M1006 in for some spa treatment

[Doug M.]

I have long said that my favorite gunsmithing tool is a checkbook. Any questions remaining?

 

[BMCM]

Final lubrication assembly & bench checks...

But first I need to wash these sticky Hogue rubber grips. Get the least bit of oil on these and they're nasty sticky. So into the kitchen sink with some Dawn and hot water for a thorough scrub.

Not with that taken care of lets get the grips bolted on. The screws supplied with these grips are in my view, rubbish, so as a rule whenever I have rubber Hogues on the bench they get new screws. In this case we're using 316L stainless steel which is highly corrosion resistant.

That's the stuff I use on all my own guns and any other guns I'm asked to work on. Aluminum frames get slightly different treatment...

A little dab of grease on the barrel camming lugs...

And here too...

Very light film of grease on the guiderod...

And on the frame rails...

A drop of FMO here...

And out here on the business end...

And a touch of FMO back here to wick in either side of the hammer and lube the stirrup pin...

And that's it. Bench checks all good, decock timing in spec and were ready to take 'er for a spin.

Anyway, the central point of this post is lube sparingly and I mean very sparingly. More is not better here. And, only lube those things that require it. There are many parts that are intended to run dry and gooping those up with whatever goop is likely to cause problems.

Look here for a sec...
This is a M4506 I bought some time ago as delivered to me...

This goop is everywhere...

Albeit pretty clean despite being slathered with this goop everywhere... Except for that one dust clod there

Oddly enough, the one thing that should have had some grease on it, the aluminum guiderod, was dry as a bone...

I have no idea what that goop is but I seem to recall something of that color and consistency coming out of a pony's nose when I was a wee youngster.

I don't particularly care what your favorite secret sauce is. To me oil is oil and grease is grease. It's the additive package in that lube I'm interested in. I want things like corrosion inhibitors,anti-wear and extreme pressure additives. This M1006, the subject of this thread, was soaking wet inside and caked with crud and you can see that M4506 of mine is virtually packed full of grease. If your maintenance routine is popping the slide off and hosing down the guts with Break Free or Remoil or Ballistol or whatever... You're doing it wrong. That stuff...Excess oil & grease will migrate into all manner of areas during firing where it should not be and collects dirt, carbon and crud and will eventually cause problems.

If you commit to memory just one thing out of this entire thread I would hope it's those things that I did NOT lubricate.

Ok rant off

All done here for the most part... test fire this coming Saturday and assuming all goes well as in no windage adjustment to the backsight needed nor any fiddling with the extractor tension, then we'll be shipping this home. Test fire report to follow...

Cheers
Bill

 

[KWIndy]

Great work BMCM! I always enjoy learning about your latest project.

I was paying attention to what you were lubing / not lubing and thought it was odd you don't lube the safety body. I always apply a THIN film of oil to it when I reassemble - guess I should stop doing that??

 

[BMCM]

guess I should stop doing that??

Yup, the only oil back there goes on either side of the hammer.

Cheers
Bill

 

[Sevens]

I evolved over time to the "less is more" camp, both with lubricant and with the cleaning of guns. My routine is that on the night before a range trip, I'll field strip semiauto pistols, wipe them down with a cotton cloth and nothing else, then I'll get lube on the rails. On the cams and locking areas of the barrel and at the muzzle interface between barrel and bushing I use the red grease from Shooter's Choice.

If you own a S&W Performance Center pistol, you will find that a bit of lube seeps from the very back of the slide/frame as the fitment is irrationally close. This has been my experience, perhaps because I use a lube that is somewhat light in viscosity? (FP-10)

For a short time, I owned two different Ed Brown pistols and in the short owner's manual that was supplied, it seemed obvious that Mr. Brown authored the contents. He said in plain English that for his guns, he wanted you to lube the pistol such that it was flinging lubricant on your arm while shooting. I wish I had either of those manuals here in front of me now to get a direct quote. This has never been my taste. If it is metal on metal and it slides, I want it to be lubricated. If it is tossing goo on to me while shooting, I feel that it's too much.

As a barely related side note, I still have three Smith & Wesson revolvers that never in their life has had the side plate removed and no lubricant outside of Springfield has been dumped in there. Two of them are from the very late 1980's and my old one is from May, 1921. They work beautifully just as shipped without my intervention.

 

[GaryS]

Thanks, once again, for a great tutorial.

I've been using Lubriplate 105 for a while now. I've had good results, so I'll stick with it until I run out. If I ever run out. At which point I'll probably get the SFO-0. Then I'll have to figure out which grand child to will that to.

I'm trying to find individual cans of the FMO 350. Amazon only sells it in case lots. If you can share a source, I'd appreciate it.

I'm going to write up some notes so I don't forget what you wrote.

 

[BMCM]

I'm trying to find individual cans of the FMO 350. Amazon only sells it in case lots. If you can share a source, I'd appreciate it.

Some dude on ebay is re-packing bulk into little bottles

There's also a seller on ebay, Uh GlobalPower, with singles in the spray can and gallons.

And, if you do a web search you'll find it at quite a few industrial supply houses.

Runs about $19/can

Cheers
Bill

 

[GaryS]

Thanks! I'll keep searching.

Some dude on ebay is re-packing bulk into little bottles

There's also a seller on ebay, Uh GlobalPower, with singles in the spray can and gallons.

And, if you do a web search you'll find it at quite a few industrial supply houses.

Runs about $19/can

Cheers
Bill

 

[BMCM]

Managed to get to the range yesterday. I was a little late getting out there but was able to squeeze in a little trigger time to test out our M1006 before a LA CCW class starting up chased me off the range.

This was with WW 175gr STHPs at 15 yards. Not exactly my best work but good enough to tell me there's not a darned thing wrong with this gun now The old girl ran just fine and the sights are right where they need to be. She's ready to go home.

Cheers
Bill

 

[joedegs]

Ed Brown Owners Manual

I’m going to log my vote for this is not a clear-cut “only one answer applies and all else are wrong.”

I get a lot of pride and enjoyment from the extreme feel in the slide to frame fit of my S&W Performance Center Limited pistols and my Model 52’s which fit, feel the same way and (in the case of the PC guns) also can be seen in the fitment at the rear of the slide as it mates with the frame... the lines nearly disappear.

Now these guns are accurate as hell but I will not argue that it is due to slide to frame fit because it is the sum of MANY things. But if you haven’t handled a true PC semiauto or a 52, you owe it to yourself to experience this.

At the same time, I’m 110% certain that I am not dumb enough to attempt to somehow make a slide and frame fit more tightly LONG after the build of the pistol!

Thirdly, or wherever I am at, the guy who formely built the original Coonan pistols told us straight away that they would liked to have made the Coonan tighter than they had settled on but it simply wouldn’t work, they found that the .357 Magnum was applying enough torque with each shot that the slide would bind under the fury so the guns all shipped with a “looser” feel than many would like or might have expected, relative to the price tag.

Hell yes, the subject 1006 was absolutely abused and whoever did it was a criminal. But at the same time, I will definitely defend the juicy love that gets squished out of my 952 and 3566 when you remove the dragging magazine and just gently move that slide on the frame. It’s functional art, the result of a master craftsman.

Here it is, page 13.

https://www.edbrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/hgunmanual.pdf

Joe

 

[joedegs]

I evolved over time to the "less is more" camp, both with lubricant and with the cleaning of guns. My routine is that on the night before a range trip, I'll field strip semiauto pistols, wipe them down with a cotton cloth and nothing else, then I'll get lube on the rails. On the cams and locking areas of the barrel and at the muzzle interface between barrel and bushing I use the red grease from Shooter's Choice.

If you own a S&W Performance Center pistol, you will find that a bit of lube seeps from the very back of the slide/frame as the fitment is irrationally close. This has been my experience, perhaps because I use a lube that is somewhat light in viscosity? (FP-10)

For a short time, I owned two different Ed Brown pistols and in the short owner's manual that was supplied, it seemed obvious that Mr. Brown authored the contents. He said in plain English that for his guns, he wanted you to lube the pistol such that it was flinging lubricant on your arm while shooting. I wish I had either of those manuals here in front of me now to get a direct quote. This has never been my taste. If it is metal on metal and it slides, I want it to be lubricated. If it is tossing goo on to me while shooting, I feel that it's too much.

As a barely related side note, I still have three Smith & Wesson revolvers that never in their life has had the side plate removed and no lubricant outside of Springfield has been dumped in there. Two of them are from the very late 1980's and my old one is from May, 1921. They work beautifully just as shipped without my intervention.

Sorry, replied to the wrong post.

https://www.edbrown.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/hgunmanual.pdf

 

[Sevens]

That's interesting, but that manual is apparently updated since the one I had back in... oh boy, I'm trying to remember... 2010? It literally used some combination of words whereby it was printed that "oil flinging off the pistol and on to your hand or arm is encouraged." I don't remember specifically how he expressed that. This linked version says "it is impossible to use too much lubrication" but it was more comical in the earlier version.