot of pressure on the drill press, and the hole did a little wandering to one side. That probably made tapping it more difficult. I used a very hard tap from the industrial supply store and went extremely slow, a few degrees at a time, then backed out a quarter turn, then back in again. The metal was still very hard. I used the Arrendondo extended release button (4-40 threads) and it looked good. I decided it was still plenty hard, and I wasn't going to harden or temper it. However, after the annealing, it was very dirty and messy. I was going to clean it up with a wire brush and then buffing pad in my dremel. Unforunately, I put it in the vice crooked, then used too much pressure... snap, right at the thin part. I ordered the extended version from Eric Grauffel as a replacement. It had some problems, but he is helping me work them out. I'll post more on that when I get it working.

Bob, You should ask Hodgden to get your input BEFORE they release a new powder for comp'd guns. Not after. How about WW Auto Comp B. (for Brazos version) Then we could have 'Straight Auto Comp' and 'Auto Comp B'. They might sell more, if people have to buy twice, after they pick up the wrong jug the 1st time.

Solution for EAA Witness Limited .40 S&W Nose Dive Issues, No More Nose Dive......

Last weekend, open class, 3.88 for a 75.5%. Included extra shot. If I had made the shot, it would have been around a HF of 8 for a 78%.

My sister lives in Houston, and that is reason enough not to move there! Seriously though, I would choose almost anywhere over Houston. Club location be damned.

Oh, I use a short bolt, about 2" long, to put between the shell case pivot feeder and the square pole that holds up the collator. I use it as an on/off switch, to disable the case feeder without having to empty the tube of cases.

Wow! That mag release is SO HARD! I tried to drill and tap mine this week. I bought a couple of cobalt bits, and thought those would be hard enough. They barely put a dent in it!! Why is it so hard? Is there a reason? Other guns I have don't have such hard steel mag releases. I bought a MAPP torch yesterday. I'm going to anneal that sucker over night this weekend. Those cobalt bits should go through it like butter after that. I'll harden it again by quenching in oil then tempering.

No, you are correct. Now I'm wondering if the 2-bottle approach would work the same. O2 is not liquid when you do the 2-bottle trick. Is the internal pressure of the LP bottle more constant, even as the volume of propane decreases? As the material is removed from the bottle (liquid or gas), the pressure drops, but the lower pressure allows more LP to vaporize and increase the pressure to equalibrium. So, the internal bottle pressure should be reasonably constant until all the liquid is used up. I'm an EE, not an ME. Am I thinking about this wrong?

Your solution is to use two bottles. Just like some people do with their oxygen tanks for flying. The bottle has lost some pressure, but still has a lot of gas in it. However, the airsoft needs more pressure than the gas bottle can provide. Get a 2nd bottle. Fill the airsoft with the old bottle first, bringing it to a medium pressure, then top it off with the newer high pressure bottle. You'll get more useable gas from the old bottle, and the new bottle will last longer. When things stop working, buy a new bottle, and rotate out the oldest. This method may work better on an empty airsoft magazine. In the middle of an airsoft session, the magazine is already partially pressurized, so the 1st bottle may only add a little gas. Make sense?

Well, just off the top of my head... Dies One-shot case lube Shell plate scale (digital pocket scale is good) calipers (I like digital) case gauge (optional) extra LNL bushing (these things are cool!) I have a LNL AP and love it. I wish I had the new ejector system, but my old style wire ejector is working fine so far. If you read www.thehighroad.org, they have a 'tips and tricks' section on the LNL.

Yup, 2-part epoxy. JB Weld is essentially 2-part epoxy. I love epoxy. Maybe because I get all the fun flavors from my office. For the liquid runny kind, I like the 20-minute version. It gives me time to work with the glue, but begins to get thick after about 5-10 minutes, and stays in place a litte better. If I use the liquid/runny kind, I ususally build little walls and dams to keep it in place. JB Weld is a little thicker, but not much. Wax paper (alone or with cardboard backing) is great for shaping epoxy until it cures. However, I'm in love with the epoxy putty. They make all sorts of flavors and colors, (examples: PIG putty). Once you mix the two halves, you can make all sorts of fun shapes and designs. It cuts with a knife, rolls like clay, and squishes to take the shape of anything. One nice thing about the putty is it holds parts in place while it cures. You can connect and attach parts, and they stay put until it hardens.

Hack, If you make another with a removable tube, try coating the tube with wax, shoe polish, chap stick, or other release agent. Then use epoxy or rifle bedding rosyn or something that doesn't get hot. The release agent will let you get the tube out after the glue gets hard. I used shoe polish and epoxy putty to bed my 10/22 stock. Worked great.

Being safe is smart. Don't push harder than you are comfortable. Don't force anything that probably shouldn't be forced. However, primers aren't made of glass. They won't break if you drop them. They aren't radioactive. Sometimes I'm surprised people are willing to use flip-trays, considering how afraid they are to touch the primers in the press...

Sorry Hack, They will flip. I assume you are going to use the clear plastic lid that comes with the Lee flip tray. I had to fashion an small cover that bridges from the lid to over the hole where the primers drop. If there is not a lid, the primers easily flip and spin as the go down the chute. At first, I used a piece of clear plastic from the packaging of one of my kids toys. It was easy to shape with a pair of scissors. However, it wasn't stiff enough, and some of the primers still flipped. I bought a small piece of clear plastic (thicker than the toy packaging) from the hobby store. It was a little harder to cut, but holds it shape well. Great work with the hot glue. Good idea to use the allen wrench. I'll bet yours will work better than mine. I didn't want to permanently attach the tube, so I built up some material inside the trough, hoping I could hold the tube in place. However, my primers get stuck between the flip tray and the tube. I have to fiddle with the angle and fit of the tube. I did find that a small gap between the plastic and the tube allows the primers room to make the transition more easily. I'll probably use your more permanent method if I make another. Oh, replacement trays and lids are available on Lee's webpage for $3.00 and $2.50, respectively. Good luck!

Dude, how could you tease us like this... No pics?

I was on Eric Grauffel's web page today and saw the extended mag release for the Tanfoglio. I have small hands and always wanted an extended release (like my 1911). Anyone try one of these? Do you think they would work with Henning's grips? I know I can grind off the mag release checkering, then tap and drill for a 1911 extension, but I'd rather have something more elegent. Anyone know if Henning is going to carry these?