Series 80-70

[Gillster]

I searched for this and didn't find an answer so I am posting here in hopes. I bought one of the shim to fill the space of the series 80 parts on my P14. Everything went together fine and the trigger pull is much nicer but when hand cycling the slide every so often the hammer will follow. I can cause it to happen if the gum is tilted to the left. I am unwilling to try firing the gun like this. Does the shim need to be shimmed out more from the frame? Is the sear catching on the frame next to the shim? Any knowledge or advice on this situation would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Chris

[Guest Larry Cazes]

Due to personal experience, I would be surprised if the removal of the FP safety is causing the hammer to follow. I removed the parts on my P14 and used it in L-10 for 6 months before getting around to purchasing and installing the shim from Brownells. It functioned 100% during this time. I also know others at our local clubs who have never installed the kit and have zero functioning problems with their P14/P16. Have you followed good troubleshooting practices and re-installed the original FP safety parts to see if the problem goes away? Your comment and not test firing is sound. Whatever the outcome, do not load and test fire this gun until the problem is solved and fully understood.

[L9X25]

In support of what Larry said, I would doubt that the shim being too thin would cause your problem. However, the shim being to thick and impeding the free motion of the sear COULD cause the problem. Some of the shims that I have seen are "stamped" metal and are not perfectly flat. They can also have sharp edges or "flashing" that does not allow them to sit "flush" against the frame. Make sure that everything is flat, smooth and that there is no tension on the sear (from the plate).

This is one of those situations where a qualified gunsmith could save you a lot of heartache and make life much safer for you.

Good luck,

Leo

[.40AET]

You may try buying another shim plate. I bought 2 from Brownell's and both dropped into Para's with no problems. I can't remember the name, but Brownell's was only carrying one manufacturer at the time that I bought them. If you want to get crazy, you can shorten the trigger pull now that the series 80 junk is gone.

[sfinney]

I second the opinion the shim may be to thick, binding the sear sometimes?

Try taking a stone to the shim to lightly smooth it out, remove any burrs, both sides- or some very fine wet and dry sandpaper, say 400 or 600 grit, and just rub the shim lightly back and forth on it. As the shims are punched metal usually, they sometimes aren't 100% flat, or might have rough edges.

Check the place on the frame where the shim goes, mine had some burrs on the frame that caused the shim to not fit perfectly flush in its pocket.

Still having trouble after that, hmmmm..... take it to a pistol smith I guess.

Oh, I have a spare shim I never used i could drop in the mail to you, you're welcome to mine if you want to try another, email me.

[Gillster]

Thanks for the advice. I took SFinney up on his gracious offer (and thank you very much) and replaced the shim I bought with the one he had. I haven't been able to get the problem to repeat itself with the new shim in (and I've tried quite a bit) and everything went together smoothly. Monday I'll take it to the range and give it a go. Thanks again.

Chris

[joshua]

sfinney,

You are the man! Guys like you create more members for our sport. Thanks. josh