I picked up my new toy today,

Ok, compose yourself after the laughter.  Yeah, it's a Llama.  A Micromax in .380.  Got it used for two bills.  Pretty neat, nifty little gun!  I'm surprised, pleasantly.  It's basically just a scaled down 1911.  It is straight blowback, so it doesn't have the lockin lugs on the barrel or slide.  (I think it should, it could help reduce recoil if it were a locked breech design)  It has the extended slide release, and a beavertail grip safety.  It also has the firing pin safety like on newer Colt 1911s (I think it's the Colts, my Springfield doesn't have it) It uses an inertial firing pin, so hammer down on a round in the chamber couldn't cause any discharge.  It's not rickety at all, pretty tight, functions fine, hits a little left of the point of aim, so I'll have to drift the sight.

Well, my gunsmithing adventure came in when I got it home and took it down for cleaning.  Figuring it was like the standard 1911, I pushed in the front spring buffer, and rotated the barrel bushing out of the way.  Well, it's a little different, in that it just rotates about 30 degrees counter clockwise.  You have to slide it off while holding the spring buffer in, then let the spring out.  I figured the rest of the dissasembly would be like a 1911.  Well, got the slide stop out, but the slide didn't want to come off the front of the frame.  So, I work it and force it.. after some grunting, it finally came off.  I proceeded to clean all the grease out of it (it was all greased up when I got it).  Well, I noticed the hammer wouldn't fall when I pulled the trigger, even with the grip safety actuated.  Come to find the pin that gets pushed up by the grip safety that disengages the firing pin safety is jammed in there good.  So I take the whole damn thing apart!  I've never completely dissasembled a 1911, so that was fun.  I got the pin out and it was pretty bent up, so I tried to straighten it, and filed it a little.  Got it back in and made sure it moved freely.  Reassembled the whole gun, and it works fine now!  I got it all workin and I'm happy.  I'll have to order a replacement for that pin.

I'm happy with the gun.  It works fine.  The only failures I had were magazine related.  It only had the one factory mag, so I'm ordering a couple more from ProMag.  Lots of people bash Llama, and sure, they're on the lower end of quality, but I'm happy with this purchase, and when I get the new mags, put it through more paces, if it holds up, it will end up being the peice I carry.  

That is the nicest red X I have seen in a long time.

Quoted: That is the nicest red X I have seen in a long time.

Isn't it?  

When I clip and paste URLs from my FTP, it cuts off my username/accountname, so when I post it, it doesn't look for my account.  Got it fixed!

All I can say is good luck with the that pore attempt at a hand gun. If you want a good hand gun then get a East German Makerov in 9X18, also the Bulgarian is not a bad piece either. The 9X18 is a little more hotter than a 380. and has a bigger bullet diameter.

Quoted: All I can say is good luck with the that pore attempt at a hand gun. If you want a good hand gun then get a East German Makerov in 9X18, also the Bulgarian is not a bad piece either. The 9X18 is a little more hotter than a 380. and has a bigger bullet diameter.

People do bash 'em a lot.  I had one before, and it was fine, until the extractor broke, and one of the top 1911 pistolsmiths in the country couldn't get it working right in three trips to him.  It wasn't the gun that failed, it was the smith that couldn't get it working right.  
This is a neat little gun, it works fine (needs a new magazine, but that's a minor thing) and I'm happy with it so far.

the 380 (9mm Kurtz or 9x17)has exactly the same diameter as the 9mm makarov (9x18) as does the 9mm nato (9x19) the difference is the length.  theres nothing wrong with a 380 as long as you know its limitations, hell, its better than a 22 ;)

I just got out the cali, And did some measurements. 9 X 18 is .365 and 9 X 19 (9mm) is .355. I dont think I would chance it. It is enough to coause a difference in pressure.

Quoted: the 380 (9mm Kurtz or 9x17)has exactly the same diameter as the 9mm makarov (9x18) as does the 9mm nato (9x19) the difference is the length.  theres nothing wrong with a 380 as long as you know its limitations, hell, its better than a 22 ;)

Not true.  Different bullet diameter.