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Tanfo aftermarket barrels ...


johnbu

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1 hour ago, johnbu said:

 

Most "estimates" for time are from a person that has done it ... a lot.  I remember the first time I swapped a hammer spring in a Tanfo.  It EASILY took an hour.  No joke.  Just going slow, trying to figure out how to take the parts out, where they heck they went back, did  I lose one?  etc etc.   So, when Joe or anyone says, "10 minutes", that is a time for a person with the tools, knowledge and experience will be expected to take.  

 

I may try my hand at barrel fitting and do a write up on it.  Any interest in that?

 

 

CZ sear cages  come to mind :) 

 

Heck yea on the write up. 

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5 hours ago, johnbu said:

 

Most "estimates" for time are from a person that has done it ... a lot.  I remember the first time I swapped a hammer spring in a Tanfo.  It EASILY took an hour.  No joke.  Just going slow, trying to figure out how to take the parts out, where they heck they went back, did  I lose one?  etc etc.   So, when Joe or anyone says, "10 minutes", that is a time for a person with the tools, knowledge and experience will be expected to take.  

 

I may try my hand at barrel fitting and do a write up on it.  Any interest in that?

 

That would be a great write up.  Add some links to Memphismechanics videos, and his Tanfo Bible thread and call it "Tanfo Tuning with Mr. Memphis and Dr. John!"  similar to the "Professor Atlas" CZ thread.

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If my recollection is correct, somebody smart, I think it was johnbu, wrote somewhere on this forum that Tanfo had changed the width of the slides at some point in time and not shared this information.

 

Have an old stock 2, comparing to a newer stock 2 the writing on the left side of the old slide is cursive and just says "stock", whereas the writing on the left side of the newer slide is bigger and block style and says  "Stock 2". There is different writing on the right side as well. Measuring flats on the outside of the slides, the old slide seems to be about 0.008 narrower. 

 

Bought one of the new barrels. The oem barrel on my gun appears to be at the large end of diameters, I measure it as only being 0.001" smaller in diameter than the new barrel. You can insert the new barrel in my slide backwards and it appears to be a better fit than oem but not Les Baer tight, sort of feels like the typical tightness of fit between a CZ barrel and a CGW precision bushing. I think most folks will probably find that their is a greater size difference between their oem and new and diameter of the new barrel may need reduced. 

 

When attempting to install the new barrel in my old slide it goes in this far before binding. The barrel is contacting the slide at the location of the two arrows and there is contact between the top of the barrel and the slide at the muzzle (not shown) . 

 

tanfo11.thumb.jpg.7635cc9ccacb99a3607fb7aa427c26f4.jpg

 

 

Playing around a bit makes me think that I can finish machining (read Dremel) the rest of the flats on either side and proceed with the install, the arrow points at the area of blue that rubs off equally on either side if you insert the barrel as far as possible and then rotate it while holding slight pressure. 

 

 

 tanfoblue.thumb.jpg.2797044bc155205b171d1995bb7e2214.jpg

 

For the time I'm going to hold up and ponder things a bit more. It is a booger to undremel things if you change your mind :) 

 

 

Edited by IHAVEGAS
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13 minutes ago, IHAVEGAS said:

It is a booger to undremel things if you change your mind :)

 

More gunsmiths drive new trucks from people using dremels than you would think!

 

Not sure if it was just me (or if i said it!) But, yes.  they changed slide width from the script to block roll stamp.  and the amount of barrel exposure.  and a lot of other things over the years.  LOK has pictures of grip changes affecting how their product fits.

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, johnbu said:

Not sure if it was just me (or if i said it!) But, yes.  they changed slide width from the script to block roll stamp.  and the amount of barrel exposure.  and a lot of other things over the years.  LOK has pictures of grip changes affecting how their product fits.

 

 

Hmmm, any reason to suspect that they changed any important dimensions on their barrels? 

 

Other thing, I noticed that my oem barrel has chamfered edges around the hole for the slide stop and the new one does not. Seems like Tanfo does not machine anything they do not have to so I'm wondering about rounding the edges with a file. Silly concern perhaps,  but I worry about these things :) . 

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2 hours ago, IHAVEGAS said:

Hmmm, any reason to suspect that they changed any important dimensions on their barrels?  

I doubt it.  I've swapped barrels around and things all seem to be close. 

 

I will be getting a barrel in a short bit.  so, i don't "know", but i would think just slightly rounding sharp edges and then polishing would be better than filing.

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Not apples and apples, but interesting if you enjoy learning about such things.

 

Got bored and started fiddling with the new barrel. Had the inspiration of trying the barrel in my other stock 2s (newer 9mms, have 2 9's of recent manufacture and an old frame style 40). Diameter on the new barrel was still small enough to allow it to be inserted backwards in the other slides also, inserting in correct direction and the barrel bound on the high spots(picture in previous post) in the newer slides also.

 

Took a dremel & buzzed off the high spots, that fixed the bind and allowed the barrel to be inserted in the slide in the correct direction.

 

Started filling on the bullet end of the barrel, was surprised how easy the metal cuts, had assumed it would be a pain. Stopped just short of finished for now, pondering means to insure surface filed is dead square before I remove that last bit of metal. Something like this would be cool.

 

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Haven't figured out what, if anything, to do about sharp edged 90 on hole that the slide release  fits into. Rounding (not sure how?) seems like a good idea but I'm tempted to just see what happens & what wear on the shaft of the slide release looks like. 

Edited by IHAVEGAS
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Ok, my new Patriot Defense bull barrel is in hand! Pic 1

Came nicely packed and looks to be very precisely machined. The "peanut" is sharper than the factory barrel. Pic 2

My CO stock 2 with black ceracoat slide will be the new home for the barrel. Pic 3

Side by side pic 4.

 

But how's it FIT?? Pic 5. It doesn't.

 

And that's  a GOOD THING!  the new is 0.005" larger diameter than the old. It NEEDS to be fit to the slide. The factory barrel had about  0.0025" clearance on the big end.  Meaning i could wiggle it side to side that much. Not horrible,  but not custom gun tight and accurate.

 

The chamber end is starting about 3/16" away from the breech face. Pic 6. That  distance doesn't matter, i just note it to reference progress. I DO NOT WANT to jump to the breech face fast!  I want to "sneak up on it", so it has a perfect fit.

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Things you need. 

Bench vice with soft jaws

sand paper

sharpie pen

Real helpful is a bench grinder with coth polishing wheel and compounds.

 

I DIY'ed the soft jaws.  Just use some plastic like milk jug or ice cream pail, cut to cover the jaws and tape them in place.  Mount the barrel in the soft jaws by the "peanut" so that the barrel is not damaged.  Pay attention!  Then I used a 1" wide machinist sand paper (first 150 grit then 320) and "sawed" back and with it wrapped about 270 degrees.  The more surface you cover at once the more uniform the metal removal. Use 12-15 saws, then flip the barrel to the other side and repeat such that you get the entire surface.  Use the same number of strokes and the same uniform pressure. Test the barrel in the slide and monitor it's slow progress as it moves in to the slide deeper and deeper. 

GO SLOW.

 

I was very careful to NOT sand to the very end often.  Look at the factory barrel, it will have contact area back from the end.  As you start to get close, coat the barrel end with sharpie.  Install the barrel and wiggle it.  The sharpie will rub off where it makes contact. Pic 1

 

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I also measured the OD of the barrel.  It started at 0.7305 to 0.7310,  The factory barrel was 0.7265 and had some tactile wiggle.  A perfect fit barrel will be less wiggle .  The pictured numbers are approximate as I had issue measuring and snapping pics as the same time.  LOL.

 

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Hard to see, but inserting and wiggling the barrel showed where it was still too big.  I did it ... A LOT. 

 

 

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I also measured the slide to get an idea of what size was needed. Measure measure measure.  Test Test Test.

Go slow and get it right. 

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Edited by johnbu
lost the text ... had to recreate it
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Ok, after  about an hour of slow progress with sandpaper. Got it close. Used the bench grinder with polishing wheel and medium compound.  20190327_200200_compress_8.thumb.jpg.4b5d37487ccd07a1e6f5d4a53f6ef69f.jpg

 

It was a tight fit, and not done, but .... whew!  It's getting there!

 

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Still has some clearance needed around the"flat" where the spring lives.

 

 

 

Edited by johnbu
easier on the computer, but photos on the phone!
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Video link of the barrel in the  slide.

 

Still not right, but you can see the progress.

 

 

Did a bit more before knocking off for the evening. 

 

 getting very close now!   need to verify locking lugs are fully engaging and tweak clearance a bit. 

 

But, that's a chore for tomorrow.

 

Right now i did about an hour of fitting including the picture taking. It's fairly straight forward.  i may get some additional pictures showing mounting in the vice and sanding, just for clarity.

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Ok. More progress today.  a few more pictures and probably too many words. Lol.

 

Picture of how i set the barrel in the vice and 3/4 wrapped the sandpaper.

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Edited by johnbu
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Adding pictures and posts so i don't lose a big post (Like yesterday)

 

Measuring locking lug engagement.

You can use the "tail end" of your caliper to measure the distance from slide to barrel. Measure just barely unlocked and fully locked and subtract.  or mount in a vice and use a precision dial indicator...

 

Needle  spun once around plus 0.007 for 0.057" total

 

Initially, i had 0.045" and thought the hood area was holding things up. Joe at Patriot Defense said to double check that the barrel was loose enough to allow it to pivot.  Any "springy action" indicates there needs to be more clearance. I also had some binding going into full lock /battery and coming out.  Odd as it seems, the SLIDE is flexible and the ramped barrel can easily wedge it wider.  So there needs to be a bit of clearance.  Once i gave it a bit more, it really smoothed out.  

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Edited by johnbu
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Simple method of clearancing the barrel hood.  on the bench, under the towel i place self adhesive sand paper. 120 and 320 grit.  holding the barrel vertical  it's  pretty easy to slowly remove material.

 

 

I use a super high tech method to derermine rub points ... sharpie pen. Lol.   the dance was, sand, polish, sharpie, install, cycle the slide, remove  inspect ... repeat.

 

Here i "thought" it was about done, and it is really really close. But needs more finesse to be where i want it.

 

It is nearly there!  sadly, i will need to put it down for a week while other priorities occupy my time. 

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