JoshF Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 (edited) Guys I just wanted to post up some info on various mods we've been doing in KC on Tanfoglios. You'll find these guns to be highly flexible to shooter preference with some simple mods. We're doing this for fun and experience mind you so please do NOT take this as a marketing ad. I just wanted to show you all some of what's possible on the Elite series Tanfoglios with a little bit of work (and access to some kick a$$ equipment ). First are some slides, as promised I got weights last night on these. Keep in mind none of these are mine but I have shot each of them for a general feel. Stock 40 S&W Elite Limited Slide weighs approximately 12.5 oz w/Sights, Extractor, Firing Pin and FP Stop. This is anywhere from .5 to 1.5oz lighter then a typical assembled 1911 slide. If you want to drop just a few tenths of an oz there are all kinds of things you can do for decorative cuts and just to break up the block like appearance of the gun. You can lose a bit of weight while making the slide look trick. This one weighs 11.9 oz with V10 type ports that were then flared out by hand (Thanks John!). The recoil is slightly snappier then stock w/10lb spring but not real noticeable. Edited July 17, 2009 by JoshF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshF Posted July 17, 2009 Author Share Posted July 17, 2009 (edited) You can remove some serious metal with big coffin type cuts similar to what the Open Elite series use. This one weights 11.35 oz. The recoil on this one is fast. Sights come back on target very fast but it does lead to a sharp almost open like snap in the recoil. This is the newest one. Big difference here is this is a 9mm slide. Currently it weighs 11.20 oz thanks to some exceptionally large coffin cuts in the slide and recoil spring housing. This combined with a frame that has been cut back should make a pretty sweet steel gun. It's work in progress so it might get lighter yet Edited July 17, 2009 by JoshF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshF Posted July 17, 2009 Author Share Posted July 17, 2009 Next you can also change the grip size on these guns with a little effort. Most will find the Stock grip is perfect for Medium-Large hands. By swapping out for thinner aluminum grips from Henning you can bring that down so it's perfect for Medium Hands. Then with those same grips you can remove blend the checkering and the raised area where they reside to make the grip much more compact feeling. Works great for those with small hands and guys who are use to SS 1911s. These pics are of the front of the grip after removing the checkering and raised areas with a few simple tools. Last of all you can tweak small items to make them more suitable for the shooter. Examples are further lightening of the hammer to lower lock time and extended mag releases for those with truly tiny hands I'll try to keep this thread updated with anything new we're doing. Please feel free to copy anything that we've done. If it helps any of you and/or furthers the sport that is our goal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UW Mitch Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 (edited) d'oh the last three images are currently shown as the evil "Red X". - edit: Red X's gone in place of a wicked cool slide! Cool stuff! Makes me wanna try my hack-fu with the milling machine. But then I'm worried about destroying a perfectly good gun! ~Mitch Edited July 17, 2009 by UW Mitch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhop Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 is that a Huening cut hammer in the last pic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHA-LEE Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 Thanks for posting up the awesome pics and info!!! Here are a few questions..... (1) Have you guys tried keeping the gun at the same total weight by lightening the slide then adding a tungsten guide rod to offset the removed weight of the slide? I like the "heavy" feel of the unmodified Limited gun but wanted to try a lightened slide so it would cycle faster with a lighter slide spring. Any thoughts or experiences with this? (2) Have you guys tried lopping off the "ear" of the hammer to lighten it up. Essentially making it a straight hammer with no way of manually cocking it. I have seen some SVI's with this type of hammer. (3) Is that extended mag release an attachment to the existing mag release or a completely new part? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhop Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 josh just did #2 this past thursday ask him for pictures Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
00bullitt Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 What diod you use to cut the hammer(which tool in the mill)? Any problems or tricks to doing it? I was gonna try it with an 1/8" end mill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIIID Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 CHA-LEE, I made a tungsten rod for Henning, the weight gained isn't really worth the price for making one. To gain the weight needed to see a big advantage a larger diameter rod and spring would have to be used. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshF Posted July 20, 2009 Author Share Posted July 20, 2009 (edited) (1) Have you guys tried keeping the gun at the same total weight by lightening the slide then adding a tungsten guide rod to offset the removed weight of the slide? I like the "heavy" feel of the unmodified Limited gun but wanted to try a lightened slide so it would cycle faster with a lighter slide spring. Any thoughts or experiences with this? - No we haven't but it seems Rich/Henning have. The heavy front is nice but once you feel a light slide I think you'll like it. The gun maintains the heft but the balance just becomes much better along with the faster slide movement. See the 9mm Limited below, VERY nice feeling gun. (2) Have you guys tried lopping off the "ear" of the hammer to lighten it up. Essentially making it a straight hammer with no way of manually cocking it. I have seen some SVI's with this type of hammer. - Yep, tested one in the 9mm Limited below and it works flawlessly. I like a traditional hammer so that would take some getting use to. As for a performance increase, who really knows on this stuff. (3) Is that extended mag release an attachment to the existing mag release or a completely new part? - That one was a brand of 1911 release that was welded on. John has also welded up and shaped new thumb pads. Drilling and tapping them would be nice but it's NOT easy. Just faster to weld/shape if you have the tools. Edited July 20, 2009 by JoshF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshF Posted July 20, 2009 Author Share Posted July 20, 2009 (edited) This is the 9mm Limited I finished up last week. Notice the frame has been cut back significantly and the hammer bobbed. The frame on this one has also been sanded/ground to remove the stippling/pads. Shot it this last weekend and it's FAST. Sights drop right back on target with hardly any effort. I should take video of shooting steel at 15yds. It's a hoot! If we get a steel match setup local I'd have to try this one out for that. Might need to make it lighter yet but I'm not sure I would till I shot it more. Edited July 20, 2009 by JoshF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turnandshoot4 Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 That is some amazing work!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHA-LEE Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 JoshF> Thanks for the reply and the extra pictures. I am going to be doing some experiementing with my backup gun. A lightened slide is on the list, the same with a cut down hammer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooterbenedetto Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Wow noticed that is 9mm?? large frame? does it work? I'm betting that it is a small frame. very nice work and that gun looks great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeoHallak Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 Wow noticed that is 9mm?? large frame? does it work? I'm betting that it is a small frame.very nice work and that gun looks great! its my 9mm and its large frame and no it doesnt load past 18 in factory mags. Josh said he got it to 20 rounds with a interesting follower idea. Leo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshF Posted July 22, 2009 Author Share Posted July 22, 2009 Yeah after I get some other "projects" out of the way I'm gonna see if I can make it run with big sticks. BTW Cha-Lee I shot my Dad's stock Limited last weekend... You should REALLY try out a light slide gun. About 1oz off seems to make for a sweet shooting gun without affecting balance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary1911A1 Posted July 24, 2009 Share Posted July 24, 2009 Hello Josh, Have you thought about making a firing pin stop for the witness with a flat bottom much like the EGW one for the 1911? For us 10MM Fans it would be great. I'd buy several and I'm sure others would too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinnsyk Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Hey Gary We've talked about this before and I think I'm at a point where I will go ahead and make one. I'm cranking out new smaller parts for these guns these days and I'll make a drawing for a stainless square firing pin stop next week. I'm motivated to make it myself now too as I have two of the Hunter 10mm pistols six-inch slides. I rebuilt one of them into a 40 and the slide is heavily lightened so it moves too fast for the magazine to feed reliably. A quality, tighter fit firing pin stop that can slow down the slide will be a great part for all models. Gary... you just want the edge to have a slight break on it. As square as possible. As soon as I get a drawing made up figure a month or two and we should have it available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary1911A1 Posted September 19, 2009 Share Posted September 19, 2009 Hey GaryWe've talked about this before and I think I'm at a point where I will go ahead and make one. I'm cranking out new smaller parts for these guns these days and I'll make a drawing for a stainless square firing pin stop next week. I'm motivated to make it myself now too as I have two of the Hunter 10mm pistols six-inch slides. I rebuilt one of them into a 40 and the slide is heavily lightened so it moves too fast for the magazine to feed reliably. A quality, tighter fit firing pin stop that can slow down the slide will be a great part for all models. Gary... you just want the edge to have a slight break on it. As square as possible. As soon as I get a drawing made up figure a month or two and we should have it available. Yes, I'm still very interested and will take two. Good luck on the StockII in .40 you mentioned in another post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmark308 Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Yeah after I get some other "projects" out of the way I'm gonna see if I can make it run with big sticks. Will they fit in a Match shooting limited? Would be the answer to my prayers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooterbenedetto Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Any difference in performance especially RELIABILITY when you cut the long dust cover off to a short one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshF Posted September 30, 2009 Author Share Posted September 30, 2009 Absolutely not. Tanfoglios are full rails just like a CZ and they've been running that profile since the beginning. Any difference in performance especiallyRELIABILITY when you cut the long dust cover off to a short one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooterbenedetto Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 Say Josh, What other things can we do to make the gun LIGHTER? that is what I noticed from the TANS..heavier. I can see that slide can be modified to make it lighter but how about the FRAME? I also know that cutting the long dust cover is one but what else? SB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshF Posted October 26, 2009 Author Share Posted October 26, 2009 (edited) I'd say the weight isn't as important as the balance of the gun. Much of what you consider heft is actually the nose heavy feel. If I handed you Leo's Elite Limited 9mm which we cut the frame down on and opened up the slide it feels VERY light in your hand. You'd swear it was a different gun, it no longer feels nor looks like an Elite Limited, it's a drastic difference. Figure on his gun we cut out 1.5oz from the slide and 2.0 oz from the frame for 3.5 oz off the front of the gun alone. We haven't done this to a 40 but his 9 is a VERY fast cycling gun and feels light in the hand. Leo also cut the stippling off front and rear then cut the "pads" down that the stippling is in the make the front and back smooth. This will also remove weight but I'm not sure how much. There are a few guys on here we cuts slides for, typically .7-1.2oz lighter. Ask them the difference in balance then figure 3x that..... Edited October 26, 2009 by JoshF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHA-LEE Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 The next time I get some slide work done, I am going to take a stock Limited slide and take 1oz out of the BACK instead of the front. It would be interesting to see how that cycles different than taking the weight out of the front of the slide. If only I was rich I would have a whole fleet of Frankenstein guns with all kinds of different franken fiddle adjustments made to them........ But alas I am not rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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