upcoming review: BAE RBAV-AF

Friday, April 6, 2012

Polishing Glock Safety Plungers

It aint perfectly mirror polished, but I did reprofile and polish my edc 19's safety plunger just for the hell of it. I also polished the trigger bar contact area using the same processes and achieving similar results in terms of finish. I did not reprofile the trigger bar contact at all.  The only bad things that could come of this modification are: messing up the profile and inducing some corrosion issues through messing with the finish. I dont make mistkes so I didnt have to worry about the profile and I highly doubt that it would be able to oxidize past a superficial point in my lifetime. Even if it did, presuming shit has not hit the fan and I can still order one from LWD, a couple bucks and a couple days gets me a brand new one. Problem solved.

Anyways. This does noticeably smooth the takeup, even for absolute trigger philistines. If you regularly let out past reset, this may come into play with your follow up shots, but for most it will probably only matter when acquiring the trigger's wall directly after the draw. Consider whether this amount of work is really worth this marginal, truly insignificant payoff. That said, this is coming from someone who never understood the allure of a glass rod 1911 trigger as opposed to a Glock's spongebrick trigger for defensive purposes. So. Take it with a grain of salt. It is an improvement in the takeup, the takeup just aint that important to me.

If you are considering doing this, REMOVE THE PLUNGER'S SPRING. This ought to be common sense. If you go at the thing with a Dremel and any steel brush tip to start with, it will send the spring flying as soon as it touches it and it will take forever to find. Depending on where you are, you may never find it. So, set it aside with your other small parts as you usually do in a baggie or box or whatever. Just keep track of it. Also, even if you are using a sanding tip for the initial reprofile and not a grinding wheel, you can seriously fuck up the plunger if you do not take it SLOW and GENTLE. Remember to keep the plunger's head the same height, you are ONLY reprofiling the edge, that is ALL. If you attempt to polish the tip of the plunger and in doing so shorten it, it may not allow the striker to clear it when the trigger is pulled and in short: yo gun aint gonna work.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

A unique holster project..

Couple months back I started work on a prototype holster, pictured below. To my knowledge it is the first Kydex inside-the-thigh holster. Many changes and improvements will be made based on lessons learned with this model. For example, Im deleting the mess of elastic straps supporting it and connecting them at slots in the holster body for a clean, uncluttered appearance and less of a chance of interference with reholstering.



Specs: 0.060" Kydex, Pancake design, bolted together with 3/16" blued hardware. 1" Velcro closure elastic strap fed through integrated slots in the holster keep it against the thigh and connect it to a Duro Ind Lambda NTS half-corset above the hips. The corset is split-front and tied with 5mm accessory cord, all seams Frenched and the eyelets reinforced with a 1" strip of Twill since the Lambda NTS is not strong or thick enough to support rivets. The 1" elastic is canted slightly and box stitched to the corset with Size 69 black bonded nylon thread. The MC Lambda NTS fabric shows through lightweight fabrics, white in particular. I will make the next, improved one with white or grey Lycra or a similar UnderArmor fabric to eliminate this issue. Multiple corsets may be necessary for multiple covering garments.This design eliminates the possibility of eventually wearing through thin underwear or garter belts by using metal clips and provides a better anchor for a heavy gun and holster than a garter belt. The bolt pattern fits Kydex IWB wings Ive made as well. The rigid holster provides a more consistent platform than any soft leather and more importantly it cannot bend inward when reholstering, causing an AD. This one is for a Walther PPS in 9mm. 6 and 7 round mags do not print with medium-weight fabrics. Currently working with a couple gals on T&E and perfecting the design. May take custom orders for it some day.

As of now, due to a need for a better name than "The Kydex Inside-The-Thigh Holster," Im calling it the Athena Holster.