Just Curious - Handguns.

gajinoz

gajinoz

Joined
Sep 2, 2003
Messages
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This is a curiosity question only, I'm not looking for suggestions on what to buy or such.

Where I am it's very difficult to legally own a handgun, I can do it, but it's a pain in the backside and not really worth it. This means there is very little information locally available about such things.

Here is my curiosity question of the day:

If you buy a brand new, good quality semi auto pistol, is there any need, or point, in sending it to a good gunsmith for any modifications. With knives for instance, you might like better scales or some filework or sharpened differently or whatever. How about the gun? Can it be made to work better, more reliably or whatever? Would changing this doodad or tweaking that or painting this bit black or filing that down or something make it better?

For those of you into handguns, what are your opinions on this?
 
I'm a factory guy.

Could you make a Spyderco Military better? Perhaps.

-But will a factory Military work safely and reliably as designed?

Absolutely.

That's where I'm coming from with firearms as well. I'm not looking at hobby and sport, I'm looking at function.

I would suggest that if one "needs" to modify a tool to make it work "better" then perhaps one should choose a different tool.
 
The short answer is "no."

The longer answer is, "maybe."

It depends what you choose and what you want to do with it. For example, a better trigger pull or better sights might help you hit with it.

As far as "making it more reliable," most modern quality makes do just fine out of the box.

But any possible improvements won't be obvious to you until you get it. Then what? Send it out and risk theft and wait a long time for it? Only to learn a few weeks/months later that you now need this or that modification?

As far as a semi-auto pistol, (even tho you didn't want suggestions) the one I'd recommend for you would be the Glock 17.

The reason is, if there is something you'd like to change/fix/adjust/try out, you can do it yourself, and not have to ship it out to a gunsmith.

Something to consider.

.
 
It depends largely on the gun in question.
Glocks & most plastic pistols are generally pretty good as they come & neither need nor benefit much from tweaking.
Steel pistols like the various 1911s can frequently benefit, either from upgrading some parts or adding better sights & maybe an action job.
Revolvers can be greatly improved over the factory standards.

There are always exceptions to the above. :)
Denis
 
Just like knives, you can buy from a trusted manufacturer, a brand new, good quality semi-auto pistol and potentially have problems with it. It might not like JHP, so a throat, ramp and polish might be needed. If after 100 rounds its uncomfortable, a set of grips might be in order. If you go +P, you might need a different set of springs. You might not like the extraction, the sights, etc.

So to try to answer your question, yes, you can make it somewhat more accurate and reliable and more to your liking if gone thru. You can spend as much as you want to, and each mod should help its performance. If you're just looking for a handgun for whatever, most all popular names with reputable loads will work fine out of the box. I hope this helps.

Simplify Life...buy a wheelie! :D
 
Very few of my handguns have gone unmolested. Makers must target:) a specific group to have a successful run so, like blades, there are compromises. One reason I prefer stainless is that my modifications don't scar. The aftermarket is rich with "improvements" that suit certain shooters better than others.

Stock is good, mods can make them better for the individual. The best way to tell is shoot one extensively before making mods. Most are excellent out of the box. If not, they don't stay in production for long unless the price is at the bottom rung. An exception is that the competion is so fierce, "improvements" by the factories are too frequent. I lean toward models that won't leave me hanging for parts in the future.

Good gunsmiths are a treasure and just about as easily found. I prefer to start with a tried and trusted model and go from there rather than go for price and hope for the best. There are very few if any mid- price handguns that are overpriced. Sights, trigger work, grips, dehorning, done with competence can make one more useable for an individual but are unnecessary for satisfactory use. Ammo that the gun likes and a holster that the shooter likes are probably the two top considerations, rather than a trip to a gunsmith.

Today's popular semi autos are better than ever. I could get along just fine without changes if had no choice. I believe most issue weapons are required to remain stock and that says a lot.
 
Its been mentioned, personal preferences are the reason for mods in my case. I did practical pistol shooting with a standard handgun but did some things which made it better for ME.

Filing down the trigger sear for a more predictable or lighter break until it was at the point where I liked it, perhaps still too heavy for others but they don't shoot it.

Modifying the thingy in the handgrip so that the magazine would fall out as soon as the release is pressed improved times remarkably. Sanded the magazines themselves till they were really slick for the same reason.

Aftermarket grips are a cheap mod that make the weapon much more steady and easier to use if you get grips suited for your hands and style of shooting.

Replacing the front sight with tritium or warthog ivory or whatever was used then, I am talking 15 years ago which is why I have forgotten some of the terms.

These, and others, were all mods that either cost nothing except time or perhaps a few bucks for the grips. They made my shooting better and more enjoyable and I would apply the same logic to knives. I also learned more about the weapon and how it functioned when I worked on it and knowledge is a tool. The stock item works as advertised but it is possible to improve on it for personal use as the manufacturer aims at a general market and it may not be perfect for the individual until they have made some changes to suit them.
 
You can do things to make it more suitable to your own tastes. Things like making trigger pull heavier or lighter, adding different grips. You can add scopes or tactical lights, etc.
 
I have to have tritium nightsights put on.

But, then again, H&Ks are usually pretty good right out of the box.
 
Unless you are planning to buy something like a Korth then yes, most handguns can be improved with some very moderate gunsmithing. With few exceptions handguns are mass produced. This means parts fit within a tolerance range that provides proper functioning with the ammo the factory uses to function test the firearm. In a semi-auto that means full metal jacket. Trigger as made as lawyer proof as possible as well and in mass manufacturing small burrs and such as acceptable as long as the specs fall into the set tolerance range again.

A good smith can fine tune the factory parts to remove burrs and rough spots that can create rough trigger pulls with catches and creep. They can polish feed ramps so a semi-auto can reliably feed hollow points. They can melt the outside of a handgun so there are no sharp edges to cut skin or catch on clothing. Factories could do all of this but they want to sell guns and doing these improvements would raise the cost to a point where they would lose sales.

Yes most guns can be improved on, some need very little work, others more, but a perfect factory handgun is a very rare thing.
 
+1 on tritium sights. I have them on all my Glocks and it makes a world of difference in low light conditions.

The only handguns I know of that are regularly modified are the 1911. Wilson Combat out of Arkansas is the best place for this to be done, but don't expect them to be cheap. With the 1911, I would recommend getting different magazines, once again, made my Wilson Combat.

As far as revolvers go, the only ones I have seen modified go to Bob Mundon and he does an outstanding job.

But I have never seen anything that won't shoot out of the box.
 
For 90% of new handguns no, you should use them as their are out of the box, at least until you have a thousand rounds or so through them at the range. Then you can send it off to a gunsmith to fix any small nagging issues or modify to taste. If it jams every other round or has some gross failure, yeah you should probably give it to a smith to fix it before you rely on it as a carry weapon.
 
That's why a Glock rules in this case. It's the most "kitchen-table-gunsmith" friendly gun out there, even for first timers that are 1/2 way intelligent.

("kitchen-table-gunsmith" = Do-it-yourself)
 
You can, for a 1911, spend 2 or 3 times the price of the gun in modifications !! For those who think that gadgets win matches instead of skill !
 
though i can sure remember the day when mods were needed on a 1911 to make it work right thats not the case today, colt and kimber work fine outta the box (usually anyway).

i see no reason at all to mod my glocks, kahrs or SIG's, they already have nite sites, triggers are fine, all are plenty accurate for what i use them for.

but lotsa folks enjoy modding pistols and as long as the 'smith knows WTF i see no reason not to mod 'em, as long as the 'smith knows WTF, i know of more than one pistol which was ruined by being modd'ed by folks who didnt know WTF, so be sure of that point lol.
 
I can only think of three out of the box handguns that I would never see a 'real' reason to do any modifications on: The SIG P210, the H&K P7 and any Glock, but the G17 specifically. Those three, 99 and 44/100 % of the time will be perfect just as they are. To do anything to any of them would be more than 'guilding the lily', you might just mess it up.

Over the years I've modified or had modified at least a dozen 1911 types. I sold 'em all and went back to the basics with a Springfield WWII repo. Bone stock. And it shoots just fine.

Revolvers? Ruger or Smith revolvers should be shot or dry fired a thousand times before you even think about doing anything to them other than changing the grips, sights or finish. Unless they have major internal problems the thousand cycles should smooth up the action to your liking and strengthen your trigger finger in the bargain.

Use the money for the mods to buy ammo, good leather and good training and you'll actually be money ahead.
 
Factory is good to go in most cases.Depending on who does the work it would be worth it.I have seen guns with work done to them that really hurt them,looked like crap and IMO made them unsafe.I have seen several wheelguns that have had the triggers polished so much that I would never carry them.
Only work I would have done is maybe engraving,sights or new trigger in stock 1911s.I have had a Colt 1911 polished out but that was warrenty work because of a feeding problem.
 
I had the trigger reworked a little bit on my S&W 342 PD. But other than that, nope, I have never sent any of my handguns out to a smith.
I have thought about sending one of my Kahr Arms guns out. Not that there is anything wrong with it at all, it is fantastic as is. I have just thought about having it customized a bit.

All my handguns have been fantastic right out of the box.
 
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