How to Replace A Glock Trigger to Make it Smooth

 

Glock Smooth Trigger Replacement
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I do not believe in modifying carry guns outside of factory specifications. A small part of this is because of liability, but mostly it is because of the unknown consequences to reliability.

A firearm is a machine, and the weight of the parts of the gun are factored in with drag, inertia, spring weight, type of ammunition, and hundreds of other factors to create a gun that functions with the desired ratio or accuracy and reliability.

Every part has to work together and when you replace a part you are piddling with the whole. Tiny tolerances add up – and when you replace many parts you may end up with an unreliable gun. Since the most important factor in choosing a defensive handgun is reliability I don’t risk compounding tolerances.

The Smooth Trigger Was What Glock Designed

However, the modification in todays post is actually bringing the gun back to manufacturer’s specifications. When Gaston Glock created his pistol he built it with a smooth faced trigger, but due to some unfathomable reason the ATF has import points and for a gun to able to be imported it has to have enough points. The ATF considers a smooth trigger to be a combat trigger, and a ridged trigger to be a target trigger.

A full sized Glock has enough points to be imported with the original trigger, but the compact and sub-compact guns were one point short. Therefore Glock has to make a target trigger to meet the red tape.

Luckily, many (if not most) of Glock parts are interchangeable, and if you want a smooth trigger for your compact or sub compact all you need to do (in most cases) is to order the trigger from the full size gun in your caliber.

I have a Glock 19, so to get a smooth trigger I just ordered the Glock 17 trigger and swapped them.  It only cost me a few dollars and a couple minutes to change the feel of my trigger pull.

Now this does nothing to change the weight, take up, or break of the action.

If only changes the feel of the trigger on your finger. However if you are going to a high round count school where you will spend 8 hours a day on the range shooting hundreds or thousands of rounds you will feel a difference, and you will be thankful you made the switch. Other than that it is really a personal preference thing and just something nice to know.

The specifics of how to do this can be found here.

Organize Fishing Hooks With Safety Pins

Organize Fishing Hooks With Safety Pins

Organize Fishing Hooks With Safety Pins
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This simple project of learning to organize fishing hooks with safety pins takes less than a minute, and can make your fishing trips much less stressful.

Simply sort your fishhooks by type, and then run a safety pin through the hook’s eye.

This not only keeps your fishhooks sorted, keeps them in place, and it gives you a reason to have one of the greatest prepper tools (the safety pin) in your tackle box.

This has saved my tackle box from turning into a rats nest of mixed junk.  It is a simple little thing, but its the little things that help.  Besides, with all the safety pins now in your fishing gear you have “survival gear” also – you never know how useful a safety pin is until you need one and don’t have it.

As a bonus tip for reading how to organize fishing hooks with safety pins, I will tell you that for years I was highly unsuccessful at catching fish and then I was told I use too big of a hook.  The smaller the hook the more fish you will catch.  Sounds simple right….

Now I am just a moderately unsuccessful fisherman, but that is because I keep loosing lures to the trees above me…

I keep trying to learn more about fishing, as my son really likes it, I look up information on fishing all the time, I just found this post on types of fishing poles.

Dillon Square Deal B Reloader Review

 

Gear Review: Dillon Square Deal B Reloader
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There are a lot of very good tutorials online about reloading, and Dillon presses in particular, but I wanted to take a couple minutes to tell you about my experience with the Dillon Square Deal B press.

First off, this is a relatively inexpensive progressive press (especially when compared to other Dillon Presses), it costs more than many single stage presses, but at around $350 it gives you the ability to reload a lot of rounds in a reasonable amount of time.

However, the Square Deal B press is a pistol only press, and uses a special set of proprietary dies. This makes the press easy to use, but it prevents you from switching dies from one press to another, or reloading anything other than common pistol rounds.

Get Strong Mounts

When looking at this press, I would definitely recommend purchasing the strong mounts. I have used this press as it comes out of the box, and with the addition of the mounts, and the mounts make a much sturdier platform.

Some things I have done that are not factory standard were to bolt a set of Allen keys on the strong mount, so that when I need to make adjustments to the press, I have the tools well at hand. Dillon makes a pretty set of tools dyed to match the press, but I just used a cheap set from the hardware store.

I also found someone on ebay that uses and injection molding machine to make a plastic knob that press fits onto the bolt head that adjusts the amount of powder inserted into the casing. This makes it easy to adjust powder levels without tools, and the wings give a visual reference point. I strongly suggest looking these up.

Don’t Start with a Progressive Press.

I would also suggest two things:

  • Don’t buy a progressive press as your first press. There is just too much going on at the same time. Learn on a single stage press so you get a good feel for the process. I did not do this, and as my story in the beginning of the video illustrates, I made a mistake (and blew up two revolvers).
  • Work slow.  Dillon recommends weighing every 10th round for consistency. This is important.

The powder measure on the Dillon press is very good, but it is finicky with some powders. It does not work as well with flake type powders as it does with other powder types. When I use power pistol powder, I get inconsistent powder charges and have to weigh much more often than every 10.

Lastly I would recommend anyone new to reloading (especially those new to Dillion presses) to visit Brian Enos’s forums  in addition to being a top tier shooter, Brian is a Dillion dealer, and has some really top shelf advice about Dillion presses – especially in the area of choosing the right press for your specific need.

Wax Slugs

Wax Slugs
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If you are in a hurry here is the summary – homemade wax slugs – don’t do it…

However, when I am told don’t do something, unless I know WHY I should not do it, my nature directs me to do it, and so this post will describe the common YouTube practice of homemade wax slugs and why they are incredibility dangerous (as well as a bad idea).

Basically a number of YouTube gun channels describe this process in some detail and many are led to believe wax slugs are a cheap alternative to conventional slugs and/or some devastating defensive or hunting round.

Basically a wax slug is where someone takes a shot round, pries open the crimp, and mixes hot wax with the shot. Either they drip wax into the shell, or they dump out the shot mix it with wax, and then repack it.

What then happens is the wax holds the shot column together longer so that it does not expand as much, therefore acting more like a slug than shot.
However, wax melts, and as it travels down the barrel it leaves a thin coating of wax on the bore. In a previous post about rifling  we talk about the catastrophic effects of constricted barrels. Any observation of the thickness of a shotgun barrel compared to any rifled barrel will show the thin nature of smooth-bore barrels. They have NO tolerance for construction, and wax will very quickly build a dangerous level of coating on your bore.

If you shoot waxed slugs in your shotgun you will eventually blow your gun up, this will not only ruin your gun, but will also likely maim you for life.
I have a very high tolerance to dangerous projects because I am very confident in my own judgment and research skills, but just because something is cool and DIY does not always make it a good idea.

Commercial slugs are not very expensive, are readily available, do not contaminate the meat of game if you are using slugs to hunt, and will not open yourself up to very serious legal questions about intent in a self-defense shooting. They are also much more efficient and useful than wax slugs.
Additionally, shotguns are notoriously finicky about loads, they just do not have the same tolerances for home loadings as rifles or pistols do. Even if you are meticulous about cleaning all the wax out after every shot (which as a candle maker, I know how close to impossible wax is to remove), the changes to the weight of the load will also increase pressures inside the gun.

If you want to make your own loads – buy a shotshell reloader and get the satisfaction and self-reliance capabilities of making your own shells the safe way. Something like a lee load all is very inexpensive, makes a decent quality of shotshell, and allows you to make shot, slug, and buckshot rounds in your own home without risking turning your gun into a pipebomb.

The Tool vs Weapon Distinction

The Tool vs Weapon Distinction
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I originally made this video for prospective NRA Basic Pistol Instructor Candidates because the National Rifle Association does not allow the term weapon to be used in basic classes, and many instructor candidates (especially the former military ones) have a very hard time with this.

In my opinion the distinction between tool vs weapon is a critical issue, not of semantics, but of mindset. To me something is or is not a weapon based upon its use. Wither it is a t-ball bat, a tire iron, a filet knife, a pistol, or a car – they are tools that have uses other than as a weapon.

Since not all NRA basic students are interested in handguns for defensive purposes, and some feel the word weapon has negative connotations, the NRA has made this decision in order to be welcoming to all people that want to know how to safely operate a pistol and not just serve those that are interested in the defensive uses.

As you may know by now, I am not the sort to go into histrionics over someone calling a magazine a clip, and I do sometimes over simplify my own language to be more approachable, but as an instructor I feel it is vital to understand the difference between a weapon and a firearm and use the proper terms in class.

However, for those that have problems being able to separate the two terms in your head I will tell you how I look at it, and hopefully it will help you sort it out.

“I am the weapon, the gun is my tool”

I do not always have my gun on me (I work on a Guard Base where it is prohibited), but I am never unarmed – if attacked I will grab my nearest weapon (which at this moment is a metal stapler) and use it against the closest target, but I never ask my coworker to hand me a weapon when I want to staple documents.