mpolans Posted October 24, 2004 Share Posted October 24, 2004 I've got a particular project in mind for an STI-based open gun (not just a simple lightening cut) , and it would require milling down the top of the slide from the rear to the first quarter of the ejection port (where the barrel hood is). The question is, how much metal can be safely removed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos Posted October 25, 2004 Share Posted October 25, 2004 Mark - I have the dim.s someplace at work; generally you can take it down to where the top radius meets the side flat without entering the FP hole. As far as forward dim, I have seen the rear portion milled fairly close the breach face - say within .500"; though more may be possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpolans Posted October 25, 2004 Author Share Posted October 25, 2004 I've taken it as a given that you can't go below the head of the case, but I wonder how far above it you have to stay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shred Posted October 25, 2004 Share Posted October 25, 2004 I've got an open gun where the smith got a little happy on the mill and as a result, you can see most of the length of the firing pin spring. No biggie, it still works. It's a little hard on firing-pin stops since there's not much material left there. Forward of that, I have no idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpolans Posted October 25, 2004 Author Share Posted October 25, 2004 Hmm... sounds like depth at the rear won't be a problem. My main concern is where the back of the ejection port meets the barrel hood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Action Pistolero Posted October 26, 2004 Share Posted October 26, 2004 mpolans, All of my slides are lightened in the rear. The way we did it was to stay behind the breachface atleast 3/8". We then took the rest of the slide down until there was 0.150"of metal above the firing pin hole. This leaves enough material so that you can cut a dovetail for a slide racker. I did this on my STI open class steel gun. I also cut the front of the slide so that it looks like my Beretta 92 slide. The gun runs real well with light loads and I can still put 20 rounds in the mags. Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpolans Posted October 26, 2004 Author Share Posted October 26, 2004 Here's the problem. For what I have in mind, I need to go all the way to the breechface. Basically, I was thinking of taking an Optima or Docter sight and slapping it on a fixed (NOT SLIDE MOUNTED) mount that would mount it where the rear sight would normally be. I wanted to mill down the rear slide area as much as possible to get the sight as low as possible. Since the ejection port area comes back far enough to interfere, I can't stop behind the breechface. Because of the design of the mount I have in mind, I don't need (or want) a slide racker. So does anyone know, from the rear of the slide to the first 1/4 of the ejection port, how far down can the slide be milled? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Meek Posted October 26, 2004 Share Posted October 26, 2004 I would assume that you can only mill as far down as the contact area of the breechface to the rear of the barrell hood. Which is a lot less than customarily done on the swoop cuts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.L. Hardy Posted October 26, 2004 Share Posted October 26, 2004 mpolans, slides tend to crack at the upper left corner of the breach face and at the front lower corner of the ejection port. i think going anywhere close to where you are suggesting would greatly increase the probability of the slide cracking at the upper left corner of the breachface. caspian will not warranty any slide that is cut too close to the breachface. i believe they have a guage to check this but i don't know exactly the measurement they use. it is always best to stay away from these areas to do lightening work and make cuts that don't compromise the integrity of the slide. good shooting, j.l. hardy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackdragon Posted October 26, 2004 Share Posted October 26, 2004 Mpolans, I would suggest that you call PMC and ask for Basil, He's mounted more Doctor sights than anyone. He designed all the mounting hardware for BC Outdoors. Ivan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincent Posted October 26, 2004 Share Posted October 26, 2004 Kinda like this Open gun as shown on Ross Carter's website?? It looks like this one has plenty of space left behind the breechface. Maybe you could give Ross a call. He posts on this forum so maybe PM him. The Carter Custom website is http://www.cartercustom.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpolans Posted October 27, 2004 Author Share Posted October 27, 2004 Yeah, basically like that, but I was just thinking of mounting it even lower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerome Poiret Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 What about this ?: Cut the slide the "Beretta" way (ie remove everything from the front barrel lug to the bushing area. Then design a mount that places the sight in the Beretta cut. I thik that with a bushing-type barrel, you could go very low... Kind of like this, but lower mounted: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshua Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 You want to go lower than the Carter design?... Does your club make you shoot through peep holes? josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dead Buff Posted October 28, 2004 Share Posted October 28, 2004 A new modified design??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpolans Posted October 28, 2004 Author Share Posted October 28, 2004 I like the Beretta cut idea...I'm going to have to measure that out. Just thought it would be interesting to see how low one could be mounted. Didn't want to mount anything on the slide because it would add reciprocating mass and I was worried about shock to the sight itself. I think for a modified gun it might be a neat idea too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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