found a trench art dong with w initial in Vegas, slapped it on a new psa 104. Couldn’t say no to the price
I have a very good friend that has his grandfather’s Remington model 11 that he carried through WWII. It had both sides of the wood of the upper wrist of the stock broke off on each side of the upper tang. This is a common problem on any firearm that has a receiver tang that goes into the stock. The wood is so thin on each side of the tang that any side force or by dropping will break the stock on each side of the tang. The stock had also shrunk some so that there was a noticeable gap between the wood and the upper and lower tang. I had to do some fitting on the stock to close up the gap. You can see in one pic just how much of a crack there was between the stock and the receiver and tangs. My friend didn’t have the broke off parts of the original stock. He had bought a used replacement stock but it just didn’t fit right and I always want to keep an original part on a colletable firearm. I cut off some walnut from an old stock to use to repair the original stock. I had to do a lot of cutting, sanding, shaping and finish sanding to make the new parts for both sides of the upper tang. I drilled down through both new wood parts and into the original stock. I filled the holes with tinted epoxy and used two old drill bits tapped down into the holes to reinforce both sides of the wood around the upper tang. The spiral of the drill bit gives the glue something to grab onto as opposed to just smooth steel. I always save old small dull drill bits and walnut sawdust from any project. I mix the sawdust into the tinted epoxy and used surgical tubing wrapped around the whole wrist to hold everything in place until the epoxy sets up. I also used a good bit of sawdust mixed into the tinted epoxy to fill in all of the gaps around both upper and lower tangs. I used green painters tape and neutral shoe polish as an old gunsmith trick to use as a release agent so that the stock wasn’t glued to the receiver tangs. Some finish sanding and profiling the stock looked almost new. The old walnut that I used wasn’t as dark as the wood of the original stock. In my pics you can see how light the replacement walnut is compared to the original stock. I refinished both the stock and forearm. I also repaired a crack on the top side of the forearm where the wood is thin. You can see the repair if you really look but from just looking at it it isn’t that noticeable. It looks a lot better than before with pieces of stock completely missing and the stock is now a lot stronger than the original factory stock ever was. The lights in my gun room are very bright white led bulbs that really show any imperfections on what I am working on. In regular light things are darker and not as noticeable.
I recently decided to change out the Hogue overmoulded stock on a custom built Ruger 10-22 that I built. I wanted more adjustability. I found the Boyds AT-ONE stock that I really liked. The price on the stock was cheaper than I expected it to be for what you are getting and it has great reviews. I decided to go with it and purchased one for my 10-22 and one my CZ 455 Tactical. Insted of just installing the stock on the 10-22 I went ahead and took the time to really clearance the barrel from the stock, pillar bed the stock and glass bed the action to the stock. It is now a very rigid action. It is very easy to play with the torque setting on the action screw to find the sweet spot to get the best repeatable accuracy. I also used a course round 3m bit in my rotary tool to rough up the stock some around the wrist on the otherwise really smooth stock. The roughness is comfortable to me and it really helps with my grip on the stock. Pillar bedding really lets you get consistent repeatable torque settings because you are taking out any play or compression that the stock has. Just clearancing the barrel , pillar bedding and glass bedding tightened up the shot groups. I still have to play with the torque settings some more to really get it dialed in.
On the right rifle, with the right colour(s) - those Boyd’s stocks can’t be beaten with a… erm, Stick…
I really did like the Hogue overmoulded stock that was on it and I had extended the length of pull on it. The Boyds AT-ONE stock beats it hands down. It is so much more comfortable with the pistol like grip and the easy adjustability. I am so used to having a pistol grip I really prefer it over a traditional stock. It really is the main reason why I wanted to swap out the stocks. I haven’t gotten to the CZ 455 Tactical yet. The CZ455 Tactical has a Manners stock on it and for a traditional stock it is comfortable also but I still like the Boyds AT-ONE stock much better. Someone on Ebay is going to get both of the stocks that I remove. I did pillar bed the Hogue overmoulded stock before I put it on the 10-22.
Love the tiger stripe in the wood!
I had to do some work on my Sig P49. It is in pristine condition. It is obvious that it wasn’t shot that much. It looks like it spent most of it’s life either in storage or just being carried it’s holster.
The safety was ridiculously hard to engage and disengage. The wood grips that I put on it didn’t help because there wasn’t any relief in the grip right below the safety. When in the fire position you had nothing to really push against with your thumb to engage the safety. Besides being hard to throw having the grip on the firearm it was impossible to put back on safety without turning the weapon sideways and use my weak hand to manipulate the safety.
I removed the safety and buffed the underside mirror smoothe and reblued it. I used a small bit to polish and slightly elongate the safety detents in the frame. Now it still positively engages the detents but you can manipulate the safety much easier. I left the safety a little stiffer than I really wanted to account for break-in over time.
I had to do a good bit of work on the left grip to relieve it so that I had enough surface area on the safety to manipulate it. Being left handed I have to use my index finger on my left hand to manipulate the safety. Of course I had to refinish the grip after I was done working on it. You can see in the first picture where there is no relief cut below where the safety would be.
Nice work and a beautiful pistol!
This has been my project for today. I am getting one of my Beretta 71 ready to send it off to be nickel boron coated like I did with the one on the left. The slide on this Beretta 71 was a little rougher than the other one was. I had to really sand and buff to get out the small rust pits in the slide. I also went ahead while I was working on it I removed all of the stupid import markings on the slide and frame. After being nickel boron coated I don’t have to worry at all about having the slide get rust on it again or the aluminum frame getting scratched.
I know that some of you asked to see the two S&W lemon sqeesers that my plastic surgeon owns that I was working on for him. I am sorry that I didn’t document throughout the whole process. I wasn’t feeling that good when I started working on them. I just jumped in and took them apart and soaked them in mineral spirits for a day to help start degreasing them. I then used Krud Kutter to get the rest of the fouling and dirt off of all the parts.
One lemon squeezer was in a lot better shape than the other one was. One still had about 60% of the original bluing left and the other probably had around 30% of the original bluing left. They both had a lot of what I call rust bluing on them. The fine surface rust absorbed the oils from people’s hands and from cleaning and wiping them down with gun oil. They will start getting that brown patina that you find on old firearms or old tools that have been used a lot over the decades.
I did a thorough cleaning. I then got the rust off of them. Luckily there was only rust pitting in a few places. I lubricated the parts and starting reassembled them. I used the Gun Blue kit to put a layer of protective bluing over the steel that had no bluing left on it.
My plastic surgeon agreed with me to not do a full restoration on them. He wanted to keep some of the character that old used firearms have. I basically did just enough to blend the new bluing in with some of the old that was left. Since I didn’t put a lot of multiple layers of bluing on them you still see a color difference between the deep factory bluing that was left and the new protective bluing layer that I put on them.
One thing about the two lemon squeezers is that my plastic surgeon said that his grandfather was a lot more meticulous in taking care of his belongings. His uncle wasn’t as careful with his belongings. Whatever his grandfather had his uncle also had to have one also. The cool thing is that I told my plastic surgeon that it was evident to me which lemon squeezer that his grandfather owned. It was in better overall shape. The barrel was dirty but no pitting. The bluing was in a little better shape. It wasn’t near as dirty internally as his uncle’s lemon squeezer. His uncle’s lemon squeezer’s barrel had a good bit of putting in it. My plastic surgeon and I both thought that it was a cool family story about the heirloom lemon squeezers.
I finally felt good enough last night to start pillar bedding the new stock for my CZ 455. Belive it or not I bought this stock over 2 years ago before COVID. It was a pain pillar bedding the stock because of how the receiver holes were drilled into the stock. I had to enlarge the holes in the stock to 9/16" so that my 1/2" pillars would fit with enough room for the Devcon steel epoxy to adhere the pillars to the stock without moving. Instead of having wood a full 360° around both holes I only had part of it as you can see in the third picture. I wasn’t happy with only having apart of the pillar epoxied to the stock. I ended up having to use some green painters tape, tongue depressors and popsicle sticks mixed in with the Devicon steel epoxy to help fill the void around the holes and reinforce that area of the hole that was cut out. I ended up with the full 360° around the hole with wood and epoxy. Cutting the pillars to the exact right length took a little time and patience with careful measuring and triple checking my measurements. I also had to cut a radius into the rear pillar since the bottom of the receiver was round and actually rested on the pillar. I wanted to make sure that the receiver would be locked in with so side to side movement.
The pillars are now there to stay. It was a pain this morning getting the receiver back out of the stock. Even with all of the prying and pulling that I had to do to get the receiver out of the stock the pillars are rock solid. I was a little worried about pulling a pillar loose getting the receiver out but they held.
After removing the receiver I then had to do some grinding and work with a small chisel to cut and make room for the recess where the trigger guard goes and the two action screws go through the trigger guard plate and secures the action into the receiver. It took awhile to get everything fitting the way I wanted to it to without introducing unwanted stress on the stock or receiver. The barrel is now completely free floated in the stock. I can easily run a piece of paper under the barrel from the front of the stock all the way to the front of the receiver. If anyone is thinking about bedding or pillar bedding a rifle I highly recommend Devcon Plastic Steel Epoxy. It is easy to work with. It doesn’t expand or shrink when drying. It is easy to clean up with a little mineral spirits.
I will have to play with the torque setting on both of the action screws to find the sweet spot for the best accuracy. The new stock is much more comfortable and looks alot better than the old stock. It looks like I am going to be selling the factory stock from this CZ 455 and the Hogue stock off of my Ruger 10/22 since I won’t use them anymore. I now have three really nice customized .22lr rifles and two that are almost twins.
I was looking for a really good way to mount an optic on one of my AK. Age is catching up with me and my eyes aren’t what they used to be. It is getting harder to be accurate with iron sights like I used to be. Now most of my long guns have a red dot or a scope on them. None of my AK did and that was a major drawbaclk for me. While searching for a solid mount I ran across Texas Weapon Systems Dog Leg AK mount. I watched the video on their webpage. They really put in a lot of thought, time, money and research into this mount. Most AK receivers dust cap mounts are crap. They move around easily and won’t maintain a zero. None of my AK have a receiver scope mount rail.
I ended ordering one of their Dog Leg mounts. I told @Rufus about it because he is an AK guy. Sure enough he already had the AK Dog Leg mount on one of his AK and loved it. He verified that they are indeed a rock solid mount that holds a repeatable zero.
My Dog Leg mount was shipped pretty quickly and I received it quickly on Saturday. On Saturday I was working on another project. I started working on Dog Leg mount today. I had to do some modification to the AK dog leg mount for it to fit my YUGO M72B1 Carbine RPK because of my Fostech Echo AK binary trigger. The M72B1’s recoil spring guide rod is a round collapsing rod instead if the wire guide rod that AKM have because it is an RPK. I was thinking that I had to find and buy the second wire part of guide rod and retainer to work with the Dog Leg guide rod. Then it dawned on my I could probably swap the entire guide rod assemblies out of my Yugo M72B1 to my Yugo N-PAP DF-AK. I then could use the Yugo N-PAP second section wire guide rod and retainer to go with the Dog Leg wire recoil guide rod. Since the M72B1’s round guide rod is more heavy duty than a regular AKM wire guide rod it was a win -win putting it in my Yugo N-PAP. I had to do some modifications to the M72B1 guide rod because the N-PAP has a guide rod has some cut outs for the locking pin that the Yugo N-PAP have on them. It wasn’t that difficult just a little time with my big rotary tool and some sanding wheels. Now everything is workingbeautifully in both AK. The spare German military’s Hensolt- Wetzler Scope ZF 4x24 Fero-Z 24 I took it off of the HK claw mount that it came on and put it on an ARMS #63 QD low mount. The Fero -Z 24 and the ARMS QD mount is a prefect fit on the Yuogo M72B1. The scope being mounted so low is perfect for an AK. Usually using a scope with an AK is a pain unless you make a cheek riser. Overall I am very happy and @Rufus was exactly correct that the TWS Dog Leg mount is rock solid. The Dog Leg is hands down the best option to put any optics on an AK.
Beautious!
I have been playing some with my New Sig P322 shooting it suppressed. I love the gun itself and I love the 20 and 25 round magazines that it uses.
I have admitted before that yes I am a trugger snob. Almost none of my regular firearms still has the factory trigger. I have either done a trigger job on the factory trigger, upgraded it or put in an aftermarket trigger. The only real major complaint with the Sig P322 was the really crappy plastic trigger and the reallllly long takeup and overtravel. It really sucks. I went to my old reliable Sig aftermarket store Armory Craft and picked up an aftermarket trigger. The AC trigger is billet aluminum, flat with serrations, wider than the stock trigger and is fully adjustable for pretravel and overtravel. Man what a huge difference the AC trigger made. Now I only have minimal pre travel and overtravel. It really made a gun that I liked but wasn’t totally happy with to one that I am completely happy with. I also found some factory Sig P322 25 round magazines on sale for a good price a little while back when I picked up the Sig Romeo Zero reflex sight. This brings me to one other personal complaint. I wish that Sig had made the P322 compatable with more optics. I like the Romeo Zero reflex sight for the price point but overall I would rather have the Leupold DeltaPoint Pro reflex sight. The DeltaPoint Pro is just a lot nicer full aluminum and a more rugged sight. The Romeo Zero has a metal shield that is optional for you to use or to leave off. I put my metal shield on since the sight itself is plastic and it is easy to hit your reflex sight on things such as barricades when you are moving and shooting.
First of all I won’t call myself a gunsmith. This is my first time modifying a gun, you could say it is a much needed upgrade. Acquired awhile back a 1911 style ATI Titan .45ACP. The Titan is a 3.125" barrel akin to the Kimber Ultra Carry or Colt Defender. It has a notorious problem of being unreliable due to its having a two piece guide rod spring assembly. The fix is to replace the original with a Kimber one piece assembly.
The original collar or slide bushing is shaped to fit the ATI slide, but the Kimber bushing must be modified to fit. I found a Wen rotary tool kitwith flex shaft at Hobby Lobby for$22.99 last year model clearance, but a solid well built tool. I bought a set of fine work files at Harbor Freight for $4.99.
Pics show before/after, can only post 5 pics at a time so bear with me.
Tools
Parts - original has screw that can come loose and the main reason for fail to cycle properly. Kimber base plate permanently attached. 
Scribed areas that needed to be cut out/removed for new bushing to fit slide. Most people cut out entire semi circle, I precisely cut to fit, so barrel support remained front and rear. Don’t know if it really matters, but figure it couldn’t hurt with short barreled .45ACP.
Cut out areas on bench
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