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Colt Officer's ACP Recoil Spring Guide Kit
I have made a few modifications to this Colt Pistol. Recently I added the Ajax Custom Grips #10 M-BP, in Black Pearlite from Brownells. I am pretty happy with the result. The grips are smooth so they do not tangle in clothing when you draw the piece. Very nice appearance. The gun also has a titanium hammer to reduce locktime. The sear surface of this hammer is not as durable as a hardened steel hammer, so I do not use it on my other Colt which I shoot more often. Instead I bobbed the hammer on the larger Colt, which has the same result as the light titanium hammer.
The knife is a Spyderco Police Model that has been modified by "Santa Fe Ston Works" . A suggestion on this Spyderco knife as well as other brands is to remove the pant clip screws, degrease the holes and screws and reattach them using Red Loctite. If you need to remove them later because you have bent your pant clip, Heat the screw head 5-10 seconds with a soldering iron tip. The loctite will liquify and allow easy removal.
Problem detail: when shooting a powerful defense load like a 230 grain Federal Hydrashock The original recoil spring plug which is shown below the barrel in photo 2 moves backward away from the barrel bushing when the slide hits the spring guide on recoil. This is OK most of the time. When the sun and the moon are aligned just right the plug will move back and rotate. This is bad. The spline keeps the spring plunger from returning to lock the barrel bushing in place. The barrel bushing rotates on subsequent shots and falls out of the gun. Happened to me at the range. This is a good reason to thoroughly test with the actual load you are going to use in the gun. Damage to the original plug can be seen in photo 2.
Solution: install the King Officers ACP Recoil Spring Guide Kit. The kit includes a full length guide rod and a reverse plug that can not rotate out of position, shown in the bottom of photo 2 with a takedown pin installed. Installation requires some mill work to the slide. The first step on my Shoptask lathe was to make the milling table perpendicular to the spindle and bed ways. See photo 3. Then make the fixed jaw of the milling vise parallel to the milling table travel (square) and parallel to the milling spindle travel (plumb). See photo 4 and 5.
Install the slide in the vise with brass shim. I put a stack of brass under the front of the slide where the milling would occur. Tap the rear up and down with a copper hammer to level the slide with an indicator. Photo 6. Find the slide rail with the paper method. The paper will tug slightly when the milling cutter is the thickness of the paper away from the rail. Photo 7. Lock the mill spindle using the thickness of the paper for clearance on the rails. Find the hood using the paper method with the side of the milling cutter (photo 8). Make cuts from the left toward the right (carriage moves to the left) to avoid "climb milling". Use a hefty four flute mill for rigidity while profiling. Cut about .005 at a time to achieve removal of about .090 inch of the hood. Photo 9 shows the indicator to be used in feeding the bit into the work. Fit the Reverse recoil plug with a file that is safe on two sides. Photo 10-11. This will avoid scarring the rails with the mill.
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