Hello All, not trying to re-hash old threads but I've got questions on my conversion. I hate to bother BM1 so I'm throwing it out to those that have already done this. The conversion is fine and shoots fine but the shells are landing 10 to 12 feet to my right. I have a dual spring guide rod with the factory inner spring from the .40 S&W and I installed a 23lb. Wolff outer spring over the inner. I'm also seeing very slight firing pin drag on the primer. I did install a buffer but had to cut it down to about half thickness. The question is: is the distance that the shells are landing excessive and should I be looking to a stronger spring, say 24# or 25#?

I also have a CS40 that I would like to convert but SMOKEMUP only used a 22# spring on his conversion so I'm in a quandary about my 4013 with a 24# spring. I know BM1 did the CS40/10MM conversion on several units but he never said what weight spring he used.

Any help with any of this (obsession?) would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, I have run across a bunch of Ed Brown Smith and Wesson decockers and extended slide releases, plus a few large dia. steel guide rods. The Ed Brown parts aren't as nice as the original Smith stuff but they could be modified and if you need one to make your pistol work it would be nice to have. e-mail me if interested. [email protected] Sorry I've yet to tackle pictures!
Thanks All
T & B

Welcome to the Club

I have a nice 1014 myself, perhaps for a year now.


I like the brass to land about 8 feet away. I do not think that 10-12 justifies finding alternate springs unless you are using bare minimum loads.

I also rechambered a pair of CS40s just a few weeks ago



I used the 22 pound Wilson flat spring and it is working just fine.

BTW, you will undoubtedly get some posters in here to let you know that without pictures, it did not happen

colt saa
Thanks for the info, working on the pictures thing! Ah ha, just found how to do pictures but the gun is at the holster maker for a shinny new holster. Will post picture when I have it back.
T & B

Do not forget to show us the custom leather as well.

I need to find a inexpensive 4013 so I can have a blue and stainless like the CS10s.

I have been using the same spring combination you specified in my 4053 10mm conversion. Seems to work fine....no contact between the spring shroud on the slide and the cavity in the frame. (not using a buffer) Casings from hardball practice ammo are going out and over my right shoulder six to eight feet. I've been using one of the Wolff extra power firing pin spring and haven't seen any unusual marks on the casings/primers. Perhaps you could try a heavier firing pin spring?

__________________
Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer

armorer951
I will try a heavier FP spring. I'm thinking that the stronger FP spring will retract the FP quicker and not drag on the primer? (not sure of all the dynamics at play here).

My biggest concern of course is that I don't beat up the frame and I thought a stronger spring would insure that and reduce the casing distance as I understand 6 to 8 ft. is optimum(?) and indicates a good ammo / spring combination.

The ammo I used was 180 gr. Remington (green and white box) and some 180 gr. Federal, both were full metal jacket, just plain old hardball. The ammo is old so maybe it was loaded higher than the stuff today, though I wonder where some Double Tap or Underwood shells would go, the next county? Anyway thanks for the advice
T&B

I think you're correct.....The optimum recoil spring combo would allow for proper ejection, and allow the gun to lock back when empty.....and, the slide (spring tunnel) would not reach the frame during recoil.
There's a little window of motion for the slide itself between the slide lock position and impact with the frame, but not much. Almost have to tune the springs to the particular ammo you will be using.

__________________
Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer

Colt saa
Say I noticed that you have removed the ambi decocker from your "1014". Did you face-off the remaining stub? I too dislike the ambi and have considered machining a tapered pin to press into the hole left by the spring and then facing off the surface, though a replacement Smith would be better, but good luck with that.
Thanks again for the prior info!
T&B

Colt saa
OK I'm trying pictures. Here, I hope are a few. And the Colts are just for you, as your handle would / might imply. So I guess we can say "it did happen", and it's going to continue to happen", ha, ha!!!
The new holster will be a little different from the two in the picture. Going for the bucking horse motif, Wyoming and all that!
The two Colts are marvelous shooters. The series 70 Combat Commander has been hard chromed by APWCOGAN (premo work and reasonable) and reworked by a local "45" guy and the holstered Colt is an officer frame (Caspian) with a Commander slide in .357 Sig.

T&B
Still can't get the picture thing down! Will keep trying!

That is how I purchased it. I wish it had the ambi. It really helps give a better grip on the slide once the heavier springs are installed.

WOW! I never thought of making such conversions.

I have a 4003 gathering dust in the safe. Can anyone tell me about converting that to 10mm?

Also have a Sigma SW40F. Can that be converted? I was actually looking into converting it to 357Sig, but jump at making it 10mm.

If there's a place I can read up on this, please direct me.
SDH

Harkrader
Hello, but don't get too excited just yet. Only the "single stack" 4013, 4014,4053, & 4054 can be converted to 10MM. The 4003 was the smaller frame like the 9MM. All the early single stack Smiths were larger frames. The later double stacks had shorter mag lengths and will NOT accommodate the length of the 10MM.

There are many posts on this great site that address this issue. The best of those are by B_M_1 and a few others. Type "10MM conversions" into the search box and "behold the Truth", and all the work that has gone before.

I would guess the same is true of the Sig pistols. The mag depth on most of the .40 S & W pistol is just to short otherwise there would be a ton of conversions "out there". An alternative is to unload that 4003 and get a 4013 (single stack) and go from there. Oh, of course you can convert the CS40 as well as it has the larger (in depth) mag-well.

Good Luck
T&B

While almost any gunsmithing project is possible if you throw enough money at it, the 4013/4014/4053/4054 are built on a 10MM Auto frame and shipped from the factory with 8 round, 10MM Auto magazines that had spacers to shorten them to 40S&W length.

The CS40s are built on the 45 frames and shipped from the factory with 7 round, 10MM Auto magazines that had spacers to shorten them to 40S&W length.

All 5 of these firearms are easily converted to 10MM Auto by rechambering the barrel, respringing the firearm, adding a buffer to protect against slide/frame contact and finally removing the spacers from the magazines so that the 10MM Auto ammunition will fit. Some folks also replace the magazine followers.

As to the SIGMA SW40F, this is built on a 40 frame and shipped with 40 magazines. There is no easy way to make this function with the 10MM Auto cartridge.

To convert a SIGMA SW40F to 357SIG would require having a custom barrel manufactured. A factory SIGMA barrel from a SW357V can not be used since the two firearms are of different barrel length.

Colt saa
Thanks for posting my two pictures.
T & B