Category Archives: Weapon Modifications

Hogue S&W Centennial and Polymer Bodyguard Rubber TAMER™ Grips

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At the NRA Show, Pat Hogue, of Hogue Inc.,  dropped by the Apex Tactical/OpSpec Training Booth to chat.  Pat noticed Scott Folk’s Smith and Wesson 342 sitting in the cabinet sporting the Hogue pink rubber grips.  Pat went over to his booth and returned with his new Hogue S&W Centennial and Polymer Bodyguard Rubber TAMER™ Grips.  Pat installed the grips and showed the latest features.  It was pretty ingenious.

Finding and deciding on the grips for a Smith and Wesson J Frame isn’t always easy.  Hogue has always been a good choice, and at times has been OEM for Smith and Wesson.  The new TAMER grips improved on Hogue’s long winning design in a few areas.  The first, and most noticeable was the molded plastic “butt cap” that was added to bottom portion of the grips.  The first thing that this allows for is a smooth, snag free draw that is not being hampered by the rubber grabbing on a cover garment.

The next thing was the ability to take a round from the gun when you unload (an inert round in this case as we were inside the show), and remove the grips without other tools.  Pretty slick.

The rest of the attributes the new grips bring to the table carry over from the classic Hogue design.  While a little large for ankle concealment, this style Hogue makes shooting hotter +P loadings a lot more fun.  Some of the small bikini grips are just no fun after the first 15 rounds or so.

Lastly, when buying from Hogue, you’re buying from a family company that stands behind their product.  There is peace of mind in that alone.

More information can be found at www.getgrip.com.

Robar/10-8/MSW/Glock 17 Revisited

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Robar/10-8/MSW Glock with TLR-1

With the recent attention and series of articles on modified polymer pistols, I thought revisiting my Robar/10-8/MSW/Glock was in order. As the recent series of evaluations have highlighted, extensive modifications to polymer pistols are usually a want to do, rather than a have to do, decision. Having said that, as I stated in my previous evaluations modifying your pistol to best suit you and to ensure it’s 100% reliability falls squarely into the have to do category. Continue reading →

Colt 1911 Dual Recoil Spring Test – Part 2

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Some time ago Hilton contacted me to conduct an evaluation on Colt’s new Dual Recoil Spring Assembly for the 1911 pistol. For those of you who haven’t kept up with the various articles on this, Colt developed the dual recoil spring assembly at the request of the Marine Corps for the new M45 1911 Pistol. The reasoning behind the new spring is to extend service life to 8000 rounds between changes.

Springfield 1911/Colt M45 Dual Recoil Spring Assembly

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First Look- The Apex Tactical FNH SCAR bolt handle

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Now comes the “in the white” prototype of the new Apex Tactical Specialties line of bolt handles for the SCAR 16s/17s line of rifles.

The design was a request by some .mil customers who wanted a bolt handle that would clear all the optics they were issued.  Based upon their needs, we developed a couple of versions designed specifically around the EoTech and Elcan.  The above picture was decided as the best compromise for clearing the optics with gloves on, all the while giving positive control of the bolt handle.  Some OpSpec students have been running these bolt handles for the last year in classes and we have over 15,000 rounds to test for wear and issues.

The yet to be named project should be to market around the NRA show, or slightly before.

Stay tuned!

First Look- GrayGuns P-Series Internal Extractor

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For many years, the internal extractors in later model SIG P-Series pistols have been somewhat problematic.  The problems have been largely hit and miss, but were evident in some of the X5 pistols, as well as the P220 and others fielding the internal design.  SIG eventually switched out to the short external extractor, and currently to a long external extractor.

My mentor, Bruce Gray at GrayGuns, INC has been working on the problem for several years and has finally come up with a “fix” for the reliability issues with the internal extractor guns.  As can be observed in the video, the new extractor cleans up ejection and extraction, making it consistent and reliable.  The process involves fitting the new extractor to the individual pistol and tuning it for reliability.  The turn around time is about 10 days, and the cost for the modification is $200.

More information can be found at www.grayguns.com.

Fancy Plastic Guns. Do We Need ‘Em?

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A quick look on popular social media sites such as Facebook or Instagram will yield plenty of photos of highly modified modern pistols worked over by shops such as Boresight Solutions, Salient Arms, ATEi, and others. I don’t think it is debatable that the guns look damn sexy, but do these guns really need all that fancy, and expensive, work to be truly serviceable?

Take a look at the pistol above. This pistol started out as a Glock 17 RTF2 that had nothing more than aftermarket sights (10-8 Performance brass bead front and .140″ notch rear), a factory minus connector, Apex extractor, TangoDown mag catch, and a metric sh!tload of trigger presses. It was one of my favorite pistols to shoot because it was pretty accurate and extremely reliable. But when the opportunity to get some fancy machining done to it by ATEi, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

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COLT M45 1911 Dual Recoil Spring Test Part 1

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Springfield 1911/Colt M45 Dual Recoil Spring Assembly

A short time ago Hilton contacted me about evaluating the Colt M45 1911 Dual Recoil Spring Assembly. As you may know from earlier articles, Colt developed the Dual Recoil Spring assembly for use in the M45 at the request of the Marine Corps. The system is designed to prolong spring life between changes and increase the round count between them.

Continue reading →

KMW SENTINEL™ Stock

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My GAP built Surgeon actioned 6 Creedmore with Vortex Razor 5-20 scope

The amazing thing about the firearms industry currently is the vast array of options a person has to modify his/her weapon to their tastes or preferences. This variety is not limited to the adult Lego® of the firearms world, the AR15. There is now also a great market of accessories and options for precision bolt action rifles that’s growing rapidly. The biggest mistake I see many new shooters make with their first bolt action rifle purchase is making the assumption that all rifle stocks or chassis will fit everyone. This is sadly not the case. Each individual shooter’s length of pull, cheek structure, hand size, forearm length, and a number of other factors play into each shooter’s fit to a stock. There is always someone more than willing to tell any new shooter that the stock or chassis that they have is the only way to go. More often than not I watch online as shooters go from a stock to a chassis and back, continuously buying and selling stocks until they finally settle on one that is comfortable for them and fits their shooting style. Continue reading →

Victor Company Viper Skins Stocks for AI Rifles

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Remington 700 in 300wm in an Accuracy International chassis with Viper skins.

Accuracy International is one of the premier military hard use rifle manufacturers in the world. Known for making no nonsense, purpose built weapons and chassis for bolt action rifles, their AI Arctic Warfare (AW) and AI chassis system shape is one of the distinguishable shapes in the firearms industry. With its square fore end, folding option, and wealth of adjustments its a very capable Mil/LEO bolt-in option for the R700 platform. With that being said their thumb hole design fits some shooters more then others, leaving some to shy away from the design. This is where Michael Victor came in with his design for the Viper Skins in 2010. Victor Company’s Viper skins are replacement skins/ stock sides for the AIAW/ AIAE and  AI chassis systems replacing the thumbhole with a pistol grip. Other added features to the viper skins are a widened fore end and integrating picatinny rails for additional accessories. Continue reading →

P224-9 SAS Comparisons and a Nit – Update #5

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A problem is a problem, regardless of how easy it is to fix. This mag base was just too tight.

While it is a very minor problem and was easily fixed, I did run into a snag with the 12 round P224 magazines seating correctly while running the gun.  It was a problem particularly if I was doing a reload with retention where the slide was in complete lock up.  It turns out that the base pads on both magazines were slightly oversized.  If you look at the picture above, you can see a very tight fit, especially in the area where the base pad steps up to meet the grip shell.  I found myself periodically having to smack the bottom of the magazine to get it seated correctly.

Problem solved. But should it have happened in the first place?

I did not have to take much off of the base pads to get them to work better.  A few passes with a smooth cut file and I was done.  They insert properly in a single motion now and have only  slight bit of movement in lock up.

The rest of this update is a comparison in pictures.  According to each company’s web site, the P224-9 SAS weights 29 ounces dry; the Glock 19 weighs 21.6 ounces empty: the Glock 26 weighs 19.75 ounces empty and the M&P9C weighs 21.7 ounces dry.

P224 next to the M&P9C

P224 next to the Glock Model 26. (it is actually a G27 because one was handy, but they are the same size.)

P224 next to a Glock 19.

I have one more range session planned for the P224-9 and I will post those results once I am done.  I plan to go only to 5000 rounds with this gun.  I do not find anything smaller than a G19 or a  P228/9 comfortable to shoot for extended periods of time and I have no real desire to push it.

Photo of the Day: Robar Guns Glock Slide

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Back in August, Hilton and I had the pleasure of touring Robar Guns‘ facility in Phoenix, Arizona. Our friend Freddie Blish gave us the full tour and an education on the NP3 process along with its advantages and applications. He turned us on to a few slides they still had in stock for builds, so Hilton and I both ordered complete top ends for our Glock 17s. These slides come complete with all small parts, a match barrel and we supplied the 10-8 sights. All the metal parts on the top end are coated with Robar’s excellent NP3 finish, and the custom slides come with the corners tastefully contoured and useful front slide serrations.

I’ll be doing a full range report when the schedule lightens up a bit.

 

Picture of the Day – “Caution – Wet Paint”

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A little painting going on in the Jones household this week.  The top rifle is new and was in need of a coat of paint.  The bottom rifle was painted seven or eight years ago and I grew tired of the pattern.  The old pattern had a Field Drab base with Marine Corps Green and Black.

Both rifles were properly degreased and base coated with Aervoe 977- Sand.  The bottom rifle was then painted with Aervoe 992- Marine Corps Green to see if I liked the color.  It was a bit dark for what I wanted, so I painted the top rifle with Aervoe 979- Forest Green.  Both rifles were then finished with Aervoe 999 Earth Brown.  The optic on the top rifle is a temporary Aimpoint on it.  When the new Aimpoint comes in, I’ll get it painted as well.

Enjoy!

The 72 Drill

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After upgrading my Springfield Black Stainless 1911, I decided to conduct the 10-8 Extractor Test while turning the test session into a drill. With the ammo situation being what it is, making every shot count is important. To get more out of the test as a drill I shot 2 – 8 round magazines 1 handed and 2 – 8 round magazines 2 handed. This totaled 32 rounds rather than the 16 of the standard test procedure. Each round was loaded and the magazine removed and the pistol holstered. The pistol was drawn and fired in the required manner to test extractor function, which it passed.

Springfield Black Stainless 1911- Alessi DOJ Open Port Holster- Mitch Rosen 5DM

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ROBAR/10-8/MSW GLOCK17-PART 4

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Robar/10-8/MSW Glock 17 After 2000 + Rounds

This 4th and final installment of the Robar Glock review will focus on the overall modifications and how they effect the performance of the pistol. For those who are looking for a “I ran it over with my 4×4 and then tossed it out of a helicopter review” you will be disappointed. However the pistol is a working gun and is not a “Safe Queen”.

Since receiving my Robar modified Glock almost three months ago, I have carried it everyday, taught 6 classes with it, which included demonstration drills, shot 2 IDPA matches and shot it during several training sessions and allowed several students to fire it as well. During that time the pistol has fired over 2000 rounds, of which over 1500 have been reloaded ammunition.

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