Articles and Other News

Reconstructed: Our version of the Sig Sauer GSR

This is a Sig Sauer GSR we did some work on for a customer. Some basic stuff like action work, GGI extractor, Superblack finish, hardtail, flush-cut slide stop, etc…
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Photos from GGI Heckler & Koch P7 M8 custom work

While catching up on our custom-gun backlog, we’ve been finishing a number of H&K P7 projects lately. We’ve had requests to post some pics of our current P7 work, so with your indulgence here’s a few snapshots of an M8 that Torie and I just completed for a good and patient customer from Ohio.

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Photos from the May 2010 GGI Massachusetts Extravaganza

The Massachusetts class this past weekend a big success. This was the third year Grayguns adjunct instructor Scott Conti put together the program in central Massachusetts, and about 20 shooters participated each of the three days.

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Physics and short .45 caliber pistols – a discussion

Let’s discuss some of the factors affecting the functioning of pistols in general, and short 45′s in particular. To contribute to this discussion, head over to SigForum and join in.

Let’s imagine a theoretical pistol, say a .45 caliber firing a given load, in which magazine timing efficiency and lockup were basically constant values. This means that the magazine requires a minimum period in which to present rounds before the breechface, and that the barrel and slide remained mechanically locked together for a set travel.

Let’s say that the variables at play are barrel length and spring tunnel length in proportion; slide mass; breechface over-run (it’s rearward travel past the magazine that, in part, dictates how much time the magazine is given to do it’s job); and recoil spring rate / weight.

Shortening the barrel length reduces total reciprocating mass, while increasing bore pressure at the muzzle which drives slide velocity as a function of the jet effect of expanding gas behind the bullet.

Thus, if we make our theoretical .45 shorter, we get faster unlocking and higher slide velocity due to reduced mass, AND even more slide velocity driven by higher residual bore pressure. Besides rendering our theoretical pistol unpleasant to shoot, excessive slide velocity has obvious consequences in the form of increased wear and breakages, plus the possibility of recoil-induced magazine malfunctions like double feeds and the like. We’ve agreed that in this pistol we can’t decrease slide velocity by increasing lockup travel to (partially) compensate for reduced slide mass.

Yet, our shorter pistol has room for an even shorter recoil spring that is taxed to do even more work in less travel and with fewer coils in a shorter space. So, an obvious answer is to use a heavier-rated spring to slow that slide down. It makes sense.

There are some problems and limitations at work against us here, however. First, our shorter spring needs to exert even more pressure in battery to attenuate the increased speed of unlocking from our lighter slide; to accomplish this, we can open up the coil spacing but at the expense of significantly reduced service life as we see with the various small 1911-style guns. One workaround: the multui-strand spring that SIG has pioneered already. However, that spring’s large net wire diameter limits how short it can go. Another? The flat-wound spring type.

So, let’s say we can engineer a trick 26-pound spring that gives us all the closing pressure against that light slide in battery we want, and slows down that gnarly slide velocity like a champ. Great!

The problem is that we’re up against another variable and one of our constants: we’ve had to shorten slide stroke considerably to arrive at this small package, and thus have reduced breechface over-run. Along with our ultra-strong recoil spring, we now aren’t giving the magazine enough time to function reliably.

Our choice of .45 ACP, being heavier and with a less-optimal transfer factor compared to other rounds like, say, 9X19, makes this timing even more critical.

So, we decide to lose the garage-door spring and back off the tension / rate just enough to allow the mags to feed, without permitting excessive wear and breakages from too much slide speed. Great! Our theoretical test gun survives a torture test in fine form on our test range, fed by a stack of new mags loaded by assistants.

Why, then, do our imaginary customers complain that their pistols start in with FTF’s after a few hundred rounds or so? That likely has to do with the difference in fatigue rates between magazine and recoil springs. The same physics are at play when we shorten the magazines, and magazine springs, as well. Unlike our torture-testers, our customers have only a few mags to work with, and as these mags take a set they no longer can keep up.

Yet another factor needs to be considered: extractor tension. Our imaginary light slide, short barreled pistol unlocks quickly with higher residual bore pressure, and thus requires more positive extractor tension as a hedge to overcome increased case adhesion forces during extraction.

Yet, that light slide carries with it much less momentum during the feeding cycle, and we can’t get as much closing pressure from that short spring to overcome the resistance that our increased extractor tension exerts upon the case rim as it tries to slide up the breechface, much less from a marginally-timed, short magazine with a less-than-adequate mag spring. Thus, the classic 3-point FTF jam we see all the time in short .45′s.

So, we can try another workaround to deal with feeding issues caused by both higher extractor tension and a reduced magazine timing window: we increase magazine spring tension to compensate. That, however, also has consequences as the slide has to overcome more resistance as it strips rounds out of the feedlips.

That, in brief, is an explanation of some of the fundamental problems that make shortened pistols so problematic. The tension between these factors is difficult to balance. If some of these factors seem familiar to your experience with various short .45′s, I hope it will help explain why I generally try to steer folks away from them.

I hope to lend some technical perspective to the subject of short pistols, and hopefully help explain my preference for at least somewhat longer guns. In a world of highly critical, perhaps over-engineered handgun designs, I believe a few extra coils of recoil spring, a bit more slide mass or a little bit longer slide travel can make all the difference.

I look forward to reading your informed input and alternative viewpoints. Head over to SigForum for the discussion.

The cure for the plastic Sig Sauer guide rod

So, why do we consider the Grayguns rods the best? Our beautifully finished and tough FAT rods set the replacement standard for solid stainless-steel P-series Sig Sauer guide rods.

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Examining training opportunities – finding value and meeting objectives

As someone who takes a lot of classes and teaches a lot, I spend quite a bit of time around the range. With some of the training craziness that has shown up on YouTube recently, I thought I’d share my personal litmus test on examining techniques that you pick up at classes and from your shooting buddies.

All men are naturally race car drivers and porn stars. So we tend to rate a course, or technique by the number of rounds fired. “I shot 2400 rounds in two days, but I’m not sure what we did?” Some of the best classes I have been to I didn’t shoot a lot, but the concentration in making the shots was brutal. So, how then can we examine a course or technique if it isn’t by round count?

Obviously, you should do research in selecting a course that suits your needs and is recommended by like minded folks.

First, can I perform this safely? Any technique that requires you to break any safety rule in the name of “realism” or my personal favorite “stress inoculation” should be avoided at all costs. Some people will disagree, however, I kinda put that in the same category of shooting my bullet proof vest to make sure it works. Not all that smart.

Next comes, is the technique logical? I have found that a common sense approach to training works well. If it doesn’t make sense, and your spidey senses begin to tingle, it is probably for good reason.

Next up, can the instructor explain why you should do/use the technique? Being a good instructor is more than being a good shooter. The most frustrated I have ever been in a course is the whole “Cause I said so” answer. If you can’t satisfy this answer, you should take a long hard look at one and two.

Finally, can the instructor perform the technique? The old adage, “Those that can, do, those that can’t, teach” doesn’t hold water in the firearms community. I’ve heard some instructors say that they won’t demo in front of their students as not to “intimidate” them. Horsehockey.

Sometimes demo-ing is the only way to make the light come on with some students, and it lends credibility to the instructor. I am really wary of any instructor that won’t demo something on request. Obviously, you don’t have to live fire everything, but how can an instructor set expectations for the student body, when he can’t even perform the feat himself?

In this day and age, it costs a fortune in ammo alone to take a course. I have found that asking these questions have served me pretty well over the last few years. Hope it helps you as well.

Rebuilding a custom 1911

A Colt 1911 got sent to us in order to make some improvements after work by another gunsmith(s). Unfortunately, the customer got the gun back after the initial work but it just wasn’t all that he was hoping for. He sent it to us to see what we could do with it.
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Lubrication of Sig Sauer pistol rails

This article is about what I personally recommend for lubricating Sig Sauer pistols. I have different methods for lubricating other guns, but this article is focused on the Sig Sauer pistols.

My philosophy: If metal rubs metal, it needs grease between the parts.

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Competitive mindset and affirmative decisions

Learning the skills to be competitive is fun, but applying these skills on demand can be frustrating, especially when we are emotionally invested in the results. Indeed, the biggest challenge facing the competitor is to simply trust his subconscious mind to direct his performance just as he trained it to do, and set his ego aside when it really counts most. It’s not enough for you to develop the skills; you need to develop a system to apply these skills on demand.

You’ve trained hard and smart to develop the technical shooting skills you need to succeed in practical competition. Yet, your match performance doesn’t meet your potential ability. Your attention wanders as the pressure you put on yourself from your expectations builds before each stage. Rather than shooting proactively through your subconscious, you become tentative, conscious and reactive. Your fear of missing drives your performance and your results are marred by procedural errors, poor trigger control and a sense of being rushed.

If the above description sounds familiar, you are in excellent company. If you arrive at the range without having a clear plan of action, you’ll invariably make poor competitive decisions in response to self-imposed pressures driven by our expectations and fear of failure.

The difference between a great competitor and a good one isn’t in his shooting skill, but rather in his ability to deliver a higher percentage of that skill in competition. Most likely, he has a system that anchors him emotionally against the changing tides of match pressure, future expectations and past results, and frees his subconscious from these distractions to do the job he’s trained it to do.

Your system should emphasize staying in the moment, focused on the process of shooting while letting the results take care of themselves. Just as your subconscious mind responds well to the visualization techniques you use to develop practical marksmanship skills, you can use visualization to build the competitive system you need to excel.

It will help you greatly to give yourself a set of rules to follow. Here’s a set of affirmations and positive decisions to guide your thinking and prompt your best performance. I stole these from many other shooters over the years, but you’ll immediately recognize a consistent theme: each decision reinforces the process used to reach your goal, rather than focusing on the goal itself.

In no particular order:

• I’m committed to the marksmanship process.
• I’m committed to this event.
• I trust my subconscious to direct my performance as I have trained.
• I am focused on what I am doing and do not care about results.
• I take the time I need to prepare for each stage.
• I visualize each stage carefully, completely and vividly.
• Once I am loaded and ready, I focus exclusively on a visualized image of the sights on the first target, and let my subconscious direct me through the stage.
• I am not influenced by other shooters, range officers or previous performance.
• I replace tension and anxiety about my performance with a poised spirit and sense of fun.
• I have worked hard to be here.
• I want every shooter to do well.
• I give myself permission to “win”.
• I define “winning” as performing to my potential, not as beating others.
• “Performing to my potential” means seeing the sights, prepping & pressing the trigger and following through on every shot.
• I replace conscious control of the process with active observation.

Remember to have fun! You will achieve your ideal state of performance when you are poised and enjoying the process of shooting well as en end unto itself, for the simple sake of running the gun, watching the sights and pressing off good shots. Be free. Strive for this state of having fun at all times; putting a smile on your face when the pressure hits you will go a long way towards reminding you why you are there.

Practical pistol range commands and safety procedures

Practical pistol shooting has the best safety record of all shooting sports. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. That’s because we’ve long recognized the potential dangers inherent in handling pistols in a dynamic, hyper-competitive and high speed environment, and have developed a comprehensive set of immutable rules and procedures to minimize the risks.

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