Do you modify your firearm? why or why not?

[kzaske]

I replaced the sights of my M&P 9 with a set of TruGlo night sights and the plastic striker plate with a metal one. Other than those changes, it is pure stock.

 

[walkin' trails]

Just feeling out a consensus on whether I should add any mods to my firearm deviating it from stock configuration.

Was thinking about adding nights sights, apex kit, etc...to deck out some of my firearms but I'm having second thoughts.

My thoughts are the firearm was engineered to function a certain way with countless hours and financial resources dedicated to R&D. Modifying it internally or externally could lead to a less than ideal product or on the opposite spectrum a more enjoyable product.

For now, I've decided to forgo the apex trigger kit (although I've heard great things about the trigger kit) because modifying the firearm's internal voids the legendary SW warranty. Also don't want to mess with anything internal as it's most important that the firearm goes "bang" when I need it to and I'm not at the stage where I'm comfortable messing with a firearm internally.

I'm also on the fence about night sights as I don't think in a real SD/HD situation, under stress and duress...it'll more than likely be a point and shoot situation.

So, do you add mods to your firearm or prefer stock configuration?

Mine are stock save night sights. I leave the triggers alone. I currently run Trijicon HDs because they are visible day or night. I try to carry with a weapons light most of the time.

Night sights are based on preference, but someone carrying for self defense should have sights on the pistol that they catch their eyes and are quick to acquire. If you train with sights during dry fire or at the range, chances are that under duress, you'll acquire a sight picture, even a flash sight picture, even if you don't remember it. The only exception might be that the attacker is making physical contact.

 

[S&W1006]

I have no problem modifying a firearm to fit my needs as long as it is a safe modification. For example I put the Apex sear in my M&P Pro 40 that I shoot in competition. I would never put that on my carry M&P's it is too light in my opinion for carry. My competition revolvers I do the same thing I lighten the trigger pull for competition but my carry revolvers have stock trigger pulls.

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[Mauser12]

I mostly modify my rifles but I have been known to change a thing or two on pistols. Most factory rifle triggers are second rate so I usually drop in a timney to improve accuracy. Plastic stocks also get replaced with a wood edition. In fact, I try to get rid of most plastic. Scopes go on all my rifles. Pistols usually get grips, VZ if they are available. Sometimes pistols will also get fiber optic or night sights.

 

[keithherrington]

I haven't seen it all, but...

I'm 63 and have been shooting since 5 or 6, since my early teens seriously with pistols. Early on, never touched the pistols I had. Didn't even think to. But as soon as I got into serious competition, I was constantly trying to make things "better". That continued until about 15 years ago when I sat back and really looked at what needed to be done vs what I just thought was needed. I then began to focus on buying the gun that had all the features I needed, precluding any need on my part to spend additional big bucks on stuff that really didn't matter. Some examples:

After much experimentation, my carry gun became the S&W pre-lock L-Comp with Remington 125 grain Golden Saber, carried in a Milt Sparks PMK holster and using Speed Strips to carry either 8 or 16 more in my pocket.


My alternate is a 3.5" Model 27 in a very simple belt holster, also with Speed Strips.


Very light stoning of some of the internals by a S&W certified gunsmith is all that's been done to these guns. And since I don't believe that any gunfight I'll be in will be decided on the speed of my reload, the 6 or 7 shots I have at my immediate disposal is probably adequate.

WRT autos I now no longer spend any additional funds modifying them. I did several years ago when I was trying to get happy with my M&P9 and M&P45, but that was because they both were heavily flawed and needed correction. Grip work by David Bowie and trigger work by the Performance Center mostly. The autos that I now regularly shoot are both Baer 1911s: a Thunder Ranch in 45 ACP and a Black Baer in 9mm. Both have ALL the features I'm looking for in a serious handgun. With proper breakin as recommended by Baer, they work flawlessly.




Truth be told, neither matches the M&Ps for sheer out of the box reliability, but since neither is a carry gun and I had to the time and patience to break them in carefully, that posed no problem.

Keith

 

[ABMI]

I just got my 9mm Shield back from getting refinished. I'm very happy, Doug over at ATEi did a great job, very nice.

 

[cmcinc]

It is all personal. I do what I need to do to enhance me getting a good shot off. So some of my guns are stock all the way while others do get some changes.

 

[therewolf]

I'm sure I speak for most folks when I say "If you're going to

change it, KEEP it." Pawn shops are loaded with Bubba'ed guns,

which now have the approximate value of dog poo.

That said, I change grips, springs, and sights. Mostly reversible

stuff. But, rest assured, nobody else will appreciate your changes.

Everybody wants to buy a stock gun.

 

[ABMI]

Therewolf, most people i know want a stock gun so they can customize it to their liking, very few keep the gun as it was bought. Besides most people don't customize their gun to make money from, it's for fit & feel, looks or function. As far as bubba'ed up guns go with a known reputable company and the gun will be worth more most of the time, but it is true it will be to a smaller group & if it's in the pawn shop the person probably fell on hard times having to get rid of it. But that said if you plan on changing your firearm as often as your socks, don't modify or stay with the main stream changes that most people do.

 

[susieqz]

i have yet to see a ruger that's good out of the box.
i think they sell guns that are only a platform to customize .
they could easily make nice triggers without changing their price point, but they don't.

 

[Holmes375]

Man has been customizing, personalizing and decorating his weapons ever since his descent from the trees.

Its the nature of human individuality.

 

[DataPimp]

The only thing I ever do is add night sights if it doesn't have them. I think Talon grips kick butt too but only add them on certain guns. Coloring stuff in or adding punisher stuff to your gun makes you look a bit over zealous in my opinion.

 

[socalDDS]

The only thing I ever do is add night sights if it doesn't have them. I think Talon grips kick butt too but only add them on certain guns. Coloring stuff in or adding punisher stuff to your gun makes you look a bit over zealous in my opinion.

Agreed...!


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[Arc Angel]

Modify it only if you know how.
But you'll never know how until you do it.

As for the whole 'them S&W geniuses made things the way they ought to be' perspective, that's hardly the case with any product from any company. Engineers design, accounting cuts corners, engineers redesign, mass manufacturing introduces tolerance issues not seen on the engineer's plans, you get a product that is hardly a precise realization of the engineers' perfect conceptualization.

Every mass produced product is compromised, every product can be improved. Hell, some companies intentionally under-engineer products just to give themselves room to 'improve' in the next model or to differentiate product lines.

Beat me to it! (Almost verbatim to what I would have said.)

The OP is talking about his M&P pistol, right! Who wouldn't want an Apex trigger in one of those? Better sights - say, something like TFX's - are, as far as I'm concerned, a, 'no-brainer'. You've got to have them! Back when I learned how to do gunsmithing there was no internet; and, sometimes, things could get confusing; but, today, there's a TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF INFORMATION that's available on-line for the home workbench gunsmith.

On the very first Bar-Sto Precision barrel I ever bought, I had a local gunsmith install it for me; and, know what? Even though he was a man with more than 30 years' experience, he screwed the installation up - He actually screwed it up! (Subsequently I found out that he'd started drinking; and, unfortunately, the sorry results were showing up in his work!)

So I took the pistol home, tightened my belt, spit on my hands, got out the old: Needle Files, Polishing Rods, and Dremel Tool; and I spent a good 3 1/2 hours straightening everything out, squaring up the corners, and truing the barrel alignment. On the next Bar-Sto barrel I bought I called South Dakota, and had them ship an unfitted barrel to my home. That one went into the pistol in slightly over an hour. (I'm a meticulous craftsman; and I'm smart enough to recognize the value of always thinking first and, thereafter, working nice 'n slow!)

So, yes, you learn as you go! You just have to be willing, 'to go'; willing to, 'take the plunge'; and willing to work slow. I have a set of hard fast rules that I apply to everything mechanical: Never force anything; never begin working without thinking first, and always work thoughtfully, quietly, and slowly. (Ya got 'a love guns; and ya got 'a love working on them, too!)

Is a significantly modified gun a liability for EDC? Not in my case; but I always run, at least, 500 rounds through a gun before I'm willing to carry it. If I hit a snafu of some kind, I'll do (and have done) 1,000 fired rounds before I'll wear the gun on my hip.

With all - and I do mean all - of the things that can and will go wrong with a pistol and/or the magazines, if you're not working on your guns now, sooner or later, you will be. You've just got to get over the, 'beginner's jitters'. One of the best ways to learn your gun is to begin by disassembling it down to its most basic components. Then, study each component and learn what it does, and how it relates to the rest of the pistol as a whole.

The process is not as scary as you might think; and, one of these days, knowing how to, BOTH, maintain and modify your pistol might just turn out to be your, 'saving grace'.

 

[garddogg56]

I like all my stuff stock. I usually buy what I like and then there's no need to turn it into something I like because it's already there.

Too add to this seems the my buddies that are mod freaks more than half of there mods DON'T ADD A THING TO THE END PRODUCT so stock works for me