Yet Another MP40P 5"

[Bongo Boy]

In the spirit of sharing our excitement, joy and general elation:

Here she is:

An for now, sheathed in a Blackhawk SRB belt holster I tweaked to accomodate a little more gun:

...and here's the best I could do today after taking delivery at the gun club, at 8 yards freestyle:

I started out quite a bit worse, and after this target shot a bit worse as well as I got tired of the Fiocchi factory loads.

I cut about 5/8" off the muzzle end of the holster because it was radically shrunk inward to semi-cover the weapon muzzle, and then I heated it up and put the MP40P in to move out that portion of holster that was intended to fit tightly to the scalloped underside portion of the slide. I put the gun in, then squashed the holster down tight to the gun. Fits nice. Should I live long enough that the holster is a factor in my shooting, I'll replace it.

I'd describe the trigger as...awful. It will need as much work as my MP45c did, but no big deal.

I had some Fiocchi 170 gr ammo, and bought a box of PPC stuff at the club. Wow...no comparison. The Fiocchi hammered pretty good, while the PPC ammo was a real pleasure to shoot by comparison. Need now to work up some handloads that make major and feel like .32 ACP

Edited May 27, 2010 by Bongo Boy

[Del]

Nice

I cant wait to get mine!

[Bongo Boy]

In lieu of buying a sear on this month's hobby budget, I did a quick 20 min mod to the stock sear:

Sketch shows stock profile at the top with engagement tangent line shown for illustrative purposes. Sketch at bottom is close to what I did with the 600 grit diamond plate, with a finish using the 1200 diamond, then a final buff with a diamond-ipregnated rubber block.

I'm guessing the new trigger pull is about 4 lbs, and slightly mushy...not as clean a break as I'd like, but okay for now and at least not the ungodly pull of the stock trigger. The 'screen door spring' sound and feel of the striker block is still there, of course--that area needs major attention, but I'll just wait until I can get an Apex 'repair' kit for the whole slide.

I don't expect a 2.5 lb world-class 1911 bullseye trigger on these out of the factory, but I see no difference between this particular Pro Series unit and the stock, non-Pro MP45 I bought. In fact, maybe I just don't remember how bad the MP45 was, but swear the MP40 Pro was even nastier in terms of overall take-up and weight. Maybe if Smith could set up it's trigger fabrication shop in China

Edited May 29, 2010 by Bongo Boy

[Bongo Boy]

I pumped 500 rds through it today at the range...mostly 3.0, 3.3 and 3.4 gr Clays under the 180 gr truncated cone bullets, maybe 100 rds of 5.7gr of No5 under the same bullet. All I can say is that had I the time, I would have stayed for another 1,000 rds. I absolutely love this gun. It feels good, gets back on target faster than I can I think, and is just perfect in every way. While yes, the trigger is a tad mushy, that's my fault and not an inherent quality...I modified the sear and have to take credit for both the good and the bad that comes with not being a gunsmith, but a 'funsmith'.

The only think I dislike more about Mondays than having to get back to work is the fact the range isn't open.