I did an action and triggershims job on a GP100, and everything went well. While I was in there I re-polished the sides of the hammer after a professional pistolsmith had already done so long time ago, because the hammer flats were still scraping the sides of the frame, leaving scratching on the polished flats.

So I used the thickest (.006) hammer pivot shims from that great guy who owns triggershims dot com, one on each side, and the darn hammer flats are STILL scraping the inside of the frame. Mind you the scraping doesn't affect the function of the gun, but after all that effort you would think I could keep the sides of the hammer off the insides of the frame. I know the GP100 is cast instead of machined from the beginning, but darn that's some pretty sloppy work when you center the trigger that much and it's still scraping. If it was a competition gun that scraping action would be unacceptable.

So here's my question: How could I go about fixing this problem ? One idea I have is to relieve the inside flats of the frame (ever so slightly) where the trigger is scraping, and I have a set of small "swiss" files (china), but I don't possess the skills to do this myself on an otherwise good gun, unless it's simpler than I think.

What does the great Sigforum say ? I know many of you guys have done stuff like this before, I've seen here on the forum. It blows me away that some of you do professional level smithing yourselves, but I was not gifted to that level.

On the other hand I'd still like to know, so I can determine if myself if I could do it, since I know someone is going to say send it to a quality shop. But then I wouldn't be my own worst enemy when it comes to real gunsmithing, as there's nothing more exciting than doing your own gunsmithing and getting lucky with it.

I’d do exactly what you are suggesting, smooth the insides of the trigger channel with a file. Then progress to higher and higher wet paper up to 1500

Did you install hammer-dog shims also? Was tedious as heck getting those in place on my Wiley Clapp 3" version.

yes I shimmed the hammer dog as well. And I had the same difficulty as you did. Insufficient eyesight and fine motor control. Where is a teenager when you need them.

I just thought of carbon black to mark the insides of the frame slot where the hammer lives.

Have any of you guys used it ? Would that work to coat the inside frame with carbon black, then cycle the action, and see if it shows where the carbon black is wiped away, where the scratching action is located ?

Could that help identify WHERE exactly to file ?

I would start simpler. Just simply use a black sharpie. Where metal is meeting metal it will rub away and will wipe off easily with rubbing alcohol or Hoppes.

My Wiley Clapp does the same thing. I am lazy though. It pretty much scratched itself to its current state and hasn't progressed from that. Ruger doesn't make museum pieces that is for sure. lol

Yea you're right about the Rugers. They're not museum pieces for sure, but damn they're tough bastards for shooting heavy for caliber loads though them for a shtf revolver.

And you're right about the scratch pattern eventually stabilizing so to speak, but I put a reduced 12 lb hammer mainspring in the gun, and it fails to consistently light off Double Tap brand heavy lead hardcast shtf loads, because of the super hard primers they use. So unless I use more expensive buffalo bore or grizzly loads, I would have to go back to the heavier factory spring. So IF reducing the drag on the hammer will work by eliminating the rubbing, I should hopefully be back where I started with the factory spring ignition reliability.

Yea I tried the black sharpie, and it shows very nicely the scratch pattern on the hammer flats, but not enough of the dried sharpie marker ink is transferring into the frame surfaces of the hammer slot where the rubbing is coming from.

So I got an idea after reading about Dykem Steel Blue, and emailed Lance at Triggershims dot com, saying that if I painted the insides of the slot with with a brush dipped into the Dykem, then the scratch pattern should show through on the frame itself. He thought that was a plan, but recommended Eze-Lap paddles to take down the insides of the slot until the scratch pattern stopped. So that's what I'm gonna try next.

You're right about the black sharpie, it worked great, except I can't get inside the slot with a sharpie.

Oops, I just thought - I could have removed the sharpie ink felt from inside the pen and used that felt thingy inside the slot instead of spending more money on the Dykem.

Oh well, live and learn.

Necessity is the mother of a lot of things. Sounds like a cool little project that could reap nice benefits. I did a bit of trigger and spring work with my GP but you could never tell by looking at it. lol. Trigger turned out nice, lights off everything. I did have to swap to the compact grip for my hand and aesthetics though.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
Necessity is the mother of a lot of things. Sounds like a cool little project that could reap nice benefits. I did a bit of trigger and spring work with my GP but you could never tell by looking at it. lol. Trigger turned out nice, lights off everything. I did have to swap to the compact grip for my hand and aesthetics though.

That's good news. Doing good (enough) smithing on your own iron is rewarding for sure. And I think most would agree that Rugers and CZs clean up very nicely with some home smithing. I sent my Sig to Grayguns however, and am thankful I did to this day. The results on that gun from Bruce and his people is really something to shoot. There is no way I could have done that, and no substitute for exceptional expertise like Grayguns.

I have not used Cajun Gunworks for my CZs, there's lots I could do myself with their upgrade parts (like my damn trigger finger getting ate up with the factory triggers), but, like Grayguns, my bet is you would be pleasantly surprised if you sent them your gun for their Pro Package. Seems very similar to the carry package Bruce's people did for my Sig.

quote:

Originally posted by wrightd:
That's good news. Doing good (enough) smithing on your own iron is rewarding for sure. And I think most would agree that Rugers and CZs clean up very nicely with some home smithing. I sent my Sig to Grayguns however, and am thankful I did to this day. The results on that gun from Bruce and his people is really something to shoot. There is no way I could have done that, and no substitute for exceptional expertise like Grayguns.

I have not used Cajun Gunworks for my CZs, there's lots I could do myself with their upgrade parts (like my damn trigger finger getting ate up with the factory triggers), but, like Grayguns, my bet is you would be pleasantly surprised if you sent them your gun for their Pro Package. Seems very similar to the carry package Bruce's people did for my Sig.

I sent a few pistols to Grayguns (GGI) when the volcano base was located in Spray, OR. The work was always incredible and I’d highly recommend GGI’s services highly to anyone who wants to send their pistol for “spa services”.

That said, recently I purchased an older P229 in 9mm to become an optic host. On a whim, instead of sending it to the new, closer to the coast, volcano base, I purchased GGI parts and embarked on a DIY project. I’m delighted to report that simply dropping in the parts made a tremendous difference and I’d put this self modified P229 against any of the pistols I sent in for service except the P220ST that Bruce converted from 45ACP to 10mm. GGI has great videos on installing the parts and provides fantastic support. Sending a pistol into GGI is a great option, but so is the selection of drop in parts that GGI sells.