Timmy the Tanfoglio: Building Amos Burton’s 10mm Semi-auto from The Expanse

[Rudukai13]

From “Leviathan Wakes”, The Expanse Book One:

 

“Okay, he’s still here so let’s-“ Holden started, and then stopped when he saw the woman from the couch standing right behind Alex. He hadn’t heard or seen her approach.

 

“You need to come with me,” she said in a hard voice. “Walk to the stairwell - slowly. Stay at least three meters ahead of me the entire time. Do it now.”

 

“Are you a cop?” Holden asked, not moving.

 

“I’m the person with the gun,” she said. A small weapon appeared like magic in her right hand. She pointed it at Alex’s head. “So, do what I say.” Her weapon was small and plastic, and had some kind of battery pack. Amos pulled his heavy slug-thrower out and aimed it at her face.

 

“Mine’s bigger,” he said.

 

“Amos, don’t-“ was all Naomi had time to say before the stairwell door burst open and half a dozen men and women armed with compact automatic weapons came into the room, yelling at them to drop their guns.

———

 

 

Timmy’s back! I honestly had forgotten how smooth this gun is. The new safety has even less play than the original if anything, and it works much better with my wrong-handedness. My gunsmith did an excellent job chopping off the slide release lever and re-finishing the resulting barrel retention pin:

 

 

I also installed the Patriot Defense magwell when I got home tonight, and I’m pretty sure I could toss a new mag into the gun from across the room at this point:

 

 

I can’t wait to get this thing back to the range and throw a couple hundred more rounds through it. It’s coming together extremely well!

[Rudukai13]

Everything in me is screaming out to get the gun back to the range tomorrow, but I sliced open my left thumb at work pretty well on Friday and the fairly large flap of skin is just being held together with super glue right now. I know if I take this thing to the range it’ll take less than a mag of Ten Milly with those PD grips to pull the cut apart on my hand and give the frame a nice new coating of fresh blood, so I think I’m going to have to push off the next range trip until a little later this week. It’ll be getting more rounds down the pipe very soon though!

[Bakerjd]

What's the reasoning for cutting the slide stop pin? I'm also a Lefty and other then wanting to trim the right side flush I don't get it.

[Rudukai13]

13 minutes ago, Bakerjd said:

What's the reasoning for cutting the slide stop pin? I'm also a Lefty and other then wanting to trim the right side flush I don't get it.

Not gonna use it, so might as well get rid of it.

 

I’m certainly not the first person to have this idea either, at least one if not multiple companies used to make a flush slide stop pin for Tanfoglio sans the lever as well, and the same item can be had for CZ S2/TS pistols. In the unlikely event someone ever produces an ambi slide stop/release piece for this pistol, I’ll get one of those and give it the functionality back. But until then there’s nothing the gun can do with the stop lever that I can’t learn to do without it

[crg]

I don't think I've posted in any of your threads yet but I've read through them all. You definitely have some unique ideas so it's always interesting to see what you're up to. Anyway, how is the shooting experience with the tanfo? Looking at the pictures my first impression is there has to be some serious tendency for muzzle dip with the flashlight and forward mounted optic on a gun that's already pretty front heavy. Have you found that to be the case?

[Rudukai13]

1 hour ago, crg said:

I don't think I've posted in any of your threads yet but I've read through them all. You definitely have some unique ideas so it's always interesting to see what you're up to. Anyway, how is the shooting experience with the tanfo? Looking at the pictures my first impression is there has to be some serious tendency for muzzle dip with the flashlight and forward mounted optic on a gun that's already pretty front heavy. Have you found that to be the case?

So far very nice, but I’ve only put a couple hundred rounds through it. I was paying more attention to getting a rough zero and making sure there weren’t any malfunctions. I’ve also changed the recoil spring weight since the last time I had it at the range, so that’ll probably have an effect too. I’ll pay closer attention when I take it to the range this weekend and report back

[Rudukai13]

From “Nemesis Games”, The Expanse Book Five:

 

“Everything alright?” Peaches asked.

 

“Sure,” Amos said. The shadows of the other crew faded into the gloom.

 

“Talk them out of any unpleasant actions?”

 

“Me? Nope. They did most of that themselves. Best defense we’ve got right now is everyone’s in the habit of not killing each other and taking their s#!t. Pretty soon people are just gonna start assuming anyone they don’t know is out to slit their throats - if they’re lucky.” She looked at him. Her face was smooth, her eyes intelligent and hard.

 

“You don’t sound upset at the prospect.”

 

“I’m comfortable with it.”

———

 

 

Another range trip, another couple hundred rounds. I did have just a couple rounds nose-dive into the feed ramp rather than chamber correctly, but I’m chalking that up to still being in break-in. If it continues I’ll take a look at what to do to correct the issue.

 

 

@crg asked if the addition of the WML and heavier recoil spring causes noticeable muzzle dip when the slide cycles, the answer is it does not. I still need to drive the muzzle back down a bit when slow-firing the gun after it’s finished cycling. Hopefully adding the comp won’t cause the muzzle to dip, but will just prevent it from jumping up as much to begin with.

 

It seems this time just one grip screw loosened up a bit during my post-range once-over. For tonight I tightened it back down, when I have more time tomorrow after work I’ll apply some red loctite like I had on the optic mount screws - those don’t seem to have moved a bit.

 

The grips are going to take a little bit before my hands toughen up, until then I’ll have a couple new blisters. But that’s nothing new. I am anxiously awaiting the threaded barrel and comp from Patriot Defense, my gentle sensibilities are a bit rattled after two hundred rounds of 180gr at 1,250fps. But it’s seeming like other than that for now this gun is solid. Time to put a metric s#!tload of bullets down the barrel.

 

I did have three different people, one of whom was the Range Safety Officer, stop me to ask what the gun was. They were each rewarded with getting to throw ten rounds downrange through it. If anyone’s ever in CO and sees this gun on the line, tap me on the shoulder - if I have the ammo, I’ll let you shoot it too!

[Rudukai13]

…Sorry not sure why that text is so large

[Rudukai13]

 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, hope you all had a great day! Potentially more range time over this long weekend, we’ll see what happens. Timmy to stay comfortable in my bedside pistol safe for now

[Rudukai13]

 

Something interesting I noticed when re-loading the Ten Milly after dryfiring tonight - with the slide lock lever trimmed, you can see in to the top round of the magazine sitting in the gun:

 

 

Should be getting back to the range again and more rounds down the pipe sometime in the next week, more updates soon to come. Hoping the grip screws hold on better this time with the red Loctite

[matteekay]

You build stupid things.

 

As someone who ALSO builds stupid things, I appreciate this about you.

 

This build has to be my favorite so far, and definitely way better looking than the "Glock with things glued to it" that they gave the actors in the "Expanse" show. Question: as this is to be your do-all gun, what are you thinking in terms of holsters? Is that even remotely feasible?

[Rudukai13]

1 hour ago, matteekay said:

You build stupid things.

 

As someone who ALSO builds stupid things, I appreciate this about you.

 

This build has to be my favorite so far, and definitely way better looking than the "Glock with things glued to it" that they gave the actors in the "Expanse" show. Question: as this is to be your do-all gun, what are you thinking in terms of holsters? Is that even remotely feasible?

Once the gun is done being built, holsters will have to be made one-off custom. Custom kydex molded to the gun will be easy enough to do. It was an issue I faced with my P320 after mounting an optic to the frame, and I found someone willing to make custom OWB and AIWB kydex holsters for it:

 

[matteekay]

22 minutes ago, Rudukai13 said:

Once the gun is done being built, holsters will have to be made one-off custom. Custom kydex molded to the gun will be easy enough to do. It was an issue I faced with my P320 after mounting an optic to the frame, and I found someone willing to make custom OWB and AIWB kydex holsters for it:

 

 

...is this person local?

[Rudukai13]

48 minutes ago, matteekay said:

 

...is this person local?

Those holsters were made by OTG Hex, who already offered something similar for a Glock with Agency’s Optic Mount (their version of the 6SM):

 

https://otghex.com/products/agency-optic-mount/?navselect=group3

 

I talked him into making something similar for the P320. I had to send him the optic mount I used, an Atlas RMR 2011 mount, and he taped it to a P320 blue gun to mold the holsters around.

 

I imagine I’ll have to do a bit more digging to find someone who’s willing to mold holsters for the Tanfo once it’s built

[Rudukai13]

On a “I swear I was thinking about it before they released the DWX” note, I kind of want a flat-face trigger that’s either anodized or cerakoted red. Anyone know who makes one?

[Rudukai13]

 

After an unceremoniously long hiatus (sorry, work gets in the way these days), I think I’m going shooting this weekend

[Rudukai13]

 

Went out to Northern Colorado for a rather cold range day with my brother and several of his acquaintances. Mostly shot the MCX but put several more magazines through Timmy including letting everyone else in attendance squeeze off a few rounds. Everyone else had brought 9mm polymer striker pistols of some kind of another, so they were all able to appreciate the differences between their guns and a SAO hammer-fired 10mm. Grip, magwell, and optic mount screws seem to have held on this time - I’ll continuing keeping an eye on them for a while but looking good for now.

 

Should get word from Patriot Defense that their comp setup is ready to go any day now. I keep hasslin’ ‘em about it every other day…

[attakmint]

I just wanted to be the first to congratulate you on your new L/10 Optics gun.

[Rudukai13]

3 hours ago, attakmint said:

I just wanted to be the first to congratulate you on your new L/10 Optics gun.

Hoping it’ll be closer to an Open gun with a WML when I’m done.

 

Which…Probably still just makes it an Open gun, I guess?

[Rudukai13]

From “Abbadon’s Gate”, The Expanse Book Three:

 

Holden had already gone past that, and was unbuckling his restraints.

 

“Are you armed?” Holden asked Amos. The big mechanic pulled a large caliber pistol out of his pocket and held it against his thigh. In the microgravity it would shove Amos around if he fired it, but surrounded by bulkheads that wouldn’t be too much of a problem.

 

“Hey,” Monica said, her face shifting from confusion to fear.

 

“One of you hijacked my comm array,” Holden said. “One of you is working for whoever is doing this to us. Whoever it is should really just tell me now.”

 

“You forgot to threaten us,” Cohen said.

 

“No, I didn’t.”

 

“It wasn’t us,” Monica said - the fear on her face draining the bland video star prettiness away, making her look older, gaunt.

 

“f*#k this,” Amos said, pointing the gun at them. “Let me drag one of them down to the airlock and space them right now. Even if only one of them did it I got me a 25% chance to get the right one. Got a 33% chance with the second one I toss. 50-50 by the third, and those are odds I’ll take any day.”

———

 

 

Finally got back to the range today after too long of an absence. Went alright, the gun was performing well and I was shooting better than I expected for having been gone so long.

 

 

Unfortunately a little over a hundred rounds into my lane time, the gun started having issues with the trigger not resetting. It seems when the slide cycles it’s not pushing the hammer back completely, which means it isn’t re-engaging the sear and I wind up with a dead trigger unless I thumb the hammer the rest of the way back and get a “click” as the sear re-engages. That’s happening both with live ammo and just dryfire manipulations, so something’s off.

 

At this point, I’m inclined to just send the whole thing in to Patriot Defense when they have the barrel and comp ready (soon), have them install that and then do a full rebuild and tune for reliability through the whole system, including the new barrel and comp. Sent them a message to find out how much that’s gonna hurt my wallet.

 

Until then, looks like I’ve got a pretty but useless hunk of metal in my safe…

[Rudukai13]

Trigger issue fixed! Thanks to a hint from @SouperMan and @himurax13, I took the gun to my local gunsmith and asked him to take a look at the pre-travel adjustment screw. Turns out it’d backed out in recoil and wasn’t allowing the trigger to reset when the slide cycled. Three minutes with an Allen key and some red loctite and we’re back in business!

 

10mm: Because f*#k your torque specs

[Rudukai13]

After some continued discussion with other 10mm owners, Patriot Defense, and Henning Group, I’ve ordered up a Wolff 16lbs recoil spring to replace the 20lbs spring currently in the gun. The 20lbs spring is probably just too strong for the power factor of the Sig FMJ/JHP I’m consistently feeding the gun. The 16lbs spring is still strong enough to slow the slide and protect the frame, but will be easier to manipulate the slide and should get rid of the occasional round nosediving I’m still getting during longer range visits. That should be in later this week. I’ll still hold on to the 20lbs spring for the possibility that I start handloading in the future and start feeding Timmy a diet of nitro-nuclear 10mm loads, but for right now the 16lbs spring is a better choice given the ammo

[Rudukai13]

 

A few minutes swapping out the recoil and firing pin springs, and the gun should now be properly set up for the moderate-power Sig 10mm I’ve been feeding it. I’ll be going to the range this weekend to function check it, and there shouldn’t be any more occasional nosediving of rounds. I’ll report back again soon!

[Rudukai13]

 

Success! Another couple hundred rounds through the gun, this time with zero malfunctions or nosediving rounds. I also hadn’t cleaned or added lube to the gun since the last range trip, so the fact that it still chugged through ammo without issue is satisfying. It does seem ever so slightly snappier, not sure if that’s a placebo effect thing or what. But I do think the gun is properly sprung for the ammo I’m feeding it now.

 

Speaking of ammo, I need to order more FMJ after today…

[Rudukai13]

From “Leviathan Falls”, The Expanse Book Nine:

 

“I’m a little tired of being talked about like I was luggage,” Teresa said, taking control of the negotiation. “This isn’t a conversation between him and you, this is a conversation with me. I decide what ship I leave this planet on, not him.” Muskrat, sensing the tension, started barking and hopping on her front legs. Tanaka smiled, and it was cold.

 

“Alright,” Tanaka said. “Please come with me. Do it now, and in return I won’t kill your friends.”

 

“You don’t have to do this,” Jim said, quietly enough that it was just for her to hear it.

 

“I’ll go,” Teresa said. But no one heard her. Her voice was suddenly drowned out as the static hiss of the tree-sized grasses took on a deafening rumble. For a second, she thought of earthquakes or stampedes of cattle. Tanaka’s neck worked - she was sub-vocalizing to someone.

 

“You have to the count of three,” Tanaka shouted. “One.”

 

Amos said “f*#k it,” stepped in front of Teresa, and drew his gun.

———

 

 

Nothing really new to report, just another range trip with no issues. The suppressed Rattler is fun with subs (not mine though)