So I have been happily shooting my Witness match with the new magazines and I decided that I wanted to shock buff the weapon. I have not received a box of Underwood yet and I have found that Double Tap Ammo would cause the slide to smack smartly against the frame. Also, the spring tunnel in the slide, to make fitting the guide rod possible, is relieved so that it comes to a sharp edge at the bottom of the spring tunnel. I suspected that this would ruin a shock buff quickly but I decided to try it anyway to work the problem.
Weapon: Witness Match LongSlide DA/SA, Mec-Gar magazines, Hemmings Guiderod, Wolff Spring (18lbs), Ambi-Safeties (factory small), Factory wood grips w/ Bren Ten Medallions.
Sure enough, within 40 rounds of warm range ammo, the buff was sliced. Sigh. Further, the slide would not come back to slide lock with just hand manipulation as there is very little travel in the slide that is beyond lockback before it reaches full retract. With a shock buff installed, it would not lock back by hand (it would on firing) but the cartridges would dribble out of the port. Third, by loading Double Tap ammo, I would get a occasional feed jam as the cartridges would not have enough time to rise before the slide came back. By adding the buff I had "shortened" the already too short (in my opinion) slide travel of the Witness guns. I also suspected that the buff caused a "bounce" of the slide, reducing dwell time at the rear and catching the cartridges before they could rise and settle on the feed lips.
So I whipped out my file!
Just joking. Actually I measured first. I pushed the spring on the guide rod out the front of the slide and lightly gripped it with a set of leather wrapped jaws of a set of locking pliers. I pulled the rod forward and found that I had plenty of room before the weapon compressed the spring stack solid (18 lbs Wolff Spring). I then looked at the frame and determined that the slide could go back further a (1/4 of an inch) before any possible interference of the mechanism, though as the slide went further back, the ejection port would effectively shorten, possibly making ejecting live rounds difficult. The spring tunnel measures 2.180 and I cut it back to 1.98 (still with ample safety margin) so I cut out 0.2 exactly. (See picture 2)
Being conservative as well as living by the rule that you can always remove more but it is harder to put metal back, I decided to start with removing the equivalent of two shock buffs thickness off the spring tunnel. I carefully taped off the slide and using a flat sided file, began to remove metal.
DAMN that slide is HARD!
See enclosed Picture of finished product. Note that the spring tunnel now has a nice flat face to it that hits a shock buff without acting as a Guillotine. The slide now locks back, with a shock buff installed, by hand.
Acid test: So as to firing. The Witness shoots standard ammo with perfect reliability as usual. More importantly, when I turn up the wick, the hot stuff feels the same. Gone is the metal to metal "clack" as the weapon cycles and she locks back easily. Best of all, running a quick 100 range stuff plus a box of Double Tap 165 GS ammo through her, the buff just has a gentle impression on its face of the slide rear. I fired it without a buff, perfect. I limp wristed her and shot off hand and other things trying to make it jam. Nothing.
Utter reliability is boring. I mean, what am I going to write about next week?
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Well done my friend. :)
I was going to apply some "melt" to my Witness before I parked/cerakoted it. I found it was far to hard for that to be fun.
Thanks Vice 8)
I have added pictures to the original post. I am thinking of installing a Ken Sight rather than the Hemmings fixed I have on the full sized gun. The hemmings sight is good, but difficult to mount for good without using a bonding agent. Further, 10mm needs an adjustable given its range. I am still looking for a 10mm old style compact so I can tune it as well. The new ones have the scalloped slide which is weak*.
Nothing can be done about the hard slide except for using good leather and replacing it when it gets a hole rubbed in it!
* Look, not to get into an argument here but I have found over 20 separate cases of slide cracks with the 10mm/45acp compact slides with the scallops (and a majority with the damn wonderfinish) and zero with the old style slides. If I could get an old style 10mm compact and a old style compact slide with the supersight cuts I would be in heaven.
Im sitting on your wish.Compact 10,old slide and better barrel than current slop.Mind you,that was after a back and forth issue.I love the little Pr#@*&.Out of all my 10's,and i love the Match and G20,i gravatate to my Compact Witness.It will and can handle Norma specs,but i don't push it.
Quote from: pacapcop on October 30 2012 07:07:42 PM MDT
Im sitting on your wish.Compact 10,old slide and better barrel than current slop.Mind you,that was after a back and forth issue.I love the little Pr#@*&.Out of all my 10's,and i love the Match and G20,i gravatate to my Compact Witness.It will and can handle Norma specs,but i don't push it.
Interested in a trade for a complete .22 upper and a longslide w/Supersight and 6 inch barrel?
Im good,thanks partner.If i see one around,ill drop you a messege.