I am working with a customer on what will eventually become the SM-2, a pistol grip 870 that is awesome.  Same high quality components, but a Speedfeed pistol grip.

If you are thinking about adding a pistol grip to your shotgun there area a few things to remember.  The first is that you must have an barrel length of at least 18″ and the overall length of the gun must be 26″.  This last one is a little known fact, but ATF is serious about this one as well.  Make sure you don’t overlook this one.

A true pistol grip will only work on the 870, not the 1100 or the 1187.  The recoil system on the semi-auto shotguns runs through the stock.  The 870 doesn’t have this.  Speedfeed offers several pistol grips on full stocks if you need one, but not a true pistol grip.

When you run a pistol in your every day life, it happens that they jam frequently.  This goes for rifles as well, but it seems like pistols tend to be a little more finicky for most of us.  In fact, most of my experience with malfunctions come in pistols.  If you are having malfunctions here are several things to try to solve the problem.

1. Clean the pistol.  I know it sounds like a silly thing to say, but most semi-auto systems that start to foul up have to do with cleaning.  Scrub out everything really well, relube and go.  If you shoot a lot (a thousand rounds or more every year) have your gunsmith tear it down and thoroughly clean it.
2. Check your ammo.  Some ammo is simply junk.  It won’t run.  Some high quality ammo won’t run in your pistol.  Every pistol is different.  When you find a load your pistol likes, spend the money right then to get some set aside for future use.
3. Use a high quality magazine.  Factory mags work best in most cases, but the 1911 can benefit from a good magazine like those from Wilson Combat.  Yes it will cost you less than the gun show special, but guess what they run.
4. If your gun is super old or has been shot a lot, change the springs.  Recoil springs and magazine springs are very cheap and easy to get from Wolff.
5. You may need your magazines tuned.  I was recently fighting with a CZ 1924 in 32 ACP.  After trying to get the gun running with all of the above, I decided to tune the magazines.  By adjusting the feed lips it solved the problem.  This one is best left to your gunsmith, but it isn’t an expensive problem to remedy.

Start with the simple and work to the complex.  Most of the time you will fix the problem.

With summer being upon  us we are getting into the natural lull that exists in the shooting sports.  Things are hotter, and hot metal doesn’t sound like a great afternoon off.  As things slow down for us, I wanted to remind you of our turn around time.

Glock Work: 1 Week

Revolver Trigger Jobs: 1 Week

Packages like the Ruger SP101 and SM-1 Shotgun: 2 Weeks

We have most everything we need in stock right now to get you customized fast.  So take advantage of the lull to get your work done now.  We ship out 1 week to the day your firearm arrives.

Keep watching the free section under categories to see the next job that is going to be offered for free.  All you have to do is pay parts and shipping and the work is free.  You can see the comments from our first recipient here.