Something to keep me busy while I'm waiting for the 4516 to come back from Coal Creek. I just dont feel like messing with 1911s right now so this piece has moved to the head of the line.

Picked this one up from my FFL guy last Friday. It's quite obviously a police turn-in. Has the expected holster wear along with lots of impact damage on the right side. I suspect she was dropped on concrete a few times too. Front sight is bashed down and dovetail deformed a bit. Some abrasion damage on the beavertail too looking like it met with cement at some time. Typical dings, dents & divots here and there I'd expect from a high mileage duty gun. In the plus column... slide to frame fit still nice and snug, Lockup is tight with no slop or movement at the breech or at the barrel bushing.





A little judicious filing will fix this


Ouch!



I will do a complete tear down & inspect, then compile my replacement parts list. At the bare minimum, she's going to get all new springs and a grip.

This is a particular version I've wanted for a while, meaning, a TSW without the scabbed on rail and no holes in the dustcover plugged with aluminum rivets. Since I don't have a CQB I will just have to roll my own... IMO this is the next best thing. I do plan some minor enhancements. Nothing so drastic as what I did on the 4516 project. Just some discrete light beveling & de-horning here and there and of course I will correct that checkering. I wonder if the PC still has any of those Briley bushings laying around?

More to follow

Cheers
Bill

Let me get the fritos, bean dip (hot) and a cold one....pull up a chair and watch the movie.

I has a 4566TSW at one time....out of the box was good to go for duty carry.

I look fwd to your mods.

Barrel assessment:
I'll need to soak it in copper solvent for a week to get all the gilding metal out of there, however...

Crown looks good. Assuming I use this barrel I would re-cut the crown just enough to remove the toolmarks & polish it.


Breech though, looks like someone did some unauthorized throating here.


Note the "sawtooth" feature and burnishing on the left side. That comes from a bench mount wire wheel. Matches the interesting topography in the middle of the feed ramp too. Perhaps from cleaning some stubborn deposits with a less than ideal tool?


Not particularly liking on the amount of unsupported brass here and would like some opinions. I'm entertaining a replacement barrel because of this.

And...


Cheers
Bill

Wow...that rail free 4566TSW is one of my holy grails too.

I'm usually a day late or dollar short when they make a rare appearance.

I'll be watching this thread too. Are you going to install a match grade barrel and Briley bushing? Regards 18DAI.

I took my 4566tsw out to compare breaches and mine is identical to yours, so too is my 4566 standard so i wouldnt worry too much about it. its possible its a factory thing mine has held up well even with +p's.

Still looks more supported than my old G22 was.

__________________
M&P .40, M&P 9c & Shield 45

Regarding unsupported cases:
I think in one of Kuehnhausens' (I butchered the name, sorry) books there was a specification for how much unsupported case is acceptable. 3mm? Don't remember exactly...must be on the internet somewhere.

Man that is one ugly feed ramp.


Cat

__________________
Think for yourself.

I'm pretty confident that there are a lot of people with way more expertise than I have, but out of curiosity I put a round into the barrel of my 3913.

Comparing that to your last picture in the second set of photos I'd have to say that someone really hacked away at that feed ramp, especially the top where it transitions to the chamber.

I then took apart my 457 and did the same thing. I'd have to say that while it's closer to your photos, someone definitely did a number on that feed ramp.

Again, I'm no expert, but that feed ramp of yours looks very suspect to me.

Man, I'd love to but S&W today told me today they don't do that anymore. I don't know any insiders there so I only have whatever the C/S guy tells me. Seems I'll be sticking with the stock tube. Kinda disappointing.

Anything is more supported than a glock

So, About the barrel... Last week I was reading about various Glock kB events and perhaps my imagination ran away a bit regarding this barrel. I noted everyone's comments (thank each of you by the way) and carefully compared the chamber with the two other 3rd gen 45s I have here. In the end there really isn't much difference in the unsupported case depth. Even my old series 70 shows more brass and never so much as a hiccup.

New barrels are on backorder at S&W so I'll work with what I have and order a new one later. With that in mind I fiddled with the barrel a bit today:

Fixed the scuzzy feed ramp. It's hard to get a good picture due to the shine and the droplets you see are bit of cutting oil.


Also re-cut and polished the crown. Interestingly, the factory crown was not quite perpendicular to the bore axis so it took some time to get it trued up and square.


Consider it a pet peeve, I really dislike cratering around stamped markings like this (a little file work already done here).

So I fixed it.


There were also a few more amusing discoveries during the teardown to share:

Yeah, this has seen better days.


Sear engagements kinda rounded over. I'll put a new one in to go with the new bobbed hammer.


Two is better than one??


Front dovetail buggered up. Both sights were installed well to the right. Note the flash on the left that was never cleaned up.

And.


I think that little piece of metal (half of which is still embedded in the sight base) was a piece of flash or trash that was driven into the dovetail with the front sight. The front sight was jammed solid well short of the center line and the rearward half of the slide dovetail was deformed. I think I can fix the slide and I have a new set of sights.


And lastly today... Never being a big fan of giant "tactikewl" logos or billboards on my guns... I wiped the slide flats which, it turns out weren't particularly flat to begin with.

Well a granite surface plate, some 220 followed by 400 grit some water with a pinch of detergent and a couple hours of elbow grease took care of that. The flats are certainly flat now and sanitized to boot

And the starboard side.


Lets see... All four of the tiny coil springs (the two by the hammer and two under the backsight) were rusted, sear spring rusted and the retaining pin was just beat to death. Had that look of a spoon that fell in the kitchen disposal.

Those of you with sharp eye sight may have noted the lack of the little red dot. Yup this was a decock only gun but the spring loaded assembly was removed and a regular M/S safety installed. Fortunately I have new spring loaded one that I'll be fitting tomorrow and maybe do a little de-horning. That's all for now.

Cheers
Bill

You're a miracle worker -- that doesn't even look like the same pistol!

OMG....I love following your posts!!! I'm always like "What's he gonna do next?". For the love of God don't stop now!

You are very skilled by the way.

__________________
Un-Reconstructed Southerner

BMCM
Love reading and looking at the pics of your work in progress.
I am the point now where I dont want your post to end till finished.....I guess I am an instant gratification type at reading your posts too.
G

__________________
**Big Dog Grips**

I am interested in the double trigger play spring.

I am assuming the two leafs are stronger than the one (to minimize breakage?

I have never seen that before.

Definitely raises the level to hard use!!!!!!!!

Or am I completely wrong?

What does the detergent do when flattening?

Tia

I've never seen nor heard of the doubled up play spring. I think it was done more so to double the springs force vice deter breakage. I have another drawbar assembly around her somewhere. I'll fiddle with both setups when I start putting stuff back together and see if I can detect a difference. ATM I'm really not seeing a downside to having it doubled up.

I used silicon carbide paper wet on a granite surface plate... A little dish soap in the water or a couple drops on the paper, main benefit is as a surfactant, breaks the surface tension of the water and keeps the filings in suspension. Also adds a little lubricity. Overall helps the abrasive cut faster & cleaner.

Cheers
Bill

Greetings Gents...

I've been attending to other things around the homestead of late so progress has been a bit slower than usual. I've ordered a few bits and a special file for the front dovetail from Brownells, and am still waiting for my parts order from S&W. Anyhow, here's where I'm at.

Been messing with checkering again.

Looks like this now.


Chamfered this hole to clean up some "idiot gouges". Still some light tracks there that the bead blasting will clean up I think.


Fixed the divots on the beavertail.


Rolled the sharp edge on the extractor.


Done some discrete beveling.

And...

And on the top end...

And...


I have run into my first snag though. Since this gun was originally decock only, I intended to install this 4506 part:


However the TSW guns lack this relief cut on the starboard side which the older Non-TSW models have.

The part I have is just not long enough to allow proper fitting of the ambi-lever without excessive metal removal. Even if I went ahead and filed the ambi-lever enough to install, It would be flappy loose.

The safety lever for the TSW gun is about .030" longer than the older 4506 part so, I'm now on the hunt for the proper spring loaded decock assembly for this gun. So far no joy from S&W and a couple parts suppliers I've tried and I have a WTB add posted. Any other ideas? That's it for now.

Cheers
Bill

Bill,

With your skill level, why not modify the existing safety assembly to accept the spring? From the looks of it, you would just need to machine the groove to receive the spring.

Andrew

Well... Machine the groove and drill another hole to anchor the spring. It's a good idea but the show stopper is the existing plunger hole in the standard lever. there's a big hole right where that groove would go. I could probably do it but the resulting part would be pretty fragile. I'm afraid I'll just have to use the standard safety and keep looking for a spring loaded decock. There's lots of folks that prefer having a manual safety and don't care for the spring loaded lever so I'm confident one will eventually one will turn up. Thanks.

Cheers
Bill

Bill,

If you're concerned about chamber support, do this.

Take a 45 case and split it lengthwise with your Dremel. Clean it up and then plop it in the chamber. That will let you see where the chamber support ends and the brass web taper are in relation to each other.

You do nice work.


Cat

__________________
Think for yourself.

Now that is just a stellar idea! Why didn't I think of that? Well just goes to show ya even an old fart like me can pick up something new every once in a while.

Like so?


It does look a lot better from this perspective.

And


Thanks Cat

Cheers
Bill

I dunno. This looks a whole lot like one of those "Monday-morning-eyes-not-open-yet-running-the rivet-machine" moments!

Good evening Gents,

While the barrel soaks in copper solvent...


I've been working on the checkering. Here I'm deepening the last row at the bottom of the front strap with a 5mm carbide knifedge wheel bur. I'm using the bur for the bulk of the work because the forward curve at the bottom of the frame makes it very difficult to file here. I'll finish up hand filing this once the bulk of the metal work is done with the power tool.


Here's what the frontstrap looks like now viewed from the right.


And from the left.


I still have the bottom couple of rows to cut and blend and some blending to do at the top then I'll be done with the frame. On the slide I've got a couple spots to de-horn around the ejection port and I need to clean up & de-burr the front sight dovetail. Once that stuff is completed it's off to the blast cabinet then once my part orders come in...re-assembly.

Cheers
Bill

Looks sharp, like some kind of medieval weapon but definately more grippy than the factory checkering. So, when can I send mine to you?
Ever think that this could be a second career? LOL

Wow, that looks amazing!! You have a great touch.

__________________
Matt H.

You're welcome BMCM, I was hoping that might help.

Now you can help me in return. I have wanted to checker the front strap of some 4516s over the years and that dang curve that is so close by has left me in tears more than once.

So tell me, where can I get one of those cute littel 5 MM carbide burrs? I want!!!


Cat

__________________
Think for yourself.

They're jeweler's tools...
I've used both of these for difficult to hand file spots.
Run the tool slow and be extra careful, things can go sideways in a hurry with these.
(L)8mm Busch knifedge bur & (R)Mega-Tool 5mm knifedge bur.


PM'ing you the source

Cheers
Bill

Thanks a bunch Bill. Got a set coming now.


Cat

__________________
Think for yourself.

Got a brand new drawbar assembly a couple days ago and did some comparison with this double play spring deal. Just working a trigger back and forth on the two draw bars revealed a significant difference in the feel. With the double setup, there was a definite strong hitch in the trigger as the stroke went from mere contact with the play spring to fully to the rear.

From here.

To here.


Same thing on the single spring... nice and smooth with just enough tension to keep the trigger hooks snug . Another thing I noted was where the spring was flexing. The doubled spring being twice as stiff only flexed at the 90 degree that forms the tab riveted to the drawbar. On the the single, the flexing is much less concentrated, the whole top of the spring flexes to some extent instead of just at the 90 degree bend. I would wager metal fatigue at the 90 would cause the doubled spring to fail before the single one would. In any event, I can't imagine the double one being any benefit especially with a quality action job.

I also noted some difference in the fixing rivets and don't believe this was a "Monday morning at Springfield" thing. Have a look, notice the unusual tool marks around the rivet hole on the right. I don't think it came from S&W that way.


I'll not be installing a double play spring.

Cheers
Bill

Things are moving right along. Got my care package from S&W today.


Still messing with checkering too. Finished up the top rows beneath the trigger guard and did the rough filing/contouring the transition area. I'll still need to go over the trasition with a cratex to clean up the tool marks smooth out the bumps before blasting.

Looks like this right now.


Another view.


Finishing up the bottom few rows especially the last row has been a real *******. When the original machine cuts were made they curved at the bottom on both sides.

Like so.


Quite difficult to cut a curved line with a straight file so....

I ground the tips of a couple of my files to make what amounts to a 3square chisel.


They last for a few minutes then I resharpen the tips. The points are gradually coming up. I had half a mind to just cut that bottom row right off of there but that would have left the grip plastic proud of steel right there so I'll just keep scratching away. I get this spot done and blend the lower transition and the frame is complete, ready for the blast cabinet.

Still need to finish de-horning the slide and get the dovetails de-burred & cleaned up for the new sights.

BTW... I did some mathmaticiafying and determined this checkering is 17.2413793 points per inch.

Cheers
Bill

BMCM did S&W send you those sideplates?

If so, thats very interesting as they have told more than one member here, recently, that the sideplates are unavailable. It would appear that was incorrect information. Regards 18DAI

When I originally saw the dbl spring set up....I thought it would increase trigger pull with the added tension and spring thickness when it came in contact with the trigger.

Thanks for the info.

Some progress shots as I finish up the front strap...

And...


Done here...Next stop is the blast cabinet.
Now to finish up the slide.

Cheers
Bill

And I thought I was really doing something with my blast cabinet "touch up" projects. You, sir, are a master!

Beautiful work!

For the checkering you might want to try to find some gravers. I had several curved ones that I used to engrave pear inlays. Looked very much like the files you have. This is what they look like.
STEWMAC.COM : Essential Engraving Kit

I really look forward to watching your progress. Wish I had the skill.

Dave

I'll have a look at those... thanks for the tip

Cheers
Bill

About done fixing up the slide....

Sight dovetails de-burred & cleaned up.

And the front.


Some mild de-horning around the ejection port.


I'm heading to the blast cabinet. At this rate, might be doing some re-assembly tonight

Cheers
Bill

Are you sir a machinist?

S&W told me that awhile back, I could use one for a 4006 .

Nope... Just an old retired ship driver

Yup... from S&W... I fully expected the customer service rep to say not available when I read off the part number. But no! he said in stock! and I said put me down for 4. S&W is closed until the 13th except for LE emergencies but I suspect they'll be getting some calls that week

Cheers
Bill

Ok, we're all done making metal dust.
Here we are fresh from the blast cabinet and a bath.


I hit the flats again with 600 on the surface plate. I kinda like the shiny flats.


Yup, I Like.


Yay for matching build numbers.


Front strap came out ok I guess


A sequence of the top end going together:

This looks a lot better.


And the backsight.



Extractor with a new spring.


And were done.


Taking a break... I'll finish her up after dinner

Cheers
Bill

looks good.

what grit and media you use for that finish?

glass beads?
alum oxide?

TIA

270+ here's the stock number at Brownells

084-063-270WB

you done with dinner yet? Im dying to see the finished product. I wish i had your skills and tools to make mine look like that.

Uploading my pictures right now. Tools you buy from Brownells. Skills you acquire by playing with the tools. Buy a beat up junker... get some tools and see what you can do. Patients good sir... Updating shortly.

Cheers
Bill

Ok here comes the wrap-up....

First I need to get that stirrup off the old hammer so I can pin it to the shiny new bobbed hammer.


New sear spring & pin goes in next.

Like so.


Install all the little bits in the frame. All the lockwork components are new. Trigger, hammer, drawbar, sear and springs were all replaced. New sideplate installed as well. Oops, forgot to install the mag catch.


Magazine catch is in. New recoil spring and guide rod installed and liberally grease with TW25. Also greased up the lugs on the underside of the barrel and the slide rails.


And... Presto.


I'm pretty pleased with the results.





Sort of a before & after alongside my other one.


And lastly the rejected parts bin.


Well I'm damn happy with the outcome. Feels like a brand new gun & the trigger is just wonderful. Can't wait to take her out for a test drive. In any event I'm calling this mission accomplished. I hope you all enjoyed the show. 'tis time for an adult beverage.

Cheers
Bill

(clapping).

Hmmm...that top end of my 4043 IS looking kinda dull...and I'm fresh out of W.L. Weller...

Just wow! That is excellent workmanship!

__________________
N.R.A. BENEFACTOR Member

Well done Sir!!!

Andrew