Can't leave it alone...Mods, De-horning, etc.

[jamesjames]

I just about can't help myself. When I get a new gun, or one that's new to me, I invariably change something on it. Changing sights, grips, dehorning the sharp edges and pointy ends.

It got really bad (or really good, depending on how you view these things) with my last acquisition. I picked up a used Beretta PX4 Sub Compact in .40 S&W on Gunbroker for a good price. Because it wasn't NIB, I felt like I could improve on some of the features that bugged me. The PX4 sub has short grips that you can get 2 fingers on and wrap your pinky under (it also has the cheezy pull-down front lip, but who has time for that?). I'm used to this pinky-wrap grip technique with j-frames. But the bottom plate of the magazine is made with a sharp edge. It also happens to be a generous 1/8 inch thick or more plastic, so I went to work with sandpaper radiusing the edge. Now I can wrap my pinky under it the way God and Sargent Joe Friday intended.

The bi-lateral (ambi) safety/decocker lever is notorious for sticking out a country mile, catching on everything and bruising your kidney from inside the holster. I took a sander to those levers and reshaped them to hug the sides of the slide, rounding edges with pattern files and grinding 3 new grooves into the surface for better grip.

Mind you, I did not alter the mechanical function of the safety/decocker even though Beretta offers low-profile and "stealth" versions of the lever for $45 and a "G" model decocker only mod.

I don't know if its OCD, or the hidden sculptor/gunsmith in me trying to express himself, but I have an unquenchable urge to improve, de-horn, and make better just about every platform that comes into my possession. Obsession or Passion? What are your gun mod stories? I'm less interested in bubba-ed gun mods like sawed-off shotguns and Fitzed revolvers. I'm more interested in how your "mod" made it feel and work purrrfect in your hand.

 

[hemiram]

I don't really mod many guns and they have to be cheap, like my Taurus PT111 G2, or cosmetically challenged in some way, like the grips on the gun in my avatar on the left. My PT111 has the stainless steel guide rod added and has a fiber optic front site added. On the Tanfoglio "Mossad" two tone in my avatar, I plan on sanding the grips and probably refinishing them, but if they are like the ones on my other Israeli surplus guns, all I will need to do is sand them down, and polish them a little. The other guns had so much varnish soaked into them that the sanding I did on them never got through the varnish, so I took a buffer wheel to them and they came out very nice. Most of the flaws are gone, or slight now, and it kind of gives the gun some character.

 

[Old Dog]

Well, these days I usually only buy proven guns that I know fit me and I don't normally have to modify in any way, shape or form to make them fit me better -- although I am a well-known grip-changer (especially for 1911s and SIGs). I love almost anything grippy in G10, favor VZ grips for 1911s, and love the Hogue line for SIG P-series pistols ... Rosewood, coco bolo and burled maple make my heart beat faster, too - some of the natural wood stocks are so beautiful and just complete a gun.

Other than stocks, usually the only thing I may change are sights. If the gun has a plastic guide rod, I may swap it out for stainless just on GP. MIM parts, I no longer sweat.

Bottom line: there's too many guns coming out almost perfect in stock versions that I usually just don't feel the need to change anything on ... Wasn't the case 20 years ago, but today, we're in a golden age as far as what's coming out from the factories now, for sure ...

 

[AZAndy]

I usually tweak handguns in some way, even if it's just grip tape on a naked strap. Grips are the most common alteration, though I have gone so far as to have a slide milled for new sights. When it comes to 1911s, that's kinda what they're all about.

 

[bannockburn]

The only gun I really felt the need to alter it's outward shape right out of the box was a KelTec P3AT. Way too many sharp edges on the polymer frame along with some rough edges on the magazine and trigger. A little bit of work with some sandpaper did the trick in fixing those trouble spots.

 

[AlexanderA]

Future collectors will hate you. I leave guns as close to factory as possible, and make sure any changes I make are reversible. "De-horning" is just another word for "bubba-ing." (If a gun is that bad I don't buy it in the first place.)

 

[Drail]

"De horning" is NOT just another word for "bubba-ing".........

 

[Omaney]

Future collectors will hate you. I leave guns as close to factory as possible, and make sure any changes I make are reversible. "De-horning" is just another word for "bubba-ing." (If a gun is that bad I don't buy it in the first place.)

Interesting perspective. I was especially amused at how much you read like an old codger angry at the world.

I'd submit that many of us have little regard for future collectors. Additionally, I've seen "bubba-ing" and a well thought out and executed dehorning job ain't it.

 

[guyfromohio]

As long as you do it for YOU. For resale, it will lesson, not improve the price. I generally am a "if you don't like it, move on" kind of guy, but I admittedly get annoyed when I see the $400 Glock with a $600 price tag because they "custom stippled" the grip. To me, it's now a $200 Glock that I'll keep in my tackle box with the sun-melted rubber worms.

 

[chicharrones]

I'd submit that many of us have little regard for future collectors. Additionally, I've seen "bubba-ing" and a well thought out and executed dehorning job ain't it.

When it comes to commercially mass produced guns, I'm with you. I'm going to modify my guns as I see fit, whether for defense, target shooting, whatever.

Guns used for defense are going to have lots of wear from carrying, so their future value is doomed as soon as they are purchased.

If the gun I purchase is meant to be a shooter and not a shoot-once-in-a-while future heirloom, I'm going to do what I want with it. It's my gun and I feel no responsibility to the next owner. If a particular gun I have is still in good shape when I pass, that's great news for the next owner. If not, I got good use out of it.

 

[lysanderxiii]

You guys actually sell your guns?

 

[chicharrones]

You guys actually sell your guns?

It's against my religion, but on occasion I've had to do it.

 

[Deanimator]

The only carry gun I have that hasn't had a trigger job is the Citadel 3.5 CS that I carry now.

It's got the best out of the box trigger pull of ANY M1911 I've ever owned.

I've kept the issue grips.

The OEM magazines don't like to be loaded to full capacity. I've switched to Chip McCormicks.

Everything else has AT LEAST had a trigger job, ESPECIALLY the two Glocks, both of which have 3.5lb. Ghost connectors and the "$0.25 trigger job". The Glock 22 has a Pachmayr adjustable rear sight.

 

[buck460XVR]

"De-horning" is just another word for "bubba-ing."

Can be, but doesn't have to be. Same goes for kitchen table trigger jobs. When things are done right with a reasonable amount of skill and consideration for the particular firearm, they can be an enhancement. Last thing I worry about with any of my firearms is resale. My concern is how they shoot and how they fit me and my intended purpose. My kids will be the ones to dispose of them any way they like after I'm gone. Last time I checked, they cared little about their market value either, only that they are Dad's guns.

 

[strambo]

I'm the same way, feel the need to change something. On defensive guns I leave action work to the pros and just mess with stuff that couldn't affect reliability.

 

[Archie]

I've altered or customized many sidearms, not as many long guns.

Other than grips, which don't matter much, the biggest change I used to make was to sights. I like the Government Model, but until fairly recent times, the provided sights were too small to acquire quickly. So I'd put larger, more visible sights on. Usually without changing the configuration of the basic arm. Lately, I've noted that isn't needed.

Back in the old days, I would sometimes shorten a revolver and do some work on the trigger. I don't any more as the sort of revolvers worth altering aren't made any more. I don't sell many of them. I sometimes give them to those who appreciate a fast handling revolver. They don't appeal to a collector who desires a 'pure' arm in original condition. I understand. But in those days I needed a serious handgun in my life.

Long gun alteration has mostly been adding a scope, which in the main, isn't a big deal. Occasionally adding a recoil pad. On one surplus military arm already 'sporterized' I made it fit me better. I still have it and it still shoots marvelously well.

 

[Bang!]

Normally I buy them because they're already the way I want them. But things have been changing this past couple of years. Started with new grips, and then sights, and then trigger jobs.... Example: Bought a savage .243 heavy barrel last winter. Added a Boyd's stock, then a rifle basix trigger, new scope, .243 cleaning gear...bought all the reloading paraphernalia. Dies, 1000+ different bullets of varying types/weights, brass, several flavors of powder, quite a few boxes of differing commercial ammo. Have many test loads set up and ready to go. Year later and...

HAVEN'T SHOT IT YET!

Starting to think the fun is in the tinkering.

Reminds me: need to order a new stock for the 7mm RM. Doing the same with this one as the .243. I've at least shot it, though.

IIRC Thought just came to mind. Recently there was a post here where someone wanted a factory stock for a short action savage. They can have my old one. It's like new. PM me address if you find this post. Direct me to your original post and you can have it free and I'll pay shipping.

 

[Michael Tinker Pearce]

Since I took up amateur gunsmithing I tend to view a gun as a canvas- I buy it not only for what it is but for what I can make of it. Not so much true of shotguns, though we did get the most recent one for the express purpose of shortening it for slug/sd use. I wouldn't exactly say it's been 'bubba'd.' I love old S&W revolvers but stock grips work poorly for my hand- so I make new grips. I shorten barrels, make new sights, modify grip frames- whatever strikes me as needed or just suits me. All without the least concern for future generations.

Most of the guns I work on are a step- sometimes a very small step- above junk, devoid of collector value but still mechanically sound. It delights me to take such a gun and rework/repurpose it to give it a new life. To turn it from something people turn their noses up at to something they covet.

 

[Twiki357]

The only gun I’ve ever modified is a P-11. The stippling in one spot would chew into the knuckle of my thumb to the point it would start to bleed. I had to sand it down and polish it smooth.

 

[north east redneck]

I replaced some 'bone' grips on a used ROA, put stock Ruger wood grips on it. I think the red tone of the wood looks better on the SS revolver.
At some time I may put apex parts in a M&P .45c.
I've scoped a few rifles, none of them have the scopes on them at present.
To each his own.

 

[susieqz]

i don't enjoy modifying guns, but sometimes economics force me to.
i consider rugers worthless out of the box. i buy one knowing for sure that i'll have to work on the trigger.
factory triggers are terrible.
when i can afford s&w, i only have to change the sights.

 

[AlexanderA]

i don't enjoy modifying guns, but sometimes economics force me to.
i consider rugers worthless out of the box. i buy one knowing for sure that i'll have to work on the trigger.
factory triggers are terrible.

Yes. I posted in another thread about the modifications I had to make to tame the trigger on my new Ruger Mark IV. (It mostly had to do with getting rid of the magazine disconnector.) But I made sure that everything I did was reversible, so as to preserve the collectability. I wouldn't say that Rugers are "worthless." The Mark IV is generally an excellent gun, and a good value for the money.

 

[susieqz]

i should have said worthless as a precision gun.
on my mark 3, changing to a VQ sear made all the difference.
the single 10 required new springs.

 

[stoky]

I just about can't help myself. When I get a new gun, or one that's new to me, I invariably change something on it. Changing sights, grips, dehorning the sharp edges and pointy ends.

I'm used to this pinky-wrap grip technique with j-frames. But the bottom plate of the magazine is made with a sharp edge. It also happens to be a generous 1/8 inch thick or more plastic, so I went to work with sandpaper radiusing the edge. Now I can wrap my pinky under it the way God and Sargent Joe Friday intended.

I don't know if its OCD, or the hidden sculptor/gunsmith in me trying to express himself, but I have an unquenchable urge to improve, de-horn, and make better just about every platform that comes into my possession. Obsession or Passion? .

 

[200Apples]

M.T. Pearce

Most of the guns I work on are a step- sometimes a very small step- above junk, devoid of collector value but still mechanically sound. It delights me to take such a gun and rework/repurpose it to give it a new life. To turn it from something people turn their noses up at to something they covet.

Wow. I would like to send you a Jennings J-22. Respectfully, and with humor, of course.