Sig Slim Grips Fail #2 Fix

It would be nice to get this information from the manufacturer's own product description instead of another site, but I guess that's why we have the Internet. I don't know if these guys have filled out the requisite forms to be classified as an "Authorized Sig Dealer" since they're just some Interwebz site selling "factory replacement grip panels."
At less than half the price from Sig and the same cost with shipping as the ones on eBay, I should be suspicious and require hand-holding by an Authorized Sig Dealer since my own experience is deemed inadequate to determine the optimal requirements of a Porsche oil-change - in any language.
But this is the second data-point I've gotten for the following information as opposed to one single experience, weighted by opinion:

These grips will not fit properly if you have the old style metal mainspring seat. Will fit P220's with the new style black plastic mainspring seat.

And I've got a 20-year old Sig/Porsche - time wounds endlessly, and so too the viper tongue of youth - and it inflicts engineering changes besides. However since I'm a highly skkilleted professional despite having not even Uno job, let alone Zwei, I believe there is a way to deal with the too-long screws and the 0.055" offset.

In the first case the thickness can be reduced by half - that's your 0.055" there.



In the second you can see in my old grips what appears to be a toothed or serrated lock-washer (epoxy actually, nonm-removable). They/it occupies a portion of the depth-cut for the screw-heads, since you don't want the heads seated below flush anyhow because then they become crud-collectors, and prevents the screws from seating too deeply, as in the deep-cut holes of the "slim grips." (bottom pic)
I believe this would allow the backside of the grips to form together in a seamless joint. It's the mainspring seat at the bottom that pushes the panels apart. Forcing them together only produces the wedgie-joint.

The problem remains that the grip is the primary and first interface with the gun, and its integrity should not be compromised - which might happen here, but since I have already begun to saw away at the tensile fabric of the grip and cannot return them, I might as well carry on...

Sig Slim-Grips - Fail

I had an issue with my grip on the Sig as far as how desperately I could put a clench on it. The gun felt just a bit full and rolly-poly to me compared to my 1911A1 (and I always figured I had big hands) so I looked around for solutions.

Sig Slim Grips! They arrived in a standard blister type hang-packaged enclosure with logo, lettering and cardboard that appears genuine. Since I bought them on eBay they may be clever fakes made in China by slave-labor.

But I don't think that's the case, the seller has a good reputation and a large inventory.  I believe they are factory replacement, and as the legal caveat on the back says, "A qualified gunsmith may need to install this (sic) part."

First up select the screw-driver bit that fits perfectly, then un-do the grip panels.  Part NEXT: Replace the old ones...Uh waitaminute, the grip screw penetrates through the frame now.





Since the thicker panels aren't holding it back it extends into the magazine well. Obviously the screws are now too long - the magazine doesn't like it and won't go in or out.
Meanwhile the left side grip isn't quite lining up. The top screw hole places the magazine release cut-out in a tight fit, and cants the bottom screw off to the right. We can fix that.  Grease pencil and Xacto knife to the rescue! Still the results are not real promising even with the screws tightened-down well into the mag-well.

The inner edges pin against each other and flare outward in a v-shaped gap. The inner edge where the grip panels meet impedes on each and needs to be shaved back so they don't present such a wedgie - and the grip screws need to be relieved of about two full threads so they don't penetrate into the mag-well.

As it stands in the picture (left) the magazine cannot be employed at all.  If the grips screws are not fully turned-in they leave a gap that displays the hammer spring and strut - and would allow debris to accumulate and tie-up the gun - not an option.

So what now?? I dunno. The gun feels more grippable with the slim grips, but I need to do a bunch more work if I want to get them to fit. And the grip screws need to be shortened by at least two threads.
In stock configuration with the grip-screws cranked down tight they still don't penetrate into the mag well at all. The slim grips at Sig are not advertised or described as requiring shorter grip-screws and the package does not list them as included either, but they seem very necessary.



Regular grips with stock-length screws that don't impede into the mag well fit nicely together with no gaps, wedgies, or misalignment.

What seems clear to me now is why modern polymer-frame gun manufacturers are emerging with grip-frames that are designed with removable back-straps and other bits and pieces to suite various sized hands.

It's easier than re-fitting grips that are a bit wobbly or incompatible without further modifications, sanding and filing and all that old-style craftsmanship.

As always clickez to make the pics mo'bigga.

Flying Suicide Monkeys

From this morning's The Times of India we learn that the Laskar-E-Taiba (Army of the Pure) terrorists, the militant wing of  Jama'at-ud-Da'awa, have purchased a sizable amount of para-gliding equipment from Europe, sufficient to launch 50 or so virgin-seekers, presumably not just for Fitness-Fridays and cocktail hour chit-chat but for some meaningful "demonstration" during India's upcoming Republic Day (their 4th of July) celebration on January 25th.

This is the same group of harmless hockey players from Pakistan that is responsible for the November 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai (Bombay for those of you over 50) that killed nearly two hundred people and injured more than three hundred.  The threat of flying suicide-monkey-bombers was heightened after India received intelligence reports from Western agencies that the LeT and other terror groups were planning to hijack an Air India flight. From the sound of it, the Germans gave 'em up on the para-gliding gear.

NEW DELHI: Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba has acquired more than 50 para-gliding equipment from Europe, setting off alarm bells in the government that these could be used to carry out air-borne suicide attacks in the country.

The intelligence input which came barely days ahead of Republic Day celebrations has prompted authorities to ensure a tight air security around all vital installations, official sources said here on Friday.

The input about movement of overground workers, owing allegiance to LeT, in Europe led the sleuths to find out that they were on a shopping spree for para-gliding equipment, the sources said.

Security agencies have carried out mock drills in different areas in the country as part of the exercise to prevent any air-borne suicide attack by LeT terrorists.

The input bears significance in view of the fact that government has already put all Air India planes operating in the country's neighborhood on high security alert following intelligence reports from Western agencies that the LeT and other terror groups were planning to hijack a flight.

For a little background: The Council on Foreign Relations and the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), a terrorism database on the region, invites us to know that the Lashkar-e-Taiba agenda is outlined in a pamphlet titled "Why are we waging jihad," - which happens to be for the "restoration" of Islamic rule over all parts of India and they justify their ideology by a Koranic verse that says, "You are obligated to fight even though it is something you do not like" (2:216).

So just great, call for more 72-virgins.

Meanwhile, back in November 2009 two guys in Chicago linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba were arrested on terrorism charges for plotting an attack on Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten - the paper that ran the Mohamed cartoons.

The fact is they operate from the high-country of Jammu and Kashmir, India's alpine region where para-gliding has become a popular bourgeoisie sport, so conceivably they could become airborne with the equipment they've purchased - or just set up a para flying school... Isn't that what Islamobombers like to do, attend flyng school?
Sheesh...

Ceiling Ass-Crack! Oh Great...

I got Plumber's Ceiling.

It's not raining inside yet but there must be a bit of a lake overhead, and the temperature and moisture have conspired to rip an ass-crack in my ceiling.  It's about two-feet long where the paint and base-layer of mud has split.  You can see the joint where two pieces of drywall - thankfully still dry - have blown-out the tape.

I hope it holds-up until later in the year when we're scheduled to get the roof re-done.  I hope we can afford the assessment that will bring... But the roofs are old, and under-engineered.
Lovely day isn't it?  View out the clerestory window facing due north.

Secret Odin Codes!!

Since I don't have enough money for a Trijicon Jesus-scope, I took a look at my Swedish made Aimpoint for a secret message. There on the bottom was a Nordic rune!!

11407 #891359 - which obviously translates to the Norse year 1140 and the seventh month in which it is said in the 89th Chapter of the ancient Norse MIÐALDAKVEÐSKAPAR, from the year 1359BC, chapter SKÁLDATAL - 9. og 10., Hornkl 09 Hrólfsdóttir nefju:

Odin gick ut i sanden landet och vävde en korg av blixtnedslag, stulit alla kvinnor och att blod för olja.

So that's that, the Norse Gods have spoken. Blammo!

Sig P220 Front Sight

Lessons on Buying Used:  Last year's Birthday Gun has been a lot of fun and a great learning tool  -and I'm still learning. One thing a prospective buyer should take note of are the sights.  Despite my bifocals hampering a clear sight picture, I should still have taken a more exhaustive look at the front - I just figured it was a bit dim.  The hell it is.  So, as a means of brightening it up I got out the old Artist Tools: a white grease pencil and an X-acto knife.  I filled the void and trimmed away the excess to produce a bright white dot that has remained well stuck in the cavity in the front post.  I think there used to be tritium in there or something.
Still and all, there remained the idea of moving forward to some new night-sights to replaced the old ones - an easy fix from the Brownells catalog. Uh, oh. Most of the three-dot sights available, whether Trijicon, Meprolight, fiber-optic or adjustable-whatever come ready to slide into a dovetail cut.
I don't see a dovetail cut on the front of this sucker. I wonder how the front post is secured? It looks almost like it's been forged into place.
This may need to be returned to Sig for service when I want that upgrade - or a gunsmith machinist with a end-mill. (I know one.) If I can get away with just sending-out the slide I'm cool, then I can mount the .22LR upper on it and turn pennies into noise.

DISCLAIMER-DISCLOSURE: They asked me, so I sold a how-to blog-post to Brownells that is now up on their GunTech archive, it's about setting up a reloading bench in a small space. They came to me with an offer, I didn't solicit them - but there's a reasonable suggestion of connectivity now however minor - still, I don't work for them or benefit from their sales or payroll. Maybe if I can take some more good pictures and have another idea they like it can happen again. Maybe not.

January 16th, 2010 Match

Discovered a bit of cleanup work to do when I went to change batteries - ick!  I love me them Peltor Tac-6's but they freakin' chew-up batteries like the cookie monster gobbles treats - seriously, the battery life is measured in RPM or something.  Gotta think about a replacement.

The forecast scheduled a beak from rain in the AM, and we enjoyed clear if cool weather with a fairly light turn-out on the firing line.  It was time to test my new shooting glasses.  With a bit of monkeying-around I could get a good, clear picture of the front sight - it took some effort and I didn't always take the time - and simply couldn't during the rapid stages.  But it was a test for basic averages and for precision.

Despite a huge lay-off time (like since September) not shooting, I managed to eak out a nice little 1-1/4" group shooting Black Hills 68-grain Match load during the slow-prone stage. (updated)

Too bad it wasn't an inch lower and filling the X-ring, but instead I picked up three Tens and a Nine with a single X...and 410-3x overall - still a Sharpshooter and not an Expert though.

In the afternon the mare's tales came up, the sky darkened-over, and the chill set-in. Big snow in Tahoe and all the Sierra resorts, and we may escape the designation of a drought year if the snow-pack remains deep.  It's been raining off and on ever since - and just stopped hailing a half-hour ago.

Since it's been cold my wife got me some silk long-johns for my Sunday birthday. It helps keep the PG&E bill-collecting ogre away from the door.

Other cool shit that happened on Jan. 17 is that in 1706 it was America's First Scientist and Geek, Ben Franklin's birthday, and later in 1886 it was airplane inventor Glenn Martin's, famous for the company that spawned the awesome Pan-Am China Clippers (Martin M130). Then, in 1911 Eugene Ely was the first to land an aircraft on board a ship (USS Pennsylvania), in 1929 the most awesome Popeye the Sailor Man first appeared in a comic strip, and in 1944 the Corvet Violet sinks the Nazi U-641 in Atlantic Ocean. Even later, in 1966 a U.S. B-52 crashed in the ocean near Palomares, Spain and we went for a hunt for 4 lost H-bombs in the water, then in 1969 the debut album Led Zeppelin was first released in US, and the mop-tops released Yellow Submarine in the UK. Finally in 1991 Iraq fired 8 Scud missiles on Israel, and Operation Desert Storm began...

As always, click to embigulate the pictographs.

Scott Brown

So I'm having lunch a the Tide House with my Florida-cracker redneck-Glockbuddy who's over on this side of the BayAryans getting a mirror for his FZ-1 fixed nearby.  He was excited about something and had to tell me, something he'd never done before in his 40+something years of life.  He donated his own money. To a political campaign: Scott Brown's.  And I said I did too.  (It wasn't much, I'm not working with a "Real; Job" right now, but it's my birthday in a few and I felt like making a present.)
And we high-fived among the techno-yuppie Democrats and silicon-schmoozing Liberals -  we were rebels and outcasts.
And it got me to wondering, how many other Californians (and transplanted Floridians-via-Texas) have donated to an out-of-state race with such enthusiasm?  And how often has someone from Massachusetts (spell-checked) donated to one of our woebegone CA conservatives - like Tom McClintock?  Tom is made of Awesome, but he's not a charmer.
The opposition to Brown in MA is a real piece of slimy work.  She's a self-aggrandizing prosecutor who's own casework often fails to stand up under scrutiny, a rabid, bought-and-paid-for Democrat - the MA State Attorney General who can observe an assault and pretend she saw nothing.  I don't think even our Attorney General,  Jerry Brown - former Governor Moonbeam - could pull a stunt like that.  She's a piece of work alright: Google "The story of the Amiraults".  She isn't fit to be County dog-turd catcher.

H/T Opus6

So if not Scott then go help the Haitians. They're having a really rough week...

Sharp! (Bonus - 1898 Modified Krag Sight)

You can see the two semi-circles of correction towards the inside above the nose pads, on the upper edge. Like being cross-eyed. I hope this (convergence) works - we'll find out this weekend if it's not drenching down rain on Saturday. Forecast is iffy. I have one do-over in case the location of the correction needs to move...
It works pretty good with the Sig when I put my chin on my chest, but I have a fight over which eye to use, and I'm getting a bit of weirdness on the AR's and again that's because I'm cross-dominant - but the front sight is clear and sharp now. What's cool is I CAN see the thin blade of the Krag, way out there beyond my arm's reach, and see it through the M1898 Modified sight with teeny-tiny flip-up peep! Whoa!
UPDATE:  During the time it was in service Ordnance messed around with sights on the Krag like crazy, and initially the M1898 sight had two extra sight-grooves left and right of center for windage shots.  In 1900 they recalled all of the 1898 sights and ground-off the weirdness because it was awkward and confusing, and continued to use the modified sights conventionally. You can see the ground-down portions in the overhead view. Then in 1902 the final sight was standardized which was generally a duplicate of the 1898 but without the extra sight grooves to the left and right of center, and a more rounded curve to the backside. In between they had a different 1901 sight that was like the Carbine sight but with different graduations, a camming lever that allowed you to drift the sight in an arc for windage changes, and the whole thing elevated way-up for volly-fire.
Model 1901 - see how the front is drifted off to the left side?












Flipped around, there's the lever to loosen or tighten it down.










 Model 1901 sight all stood-up.





As always, click to super-size the pics.

Gun Blogger Rendezvous V

The Gun Blogger Rendezvous-V is on!

Mr. Completely says that the dates are set, and the negotiations that were underway with the Silver Legacy have been finalized! The official dates for Gun Blogger Rendezvous-V are Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, September 9th., 10th., 11th., and 12th. 

We have reserved a block of rooms for these dates, and also a few rooms for Wednesday, the 8th., for those of us who arrive a bit earlier. We have reserved the same Hospitality Room as last year. We also will get a $10 per night rate reduction for Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday nights compared to last year. Friday and Saturday night's rate will be the same as last year.

Put that on your calendar folks, as Rick said: Gun-Bloggers, Gun-Blog Readers, Gun-Owners, Gun-Industry Sponsors, Gun-Collectors, and the Gun-Curious are encouraged to sign up and join in.

Yee-haw!

It's All OK - Ride Fast & Shoot Straight

Fodder left a note to say he and the family's fine, just taking a break, "I'm just staying off the horizon for awhile."

OK then, we'll see ya later.  Between rainstorms and earthquakes...

The United States Revolver Association 1909 - 1924

My buddy from back-east in MA sent me a little book on loan. I was going to scan it but I can't bear to damage it and break the binding like that, so I just took some pictures.

It is 5-inches by 7-inches and a little over a quarter-inch thick and has ALL the rules and regulations for all sorts of different matches and the winners. In fact the entire membership of this organization for the 1909-1924 period is bound into the book, from all the United States and even internationally - including quite a lot of folks who were working down in the Canal Zone.



During the period covered by the book The Association seemed to thrive. There were matches and championships for just about everybody, from Military Revolver, to Teams, to Pocket Revolver (Arm, any pocket revolver of .32 or larger caliber or any pocket magazine pistol of .32 to .38 caliber inclusive, weighing less than 2 pounds within the rules...) and an "Any" Pistol Championship.

From 1971 saw the Championship lead traded between several opponents - including the 1912 Olympic Gold Medalist Alfred Lane winning in 1921 using a S&W .22 with a 10-inch Pope barrel...like the one I have.

Pope barreled guns show up in a variety of calibers besides .22 - there were .38 cal S&W's with 8-inch Pope barrels (and one 7-1/2" and another 8=3/8" Pope barreled .38).   Fascinating.





Kewl!

Tool Use and Abuse

You may have seen these handy little tool-kits for gunners made by Chapman Mfg. I like mine a lot. It only takes-up a little bit of room in my bench drawer, and I've put it to quite a lot of use; from the .30-40 Krag to the M1 Carbine, and the handle extension (above) is pretty much dedicated now to being my case-holder for the .223 length-trimmer mounted in the whirly RCBS machine.The screwdriver tips are properly ground to different widths and thicknesses and are designed for gun-screws, rather than the pointy-wedge type screwdrivers commonly found for general purpose use. 
This allows you to select a tip with the correct width and thickness for the gun screw you have in front of you, so that it fits well and fully, and doesn't jump out marring the gun's surface - it makes a big difference.


As you can see this #12 Philips-head is about to go - I've broken and replaced a few of the tips already, and figure that screw-tips are sacrificial things. Would you rather break-off the screw-head of a fine rifle or pistol? I'd rather not, messing with a EZ-Out on a gun is not where I want to go.

There Went Another One...

Rumble like a locomotive, ka-chunga, off into the distance... Same location, half the speed? Now they're giving it a 3.8 on the scale.

Here's what's hoppin' north of Milpitas.

This might be a reason

I've only got the .22WRF Model 90 pump-action rifle (my wife's) and never really been interested in anything other than a Winchester Model 52-B for its unsurpassed accuracy - but they are very expensive.
I just don't seem to have the Ruger gene, there's nothing in their catalog that I find compeling enough to spend money on - but this might be a game changer, after all 10/22's are cheap, right?
Gunbroker lists 'em for like $200 bucks.
 Brownells has 'em (the kits) but I kinda think I like the "Squad Leader" more than the "Chicago" - the big drum is kinda like stuffing a salami in your pants.
I guess I also like the military style forward grip more than the gangster version that leaves a big gap beneath the barrel.
And I like the Legal in California and Connecticut bit.

I wonder what I should get for my birthday - it would be like being back in 6th Grade again, only more real than a cap-gun - which I didn't have (wasn't allowed), Doug B. had one though, it was so cool and I was so jhealous - it was like Combat! Holy crap, there's one on eBay for $477... A "real" one might be cheaper. Heck, then I could be like RideFast!

M1 Carbine Trigger Housing Re-Assembly

The mag catch and safety went in fine.  The Safety goes in at the same time and is captured by the same double-ended spring-thingy that also hooks the mag-catch.
Push it in with a pin and slide the catch over in the grooves, and it's gotcha.
And don't forget there's a little push-back spring that's directly pushing back on the Mag Catch lever.
I could have used arrow to diagram the pictures, but didn't - you can see everything in the typical CM1 Carbine exploded diagram anyhow - it's all intuitive.
I was using new springs on everything, from a Wolff carbine-kit I got a while ago.
The trigger and sear were pushing against each other with their common spring, so
I made a "fid" with a piece of bamboo skewer, cut so that I could push out the wood and slide in the trigger pin from the outside at the same time.
Then I used a piece of strong thread to pull the trigger-spring into it's little hole in the back - it's like a spider - and getting the lip of the spring to bear down on the slot where it belongs.
The hardest part was muscling the hammer and hammer strut with it's strong spring. The sear kept wanting to trip the wrong way and the strut and spring flew across the room once - I had the trigger housing in a vise with soft-jaws so that eliminated the need for three hands.
Now my National Postal Meter carbine has all NPM parts (except for the excellent Underwood barrel), Something rare and extraordinary that probably hasn't happened (if even then) since it was made in 1943.

Whoa Rip Van Winkle, When in Doubt, Gas It!!

Somehow I awoke to the fact that the 2010 Dakar Rally is somewhat distant from the actual Dakar, as they are racing in South America from Buenos Aries to Antofagasta (?) Chile and back. How did I miss this?


The bikes are awesome, the big trucks are hairy.

Competitors will race on a 5,592-mile (9,000 kilometer) course while navigating across some of the world’s highest sand dunes and mountains. The event kicks off on January 2 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Competitors race over the Andes Mountains, across the Pampas plains and through the merciless Atacama Desert. After 14 strenuous stages, the competitors will return to Buenos Aires as they race to the finish.

And Robby-Freakin'-Gordon driving for Team Hummer (??) became the stage #4 winner by just 1-second over Austrian Stephane Peterhansel in his BMW - WTF? Woot!

Man I gotta get some of this video from my Buddy Christian (who has cable and stuff) who followed the African Dakar adventurers over twenty years ago on his own "Africa Twin."

Whang-Bang!

While bending over my workbench fiddling with hammer and trigger and teeny-tiny Carbine springs, there was a sudden and loud BANG-JOLT-THUMP-RUMBLE, that sounded like all the doors downstairs were angrily slammed shut, or a truck in the street exploded.
Didja feel it?
No word from the USGS yet - a little quake just rock-and-roll'd through 10:10 or so - a 4.5?  The sound came before the shock.  Kewl!!  Ok, here we go: 
11 minutes ago 18:09:35 4.2 San Francisco Bay area, California Map

It centered on Milpitas so probably ran up the Hayward Fault.

I like this bit: "Location Quality - Excellent"

Makes me glad I wasn't in the shower when it bumped-by.

Reading Material

Got some reading material for Christmas from a friend who mentioned that this book was kept under lock-and-key at his High School Library for fear that enterprising students might learn too much.
There's only a whiff of stuff about the .30-40 Krag in there since it was obsolete already and even less about the 1909 Colt, but it does the '03 Springfield good and covers some topics you might not think much about, like a couple huge powder-storage explosions that lead to small-arms ammo explosiveness testing, and other stuff that many have often thought about like shooting straight up into the air. 
I had to skip the ballistics tables since I never got through trigonometry and the math made my brain melt. Interesting to find that we DID use the Swiss 7.5x55 ammunition in testing that lead to improvements in the .30-06 ammo as it was, "immensely superior to ours at long range." Fascinating book anyhow, so I picked-up another - I'm about half-way through, boy that Melvin Johnson had some eager backers: