RussB Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 I found this old racegun for a fair price, but like everything, you get what you pay for...this in my "winter project" I rekon :biglaugh: The Tripp Research frame was manufactured sometimes around 1993, and then at who know's when it was cobbled together as a 38 Super racegun with a Springfield Armory slide and a Clark comp'd barrel. The good news is that it functions! There are a lot of very "rough" areas which I have begun to address. I replaced the plunger tube pins and springs. The spring was cut and the pin's tips were beat up. Wolff spring and SS pins are now installed. I replaced the firing pin and stop plate. The pin was battered and the plate was loose like a hot dog in a hallway! STI FP and EGW oversized plate were used. The mag release got a SS catch pin and a Wolff #1 spring I installed a 19# mainspring, and replaced the beat-up cap & base. I re-worked the face of the slide stop to move freely, yet be secure on the plunger pin. I also re-fit the thumb safety to fully engage into the slide cut-out, and contoured/polished the surface that contacts the plunger pin so the safety smartly snicks on & off. The trigger shoe fell off the trigger bow when I detail stripped the gun. It was apparently super-glued in place! I fit a new long Dlask magnesium/titanium trigger, which by the way took a very long time to get right. The bow needed a lot of straitening, and the shoe was oversized in both height (which is common) and length (which is bizzare, it was hitting the mag release). Many edges were de-burred, a slight radius put on the muzzle. New screws were made for the scope mount. I had to remove abot 3/16" off the end of the two-piece guide rode so it was flush with the end of the slide. I also added a hole through it for a take-down pin, and them loc-tited the thing together to effectively make it a one-piece. The next steps are to, 1. install a functioning STI grip safety. 2. install an STI magwell 3. make a new slide racker 4. and do a lot of re-machining to the slide so the comp matches up better with the slide, and some "other" little things to make it look more cohesive. Then a re-blueing will be in order. Many hours have already been spent, and its all been the "little things" that needed much attention Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caspian guy Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 At the time that was built sa slides were a fairly popular choice. So that's not that unusual. I have one about that vintage that has been updated several times. Just keeps going and going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidwiz Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 Good luck with the PDP3 scope. When I started IPSC, I went through 5 PDP3s in about a year, 2 of them that were supposedly "bullet proofed" by a then-well regarded person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric nielsen Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 You can do things like round off all the square corners at the back of the slide, round off the back corner of the steel frame where the trigger bow stops, put 45* angles behind the thumb-safety pins & then narrow the grip safety to fit... When I browse the classifieds for used guns I end up ignoring most of the ones that aren't blued for the above reasons. Rounding the back of the trigger-bow area really takes the sting out of shooting. First thing you notice if you are used to the Caspian frame. I thought my "Strayer-Tripp International" frame was old until a couple guys like you broke out the TRI's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussB Posted February 21, 2010 Author Share Posted February 21, 2010 You can do things like round off all the square corners at the back of the slide, round off the back corner of the steel frame where the trigger bow stops... ...Rounding the back of the trigger-bow area really takes the sting out of shooting. First thing you notice if you are used to the Caspian frame. I thought my "Strayer-Tripp International" frame was old until a couple guys like you broke out the TRI's. I'm with you there. That edge has gotta go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussB Posted February 21, 2010 Author Share Posted February 21, 2010 Good luck with the PDP3 scope. When I started IPSC, I went through 5 PDP3s in about a year, 2 of them that were supposedly "bullet proofed" by a then-well regarded person. Thanks...if the scope does fail, then I'll just have to fit another Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-ManBart Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 You probably know this, but in case others are wondering, the scope mount is from George Huening....great mount that was even hard to get for a while. I have one on my single stack Open gun. It was one of the first that didn't seem to kill scopes and I never had to replace the PDP3 on mine. You may consider an extended firing pin if you're not well stocked up on small rifle primers. I may have an STI magwell you can have....I'll take a look in the parts bin. R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussB Posted February 22, 2010 Author Share Posted February 22, 2010 Thank for the info and the offer Bart. Much appreciated. I was wondering who made that scope mount. I already have the magwell on order...should be here thursday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussB Posted February 23, 2010 Author Share Posted February 23, 2010 Here's today's progress... I blended the top of the slide and the radii to the comp. Damn that front sight notch. If only I could weld... I also addressed the little annoying sharp edge at the back side of the trigger bow. I radiused the outside to match the inside contour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussB Posted February 24, 2010 Author Share Posted February 24, 2010 (edited) I surface ground the top & sides of the slide/comp so they match up better. I also rand a 45* chamfer along the bottom edge of the slide. A previous owner added a small rectangular pocket on the slide, and I engraved "38 Super" in there. I also re-cut the slide serrations, which was more difficult that I could have imagined. The very uneven factory cuts were a bitch to clean up. Edited February 24, 2010 by RussB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussB Posted February 24, 2010 Author Share Posted February 24, 2010 Glass bead-blasted the parts today. Polished the flats on the slide and frame with 400 grit paper... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussB Posted February 27, 2010 Author Share Posted February 27, 2010 The parts are back from blue (done by Dave @ Black Oxide in Worcester, Mass) To re-cap, here's what what parts were fitted to the pistol, Caspian firing pin & Wolff spring EGW oversized firing pin stop 19# mainspring, base pin & cap Dlask long trigger Caspian disconnector Ed Brown mag release button plunger tube spring & pins STI magwell Blending and dehorning of slide & frame, and a a refinish in Black Oxide. I'm happy with the results :rock: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abs Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Nice Job! Looks like a million bucks! abs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParaGunner Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Great job on the transformation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussB Posted February 27, 2010 Author Share Posted February 27, 2010 Thanks Gentlemen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob DuBois Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 Thanks for sharing, enjoyed the post and your work. As an old shooter it's great to see life brought back to an old blaster. Hope you have as much fun shooting it as the rebuild. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussB Posted February 27, 2010 Author Share Posted February 27, 2010 Thanks for sharing, enjoyed the post and your work. As an old shooter it's great to see life brought back to an old blaster. Hope you have as much fun shooting it as the rebuild. Thanks for the kind words Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GMV Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 Wow!!! Great work!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raz-0 Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 The most amazing thing is the dlask trigger is still silvery. Mine turned a dingy, dull gray almost instantly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussB Posted March 7, 2010 Author Share Posted March 7, 2010 The most amazing thing is the dlask trigger is still silvery. Mine turned a dingy, dull gray almost instantly. Don't worry, mine has already turned a sickening brownish-gray after just about 500 rounds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoubleDelta Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 That is one nice blaster. Gonna sound like a total noob here, but was Tripp the forerunner of STI? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diehli Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 The most amazing thing is the dlask trigger is still silvery. Mine turned a dingy, dull gray almost instantly. Don't worry, mine has already turned a sickening brownish-gray after just about 500 rounds Bare Al will do that. That is one nice blaster. Gonna sound like a total noob here, but was Tripp the forerunner of STI? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STI_International Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussB Posted March 7, 2010 Author Share Posted March 7, 2010 (edited) That is one nice blaster. Gonna sound like a total noob here, but was Tripp the forerunner of STI? Virgil Tripp was the "T" in STI Edited March 7, 2010 by RussB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussB Posted March 7, 2010 Author Share Posted March 7, 2010 (edited) While burning the midnight oil I hacked in an undercut triggerguard, and blended the front edge of the grip frame to match the radius of the STI magwell, I also swapped out the grip safety for a new Ed Brown Memory groove unit, and this one actually functions. I prefer a grip safety that works as designed Edited March 7, 2010 by RussB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earlbob Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 Nice. Wish I had the skill to do that kind of stuff...how you like the memory groove? Never tried one. earl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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