Guzzitaco has been busy of late.
Over the past few months we've talked about doing some custom work on my 457S. I like the gun, but the stainless slide makes it a bit heavier than I like if I decide to carry it.
So, the plan we came up with was that I'd find a carbon slide and send it off to him for custom work. As anyone who owns a Value Line gun, the black finish on the slide is, uh, a bit thin. Yeah, that's it, thin. That's why Zander's only hold their value if they aren't actually carried.
As it happened shortly after that I found a complete slide in good condition on Ebay. The price was too cheap to pass up, so I bought it.
On Guzzi's recommendation I also bought a new 4513 metal rear sight. On my own, I bought a new front sight since the one that came with the gun was pretty beat up.
I shipped all of that, along with a slide stop lever to him so he could work his magic on it.
The plan was to strip the slide down, make scallop cuts, add front serrations, cut a "U" notch in the rear sight, then install both sights, thin down the slide stop and safety lever, and of course blue the slide and other parts.
Guzzi was a bit concerned about thinning the safety and slide stop, but I reassured him that it would help with the thinning of the profile. Both came out exactly as I envisioned.
As he always does, he sent along plenty of detailed pictures of the progress of the work. I'll let him upload as many of those as he wants to this thread.
The slide came in the mail today and so I took the 457S out of the safe, stripped off the upper and put it aside.
I lubed the rails and frame lugs and installed the newly rebuilt slide on it.
Here are the results. My photography skills don't do the finished product justice. The bluing is beautiful and really sets off the silver anodized frame.
I won't say that this is the gun that S&W should have built because they built the Value Line guns for a reason and to a price point. Maybe it's the gun that Zander should have asked them to build, but that's in the distant past.
I will say that this, along with similar recent projects, shows what can be done with a Value Line slide to make it look elegant and not like a block of wood carved by a Cub Scout.
The scallop cut on the left side of the slide doesn't show all that well, but it's there.
Over the past few months we've talked about doing some custom work on my 457S. I like the gun, but the stainless slide makes it a bit heavier than I like if I decide to carry it.
So, the plan we came up with was that I'd find a carbon slide and send it off to him for custom work. As anyone who owns a Value Line gun, the black finish on the slide is, uh, a bit thin. Yeah, that's it, thin. That's why Zander's only hold their value if they aren't actually carried.
As it happened shortly after that I found a complete slide in good condition on Ebay. The price was too cheap to pass up, so I bought it.
On Guzzi's recommendation I also bought a new 4513 metal rear sight. On my own, I bought a new front sight since the one that came with the gun was pretty beat up.
I shipped all of that, along with a slide stop lever to him so he could work his magic on it.
The plan was to strip the slide down, make scallop cuts, add front serrations, cut a "U" notch in the rear sight, then install both sights, thin down the slide stop and safety lever, and of course blue the slide and other parts.
Guzzi was a bit concerned about thinning the safety and slide stop, but I reassured him that it would help with the thinning of the profile. Both came out exactly as I envisioned.
As he always does, he sent along plenty of detailed pictures of the progress of the work. I'll let him upload as many of those as he wants to this thread.
The slide came in the mail today and so I took the 457S out of the safe, stripped off the upper and put it aside.
I lubed the rails and frame lugs and installed the newly rebuilt slide on it.
Here are the results. My photography skills don't do the finished product justice. The bluing is beautiful and really sets off the silver anodized frame.
I won't say that this is the gun that S&W should have built because they built the Value Line guns for a reason and to a price point. Maybe it's the gun that Zander should have asked them to build, but that's in the distant past.
I will say that this, along with similar recent projects, shows what can be done with a Value Line slide to make it look elegant and not like a block of wood carved by a Cub Scout.
The scallop cut on the left side of the slide doesn't show all that well, but it's there.
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