a M457 project

guzzitaco

guzzitaco

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Hi guys,
another project...I thought this year would be less crazy, but to me, it is still the same...

As I always say, I am not a gunsmith...but I enjoy working on guns. I consider my skills to be basic, specially when I compare them to some people in this forum.

Special thanks to BMCM (Bill) who always has the time and patience to teach and provide advice.

Background: I always wanted to do a M457 project, but that is my daily carry. So, I needed it another slide to practice and somehow I found a whole pistol to play with...:D

To me the M457 is a great pistol. It is very similar to a 4513, a Shorty 45 or a Recon 45...but is lacks the "finesse" and extra features of the others. In my view it has some weakness, such as: plastic sights, plastic magazine nut and a"black oxide?" finish on the slide that is brownish and wears off easily. It is also very "boxy" and looks a bit like it was from Austria...:rolleyes:

So, the idea is to get a M457, add better sights, do a proper bluing job, and maybe add some refinements...(it will never be a shorty of a recon...but it could be nicer...)

So this is what I started with...








A beaten M457 Zander Special...that had seen better days...(purists beware...I have an extra slide, so this pistol could be easily returned to its original configuration...just in case)


it had a funny issue with the mag catch...more on that later...

took it for a bath...


frame was in good condition, and I didn't want to "mess" with it...



Trigger was nice...not great, but ok...

took some imperfections out of the drawbar with a fine stone...


put it back together to check for function...still that issue with the mag catch...


somebody messed with the slide stop...

more to come...
 
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Nice! Looking forward to following this project. :)

I am a fan and user of the 457. Mine has seen a lot of rounds through it. And BMCM added useable metal sights to mine.

Great, underated 45 carry gun the 457. Regards 18DAI
 
Very nice work.

It's probably just the contrast, but the finish on the slides of the Zander guns seems particularly frail. They look great ANIB, but it seems that if you look at them sideways the finish comes off. It will be interesting to see how you address that.
 
thank you guys for the kind comments...

removing the front sight was a bit of a challenge...a bit like the Suez Canal incident...:D


full or red loctite





the rear was a similar story...sights are xs big dot...don't love them...but I will save them for another project...


addressed the imperfections on the top of the slide using wet sand paper and a a piece of marble.




also, worked on the rear of the slide...

there was a big ding on the barrel bushing that I wanted to address...







not perfect yet, but I decided to leave it like that and wait to see how it looked after the first blasting...


Lysol is great to remove the black oxide finish...(must wear gloves)




cleaned and ready to work on some imperfections...


slide was rubbing a bit on the dustcover, so I addressed that...didn't want to ruin the new bluing...


done with the rubbing issue...


started to file down the rear bump...needed the space to work on the top of the slide and to install the new sight...




a bit of a stressful task...not fun to do with a hand file...but, it had to be done...

starting to work on the rear...










yes, I like rear serrations... This time I decided not to do them all the way down to the bottom of the slide, to avoid any fitting issue with the frame...I wanted to leave the frame untouched and the slide to fit any M457...




now we are getting somewhere...:cool:

more to come...
 
guzzitaco said:
thank you guys for the kind comments...

removing the front sight was a bit of a challenge...a bit like the Suez Canal incident...:D


full or red loctite





the rear was a similar story...sights are xs big dot...don't love them...but I will save them for another project...


addressed the imperfections on the top of the slide using wet sand paper and a a piece of marble.




also, worked on the rear of the slide...

there was a big ding on the barrel bushing that I wanted to address...







not perfect yet, but I decided to leave it like that and wait to see how it looked after the first blasting...


Lysol is great to remove the black oxide finish...(must wear gloves)




cleaned and ready to work on some imperfections...


slide was rubbing a bit on the dustcover, so I addressed that...didn't want to ruin the new bluing...


done with the rubbing issue...


started to file down the rear bump...needed the space to work on the top of the slide and to install the new sight...




a bit of a stressful task...not fun to do with a hand file...but, it had to be done...

starting to work on the rear...










yes, I like rear serrations... This time I decided not to do them all the way down to the bottom of the slide, to avoid any fitting issue with the frame...I wanted to leave the frame untouched and the slide to fit any M457...




now we are getting somewhere...:cool:

more to come...
Click to expand...

Excellent workmanship and taking the time to share this project with the rest of us sets you a cut above.

Looking forward to more and the finished product.

Much Thanks,

Kobsw
 
Those serrations on the rear of the slide are becoming sort of a signature feature of guzzitaco’s builds. Of course pretty is as pretty does, and the serrations make it look pretty at the same time as they eliminate glare. Ya gotta love it! :D

Froggie
 
After the rear serrations were completed, I started to work on the top of the slide.



The flat top of the slide is an good candidate for serrations, but it is WIDE, so I was a bit concerned of how everything will look...









After some work, I decided to do an initial blast to evaluate how things were progressing and to check if I had some file marks.











ding on the barrel bushing was almost imperceptible (16x magnification pic)



rear serrations...looking good...



So we were on track...

A couple of days after Christmas, this arrived...






Ok...now, how do we use this thing?

more to come...
 
Last edited:
The 8 weeks after getting the milling machine was a period of understanding the basics and buying the needed accessories. It was a frustrating process...machinists have a different mindset and I didn't know how to tackle the projects...

BMCM helped me a LOT during this process... without his help this would have been much harder and longer...

My initial intention was to fabricate a custom rear sight for the M457...so, I did some prototypes with alu...





I think it was a nice effort, but too ambitious for this stage...

So, I decided to fit a Fusion rear sight instead...

WHAT A NIGHTMARE !!!

Damaged 3 sights in the process until I got the right fit...









Once again, BMCM came to the rescue and helped me in this process...honestly it wasn't easy...







after that I fitted the front sight. This was much simpler since I have done it many times...


for this project I choose a trijicon night sight that was on sale by an online vendor...new production 2020...





Around this time I started to "talk" a lot with Cherrypointmarine...he has a great collection and always helps me with pictures and measurements for my projects...I needed to know how deep where the carry-cuts on some of the S&W models...

In the middle of it all, he sent me a box full of parts he wasn't using...I am really thankful for this... (since the machine is only the downpayment :D)





I bought a corner mill with a radius...to make a cuts less sharp and a bit "softer" in appearance...






I like the look of the carry cuts...

more to come...
 
In preparation for the carry cuts I marked scribe lines using a thick point sharpie marker.





Then I went ahead with the cuts...



one last measurement before cutting (measure twice cut once like a plastic surgeon :D)






I decided to stop at 0.035 deep.




I was happy with the results...


I also like how the line with the dustcover and complement the pistol...



Also, I decided to get change the plastic mag nut and mag catch and replace it for a metal one from a 4566 (found it new at Midway). Despite not having a plunger, the nut stays in place because it is threaded. To avoid any risk of getting loose, loctite was added to the thread. I have the same mod on my CS9 and it has been running perfectly for the past 2 years.

The slide stop is a bit too big for the size of the pistol. I wanted to reduce 1 step on the slide stop.







I also took one step out of the safety/decocker.








it was starting to take form...

more to come...
 
Love the longitudinal grooving on top of the slide! What do you call that kind of file and what tpi is it?
 
mikerjf said:
Love the longitudinal grooving on top of the slide! What do you call that kind of file and what tpi is it?
Click to expand...

Hi Mike,
that is a checkering file. Made by Grobet, Swiss company. 40 lines per inch. Sku 31.037 (I believe).

you need to make sure the lines match the center and the top of the sides. I use different spacing wood blocks of my vise until I am 100% sure everything is aligned.

Practice on some scrap metal and use some ink marker to see your lines.

Hope this helps...
 
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