The Gunsmith Thread

I have two (2) G43s because I carry one every day. I carry one for a month and then the next one for a month. Every time I go to the shop, I shoot two (2) mags in whichever one I'm carrying at the time. Since I'm at the shop 2 to 3 times a week, I shoot quite a bit in each one of them.
I built a polymer 80 (PFSS9) G43 frame a couple of weeks ago and now I like that frame with my G43 uppers better than either one of the OEM frames.
 
I put a binary trigger in a G17 the other day. There's a stupid answer to a question that nobody ever asked.
$230.00 and it is the spongiest, crappiest trigger pull I have ever witnessed. It works at throwing lead all over the place, though.
To make this abortion even more hoopty, this guy got a can of Krylon and painted the grip frame the peanut butter color you see in the photo below. :rolleyes:

1695904991047.png
 
THParent said:
I put a binary trigger in a G17 the other day. There's a stupid answer to a question that nobody ever asked.
$230.00 and it is the spongiest, crappiest trigger pull I have ever witnessed. It works at throwing lead all over the place, though.
To make this abortion even more hoopty, this guy got a can of Krylon and painted the grip frame the peanut butter color you see in the photo below. :rolleyes:

View attachment 14734
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You DO realize I can't unsee this now...

I think I need a mental stick to poke out my minds eye...this is just...

At least you were paid for it...
 
I had a CVA Optima II (Muzzle Loader in .50 caliber) come in the other day. I knew I was in for some fun when the guy said he couldn't get the breech plug free, hence why he brought it to me for cleaning. When he checked it in for service, he admitted that he "never had cleaned it" - as in - EVER. Clearly, this shooter is a marble in a drawer full of tacks.

After I got the breech plug free and removed, I took one look at the bore (I couldn't even see the lands and grooves) and thought to myself that this was going to cost him more to clean than just buying a new barrel.

Amazingly, after 200 passes with a brass brush and three different bore cleaners, I made that bore bright and shiny.
Those guns are $300 new, and he just paid me $125 to clean his gun.

As Bill Engvall says; "Here's your sign."
 
How
THParent said:
I had a CVA Optima II (Muzzle Loader in .50 caliber) come in the other day. I knew I was in for some fun when the guy said he couldn't get the breech plug free, hence why he brought it to me for cleaning. When he checked it in for service, he admitted that he "never had cleaned it" - as in - EVER. Clearly, this shooter is a marble in a drawer full of tacks.

After I got the breech plug free and removed, I took one look at the bore (I couldn't even see the lands and grooves) and thought to myself that this was going to cost him more to clean than just buying a new barrel.

Amazingly, after 200 passes with a brass brush and three different bore cleaners, I made that bore bright and shiny.
Those guns are $300 new, and he just paid me $125 to clean his gun.

As Bill Engvall says; "Here's your sign."
Click to expand...
How did he even get a projectile down the barrel? Was he loading .45s?
 
Good question. I can't imagine that it had been shot in at least a year or two. Pyrodex pelletized black powder is pretty corrosive stuff, in my experience. I assume that's what he used in this gun, but I didn't ask.

Regardless, I run a moist patch through the barrel after every shot. Some say that's not necessary, but I do it anyway. After a day of shooting - you should completely clean the thing before you put it away - which is true for any firearm.
 
1699620986110.png

11/09/2023 - Disassembled, cleaned, removed bobby pin lodged in barrel, relubricated, and reassembled.
Function check: PASS. :rolleyes:
 
THParent said:
I put a binary trigger in a G17 the other day. There's a stupid answer to a question that nobody ever asked.
Click to expand...
Gonna admit..I had to look up what a Binary trigger was, and have one question....politely stated "WTF ?"
What is the purpose and benefit ? If I want to waste ammo with a hurried, second shot..I just jerk the trigger two times quickly.
 
Old Navy BGO said:
Gonna admit..I had to look up what a Binary trigger was, and have one question....politely stated "WTF ?"
What is the purpose and benefit ? If I want to waste ammo with a hurried, second shot..I just jerk the trigger two times quickly.
Click to expand...
Don't feel bad....I had to too. "There's a stupid answer to a question that nobody ever asked" that is the best description of this trigger ever.
 
THParent said:
View attachment 14915

11/09/2023 - Disassembled, cleaned, removed bobby pin lodged in barrel, relubricated, and reassembled.
Function check: PASS. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
You DO realize that my Friday is now ruined?

I'm going to spend WAY too much time today remembering this picture and asking myself: "A bobby-pin?"

I'm running out of brain cells, I didn't need this evidence that they're among us...
 
I told her that if you're going to carry a gun in your purse, it needs to be in a pocket-type holster (which covers the barrel).
I also schooled her on the very possible issue of a SCLID* happening while firing a round with a foreign object such as this, lodged in the gun's barrel. I don't think she believed me so Darwin will catch up with her at some point and even the scales, I suppose.

* Sudden Catastrophic Load Induced Disassembly
 
I just have to say that yesterday was a really good day at the gun shop. I have been fiddling with a SPAS 12 for the last two (2) weeks.
For the uninitiated, the SPAS 12 was a 12 ga. semi-auto or pump shotgun made by Franchi in the 1980s and 90s. It was made famous by The Terminator and Jurassic Park movies. It looks like this:
1699916600646.png

A guy brought this in to me (in pieces) and said "there's a whole lot wrong with it, and can you fix it" or words to that effect. Well, don't threaten me with a good time, mister! There was quite a lot of fiddling and hair-pulling, but yesterday I picked it up again and figured out what was going on.
It now works and he's happy.

Just thought I would share, because it was one of those really screwy projects. The gun is just WEIRD. It can shoot in semi-automatic, but can quickly change to a pump-action shotgun as well. Why it can do both - I don't know - but it does.
 
THParent said:
I told her that if you're going to carry a gun in your purse, it needs to be in a pocket-type holster (which covers the barrel).
I also schooled her on the very possible issue of a SCLID* happening while firing a round with a foreign object such as this, lodged in the gun's barrel. I don't think she believed me so Darwin will catch up with her at some point and even the scales, I suppose.

* Sudden Catastrophic Load Induced Disassembly
Click to expand...
After purchasing many pocket holsters over the years for my S&W J-Frame, I finally found one that actually works. I've had this in my pocket for at least 3 years, and it stills works flawlessly. Made by a retired LA police officer. Highly recommend:

Mika's Pocket Holsters

mikaspocketholsters.com mikaspocketholsters.com
 
Another SCLID from yesterday. This one was not one of our rental guns. This guy brought in his AR-15 and signed up for an hour of range time. It turns out that he only needed that first couple of minutes to get situated, load up his 5.56 rifle with .300 blackout and fire one round.
I wasn't there, but I did fish the damaged upper out of the trash so that I could extract the damaged parts for photo time. The bolt carrier group always seems to fail in the same manner, where it peels back the bottom section and bulges the sides. It really is a testament to the strength of these things that nobody who does this ever seems to get hurt. :oops:

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I had to cut the upper receiver (you can see where I cut it, in front of the ejection port) in order to get the bolt carrier out of it and unlock the bolt lugs from the barrel. The barrel is fine, however. I cleaned it and set it aside for later. Free barrel for me!
 
Okay, I'm ignorant...a .300 fits a 5.56 chamber? I mean, correct me if I'm wrong but isn't that a 7.62 round?

I'm...okay, I'm just trying to figure how it fits, closes, and fires...

Not well, clearly!!

Egad.
 
.300blk is a shortened and necked-up 5.56 case, with the intent that you can change calibers with just a barrel swap. Some .300blk cartridges can be stuffed into a 5.56 chamber, but the results are above...
 

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Exactly. You can jam it in there, but it pushes the projectile back in the case, causing even more pressure when it fires.
Usually the barrel comes through unscathed because there is so much pressure and heat that the internal structure of the projectile becomes molten and "sprays" out of the end of the barrel. Usually (and in the case of the one I posted above) I extract the still-in-chamber case with a blown-out primer and the entire (empty) bullet jacket. In the example above, the bullet jacket had fire-formed a near perfect shape of the chamber in front of the shoulder of the case.

This is why I am not a proponent of the load assist feature on most AR-15s. If you need to use that, either your rifle really, really needs to be cleaned, or you're doing something terribly wrong and you should reassess the situation.
 
A different failure entirely! This is what we call an "Out of Battery" or "unsupported Case" Detonation.
This is a Kriss Vector a customer was shooting on our range, chambered in 10MM:
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Here are a couple of photos of the case:
1700236449126.png1700236501952.png

Explanation:

For whatever reason, the gun fired without the bolt fully into battery (not fully closed and locked). This can happen if the firearm is overly dirty with a LOT of carbon buildup, but this gun was not at all dirty. After the event, I was able to cycle the bolt and pull it back about 1/2" and pull the trigger and make it fire. It should (obviously) not do this. Only minor injuries were sustained when the magazine was blown to pieces, along with the mag well of the gun. Luck was involved. Clearly.
 
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