Unsafe Modifications to Pistols.

[GardoneVT]

It was two years ago.

Sure doesn't seem like it now. Buying guns is an activity with many justifications attached to them. But two years back at a local big box gun ship,it was the first time I bought a pistol for the good of the public.

It is my current carry gun- an M9A1 featuring a cut factory hammer spring and dremeled frame rails. The pistols DA pull was way too light for safe primer ignition, and the exposed frame rails represented a wear risk. Items someone with no DA/SA Beretta experience would probably never realize.

A trip to Wilson Combat and a specifically filled out order sheet fixed those problems and then some,but I wonder what would have happened had I not come across the gun by chance. Would some poor schmuck have stuck a light on it and assumed it was G2G because Beretta? From the outside it looked like your normal used M9A1, hence the danger.

Thus I wonder- do we now need armorers certification to safely shop used striker fired and popular guns? Seeing a bubbad 92 gives me pause,and I can only imagine how risky buying a used Glock/M&P/VP9 is today.

[Jim Watson]

Kind of like the wheeler dealer told me about all the allegedly collectable Army surplus 1911s going for high prices.
You just have to study up, know what you are looking at, and take your chances.

[OlongJohnson]

There are those shopping for the cleanest used M3 they can find, and those who really need to go see their local Honda or Toyota dealer about new car financing.

[Bucky]

What is the purpose of Dremmeling the frame rails?

[Nephrology]

Having taken the official Glock Armorer class, you can learn everything you need to know about that gun on youtube in about 15 minutes. I cant comment on other handguns but a used glock is basically always a safe purchase. Worst case scenario you are out a $50 in parts.

Of my 9 Glock pistols, I've only bought one new in box. Only one had been messed with, and this was easily fixed by replacing the recoil spring.

[Joe in PNG]

Having taken the official Glock Armorer class, you can learn everything you need to know about that gun on youtube in about 15 minutes. I cant comment on other handguns but a used glock is basically always a safe purchase. Worst case scenario you are out a $50 in parts.

Of my 9 Glock pistols, I've only bought one new in box. Only one had been messed with, and this was easily fixed by replacing the recoil spring.

Unless Bubba really went to town with Dremmel and soldering iron- that dumpster fire missing a trigger guard comes to mind.

[OlongJohnson]

What is the purpose of Dremmeling the frame rails?

Just a WAG, mostly curious to see if GVT confirms it. Someone polished the frame rails to make the slide do its sliding more smoothly, and took off the anodizing, proactively taking it straight to stage 7 of the Gray Guns rail wear progression.

Checking the rails for burrs is on my to do list for the once-over on any pistol before I take it to the range the first time. Not polishing them, but looking for the big, schnarly burr that's going to carve away at the opposing surface. Classic Sigs have been consistent offenders.

I've also seen a post on here from someone whose agency received a batch of classic Sigs with the slide surface rough enough that it ate the aluminum rails prematurely. Getting speculative here, but I suspect this might be one aspect of why Glocks come with the Loctite copper anti-seize. My understanding is it contains silica particulates, so it basically laps any roughness out of the rails during initial use.

[GardoneVT]

Just a WAG, mostly curious to see if GVT confirms it. Someone polished the frame rails to make the slide do its sliding more smoothly, and took off the anodizing, proactively taking it straight to stage 7 of the Gray Guns rail wear progression.


It was so.

The Wilson Combat armor tuff finish squared that away.
When they sent back the customized gun it had a bag with the original parts in it. That's when I discovered Danny Dremel also monkey'd with the hammer surfaces. While I caught on to many issues the gun had, that one got by me. Goes to show that even if you know a lot about a model of pistol, a total teardown would be needed to be absolutely sure there's no problems with the piece. Good luck finding a mainstream store that'll let you do that to their inventory.