Why are there reliability differences in tuned guns?

[MissionaryMike]

1 hour ago, johnbu said:

You're welcome!

 

I suck so bad at scooting and shooting there is no reason not to share the tips and tricks discovered. Lol.

 

My current preferred procedure is to detail strip, clean, polish "pretty good" and assemble / test / tweak and tune each part as it's assembled. It's a PITA doing multiple teardown / assembly but it isolates each element.  Had MissionaryMike tested the trigger with bar only (no plunger, sear, hammer) he probably would have found that bind sooner.  same with the hammer (no spring) to see if it swings free, etc etc.

 

And then running heavy springs to better show friction spots.

 

That's exactly how I problem-solved it.  There was a picture you posted of a pistol (Lim Pro?) you were prepping for a junior shooter.  I thought it peculiar, but smart, to test the weight of just the trigger and TRS, w/o anything else like you mentioned above.  That's when I finally noticed the trigger binding on the trigger cutout in the frame.  You helped me unintentionally, yet immensely.

[johnbu]

Cool! Glad it worked out for you.

 

[SCTaylor]

Sooo, I've been ruined, now forced to smooth the trigger in my original Stock 2.  Bought a Stock 2 off SuperLuckyCat that had a "trigger job" done before he bought it and Holy Moses is it smooth! Pull weights are inline with the OG S2 but so much smoother, SO MUCH.  Spent an hour this morning polishing some parts, should finish up either this evening or tomorrow morning.

 

Yeah I'm eating some crow here, but damn the gun handles like a Cadillac with a silky smooth trigger! You don't know what you've been missing till ya try it!

Edited February 16, 2017 by SCTaylor

[MemphisMechanic]

Let us know what you think you hadn't polished sufficiently. Have you stripped them down side by side and compared the finishes, etc?

[SCTaylor]

I never pulled S2.1 all the way down. Only polished the hammer sides, hole & pin, sides of sear cage and nothing else.  Now I'm going over everything with 1 "good" pass then re-assemble and shoot.  Following John's advice to shoot a good bit before tearing down again to re-polish.

 

If there is time, I'll compare the two. From just taking the slide off, S2.2 isn't polished on the plunger head or top of trigger bar humps.  It does have a 1 piece sear that could take out some of the stacking as well.  I'm just now learning how everything works in concert, never took the time before.

 

As it stands today; S2.1 is 100% reliable with CCI & S&B primers.  S2.2 is purportedly 100% reliable with CCI & S&B as well. 

[johnbu]

And they wonder why my favorite tanfoglio word is "polish"....

 

Lol.

 

Take an HOUR and do the plunger shaft, head, inside of the  head and the spring. 

[SCTaylor]

Finished polishing S2.1 Friday evening. It definitely feels smoother but not the same as S2.2; didn't tear into S2.2 to verify polish work.  Either way I'm a happy camper with the job done.  There is one trick left to try tomorrow with part swapping, have a 1 piece sear coming from PD and hope that will eliminate the last bit of stack in S2.1. Otherwise I'm gonna burn down ~1,000 rounds this weekend stress testing both guns.

Edited February 20, 2017 by SCTaylor

[MemphisMechanic]

Put a few hundred through the first one, and then pull it down and look very carefully at the sear housing, trigger bar, disconnection, hammer hooks, etc for wear marks. Then shine them up.

 

This (the johnbu method") worked really well for me. My pull weights are still a bit higher than some, but that really doesn't matter when your trigger glides like it's riding on ball bearings. Not at the range anyway - only on the internet.

[johnbu]

Yup.  Polish, shoot, inspect, polish, repeat. 

 

That seems to give the best results in a DIY setting where there is time available.