Ball detent for slide racker

[blaster113]

I was frustrated with the set screw that came with my slide racker, so my slide's going to Springer Precision for a ball detent install.

[ExtremeShot]

I was frustrated with the set screw that came with my slide racker, so my slide's going to Springer Precision for a ball detent install.

What will that cost?

[Bansheex]

Has anyone seen or knows of one that will work on a Springfield XDM? I would like to install one.

[ExtremeShot]

Has anyone seen or knows of one that will work on a Springfield XDM? I would like to install one.

You're looking for a slide racker for the XDm? Do you want it to fit in the rear dove tail or something else?

[XRe]

...curious why you think it's safer to have the ball and spring in the racker versus the slide? And I would argue that there's nothing elegant about peening (staking) metal versus drilling and taping.

#1 - if you f*** up, you don't ruin a slide that's now worth some $500+ (after all the mill work, etc)

#2 - you stand far less chance of introducing a stress riser into the slide that will eventually result in a crack (again, costing you $500+)

#3 - Putting a screw into play gives you one more place for the thing to fail, potentially ending up with a situation where that screw backing out causes the gun not to run. This will inevitably (due to Murphy's Law) occur during the match that cost you the most money to be at for the year, and will possibly result in damage to the slide, frame, or other parts in the gun.

If you're going to put it in the slide, you can eliminate #3 by drilling the hole blind, and staking the ball and spring in, just like you'd do in the racker.

[Matt Cheely]

...curious why you think it's safer to have the ball and spring in the racker versus the slide? And I would argue that there's nothing elegant about peening (staking) metal versus drilling and taping.

#1 - if you f*** up, you don't ruin a slide that's now worth some $500+ (after all the mill work, etc)

#2 - you stand far less chance of introducing a stress riser into the slide that will eventually result in a crack (again, costing you $500+)

#3 - Putting a screw into play gives you one more place for the thing to fail, potentially ending up with a situation where that screw backing out causes the gun not to run. This will inevitably (due to Murphy's Law) occur during the match that cost you the most money to be at for the year, and will possibly result in damage to the slide, frame, or other parts in the gun.

If you're going to put it in the slide, you can eliminate #3 by drilling the hole blind, and staking the ball and spring in, just like you'd do in the racker.

1. The dovetail is the hard part of the whole thing.

2. The area you are cutting isn't in a high stress place, and you're putting a round hole in it. The dovetail is the sharp angle that would break.

3. Any of the screw based detents I've seen don't come close to the holding power of a normally install detent.

[Bansheex]

Has anyone seen or knows of one that will work on a Springfield XDM? I would like to install one.

You're looking for a slide racker for the XDm? Do you want it to fit in the rear dove tail or something else?

Yes. The rear dovetail would work.

[Foxbat]

3. Any of the screw based detents I've seen don't come close to the holding power of a normally install detent.

Matt, you of course have more experience, but in my case there is an interesting thing - the effort of pulling the racker out is not great, yet it just remains there while shooting. Apparently it is not the retaining force per se that matters, but the ability of the ball to return the part to its resting position after the minute shift induced at each shot. So I have never lost it after thousands of shots.