Last month I was customizing a PPC revolver for a customer when I discovered the mythical floating hand. The gun was a 686-1 in .357 magnum. It was the perfect candidate for a PPC gun. If you are not familiar with PPC, they are competitions that were originally designed for Law Enforcement officers. They are great tests of accuracy with the handgun.
In the initial bench tests of the 686-1 that was sent to me, I was encouraged that we had a good gun that could be tuned for PPC. However, when I removed the side plate, I found something that I had heard about, but not seen; the floating hand.
This image from the S&W forums shows the differences in the two hand styles.
Smith introduced these in some of their models during the mid 1980′s. The thought may have been to save time in assembly and fitting. Thankfully the changes did not last. Within about 3 years the original hands were back.
The biggest drawback to the floating hand for my purposes was that it did not allow for a consistent trigger pull. It was simply too sloppy. When trying to achieve a consistent pull you need things to be the same every time. The problem of the floating hand was remedied by installing and fitting an oversize hand and the trigger pull was greatly improved. While it is not detrimental to someone just plinking around, it would not have allowed me to achieve a desirable trigger pull.
I’m often asked, “Is it worth it to modify my Glock frame?” This question normally revolves around stippling the frame or texturing the frame to give it a unique and better grip. I think this is a great modification on several levels.
1. It gives a better grip than is currently available. I’ve tried A-Grip, Hogue grip sleeves and they don’t seem to cut it for me. Stippling or texturing the frame will increase your grip on the gun and it won’t add any bulk to the gun. This is especially good for those of us with smaller hands. Another thing we can address is getting a higher grip angle by relieving the trigger guard.
2. We can do as much or as little as you like. My personal gun has a lighter treatment. I like stippling for memory of grip. Both sides of the frame are stippled for my thumbs forward grip. Others like the full treatment. Some simply want the natural checkering removed and improved. From $20-$200 its up to you.
3. It definitely gives you a unique gun. For those of you looking to customize that Glock one more way this is a great way to do it in an attractive way.
Check out the AR-15 pistol grips. A definite improvement.
I recently had the opportunity to work on a Remington 870 that was having some feeding problems. As I began dissasembly of the gun the magazine cap flew off as I unscrewed it. Along with the cap came the green magazine plug for hunting. Thankfully I still have both of my eyes!
The customer was reporting cycling issues with the gun, and it became evident why. The magazine cap had been placed over top of the magazine plug, which was on top of the spring retainer. The plug should go under the retainer or else you will have the spring compressed by several inches making cycling problematic.
When I explained this to the customer, he said Remington had shipped the gun that way. This is the second time that a Remington 870 has come to the shop this way. I’m not sure how it ends up like this (customer or factory), but if you are experiencing cycling problems, look at the magazine spring setup.
There are many reasons to consider buying one of the Ruger single actions. They are rock solid, can handle higher loads, competitively priced, and with a little work can be turned into a fantastic shooter. One of the things that I like to add on all the Ruger single actions is the Power Custom Free Spin Pawl. This part allows the cylinder to move in either direction when the loading gate is open.
When the loading gate is closed the pawl functions just like a the factory part to lift the cylinder ratchets which turns the cylinder. When the gate is opened, the pawl is disengaged to allow the cylinder to rotate freely in either direction. This make loading the cylinder much easier because you don’t have to cycle through the cylinder completely if you miss a chamber.
Power Custom sells the Free Spin Pawl for $39.99. If you have ever been inside of your Ruger Single Action you can handle the installation. The part usually requires some fitting that can be done with a belt sander and trial fitting until it works. The downside to this process is that putting the gun back together several times can be an exercise in patience.
Power Custom sends directions with the Free Spin Pawl, but oddly enough the directions were printed so small you would need a magnifying glass to read them. A detailed description of this process is found in Jerry Kuhnhausen’s Ruger Single Action book, available from Brownells for $34.95. The pictures are well done, and the manual will help you with other projects you may want to take on with your Ruger.
We offer this service as part of our Ruger SA builds or individually on your gun. If you have been considering an action job anyway, this is the perfect time to have both done while we are already inside the gun.
Humidity is crazy right now in Nashville. It is making life “thick” for us. I wanted to remind all of you to take care of your firearms, reloading equipment etc. It is very easy to wipe a metal surface down with some light oil and it will go a long way towards keeping your gear good.
I say this to remind me as well, because I had a J-Frame I neglected about 4 years ago when we moved to Nashville, and it looks like cancer took it. The gun is still serviceable, but it makes me sick to look at it. It is the only gun that I have with a deformity. I keep it because it is sentimental for LE days. Cancer and all it is still special to me.
For many years Ruger produced a line of revolver that ended in 6: Speed 6, Security 6, Service 6. They were the precursor to the GP100 and Sp101.
As usual with Ruger, they are rock solid. In some ways, they are a little easier to get inside of than the modern revolvers. They only drawback for custom work is that they do not use a coil spring for the trigger return spring. This makes tuning the trigger a little harder, but replacement spring kits are available from Brownells.
A quick look at Gunbroker shows many of these guns available for a very reasonable price. If you are looking for a ranch gun, home defense revolver, or simply want a full size revolver for plinking these fit the bill. A watchful eye could probably find one or two for sale at the local gun show for a decent price right now.
By the way, the stainless models look great bead blasted! $100
Last weekend we held a class for the TN Handgun Carry Permit. This is always a fun class to teach, because so many of the shooters are newer to the shooting disciplines and don’t have the bad habits already formed. They literally soak up every thing you have to say and start shooting better by the end of the day.
At the end of the class we let the students shoot many of our personal guns so they can get a feel for what’s out there. One special treat is that one our instructors has a Pac-Lite conversion for his Ruger Mark III.
These conversions come threaded for the addition of a suppressor. An interesting thing about the Ruger line of 22′s is that what you think is the upper is actually considered the gun. That means you will have to do paper work on the Pac-Lite to own one. It is classified as a gun and is serialized.
The conversion will run anywhere from $250-$350 and the paper work for the suppressor cost $200. The can will be $200 and up. It isn’t cheap, but if you have a friend who owns one it is great fun.
It is neat to be able to shoot one of the guns you have seen in the movies and hear the difference. With subsonic ammo, these are very, very quiet. I found the following video on youtube to demonstrate. At one point he is running ammo that is so quiet it has turned the gun into a single shot pistol requiring the shooter to cock it each time.
In the old days of shooting, most magazines need to be tuned for reliability. Thankfully we have come a long way in magazine production. If you find yourself dealing with a pesky mag, check out the following article I wrote for guns.com for a possible solution.
Word on the street is that Ruger is really ramping up their production of the LC9. It is supposed to be the next greatest thing in pocket carry. Bigger than the LCP, it packs 7+1 capacity of 9mm. It looks great, and I can’t wait to try one. If it is as good as the LCP, they will have done something that is awesome.
By the way, we have been told that the LC9 and the LCP come off the same production line. I can’t confirm this, but that explains why the LCP’s have dried up. If you want an LCP and you see one, buy it now or you may have to wait a month or so until they get back into full production. This is the same thing Glock does. For months you won’t be able to find a particular model and then the distributors have thousands on hand.
I have two children that are very curious about everything dad does in the shop. They ask a lot of questions about the guns that come through here. For years I have had a shop safe, but nothing in the house. The kids were too small to climb, so our home defense firearms stayed on top of furniture or on the top shelf in the closet.
Now that they are older, we decided that there needed to be something to protect the kids from themselves. They are good kids, but I don’t trust them not to snoop around since I did that all the time growing up. I knew where my dad kept his guns and looked for times when he wasn’t around so I could admire them. Luckily he never had any ammo for them.
We decided to go with Gun Vault’s Mini Vault. Easily purchased at many sporting good stores, they are simple to set up, operate and store. They don’t require a lot of room in the closet and will store two of my handguns. I don’t have it for security purposes of keeping someone for stealing the firearms. We actually have a lot of measures in place for that already. The main reason is to keep interested kids safe.
The vault operates off of a 4 digit keypad that is simple to use. You can program it for any combination that works for you. When activated, the spring loaded door opens very quickly. In about 1 second, you can have access to your firearms if you need them, but you will need to practice. Make sure you have the combination down solid. You don’t want to trying to remember the combination when the need arises. It uses AA batteries, and has a keyed backup in case of battery failure.
For a reasonable amount of money you can have peace of mind and keep your family safe. To me the gun vault is an easy decision. You can get the Gun Vault Mini for just over $100.
