...that damn pin is killing me upon reassembly.  i've done this a thousand times, but today i can't seem to get the pin in after cleaning.  any hints from the acp gurus?

I used to have the same problem. I'd explain it to you, but it's easier to show you. There's a trick to it.

If you mean getting the hole in the barrel link to line up with the holes in the frame so you can install the slide release...

Use the Force:  Gravity.

BHP?

Slide release?. You know you only get one chance to leave a slide release "idiot mark" and that is the first time you do it.

after 30min of annoyance, i post.  3min later, i finally get it.  no problems w/ the link, but it's an aftermarket target upper, and the tolerance is so tight that finding the sweet spot on the slide is a nightmare.  we're talking micrometers, even inside the detent.

add to that a coat of clp and schmeg on the hands, and all of a sudden i want to leave it alone and go back to cleaning the sigs.

thanks for the advice, everyone.

Quoted: after 30min of annoyance, i post.  3min later, i finally get it.  no problems w/ the link, but it's an aftermarket target upper, and the tolerance is so tight that finding the sweet spot on the slide is a nightmare.  we're talking micrometers, even inside the detent. add to that a coat of clp and schmeg on the hands, and all of a sudden i want to leave it alone and go back to cleaning the sigs. thanks for the advice, everyone.

You have schmegma on your hands? Eeeewwwww!

Quoted: BHP?

That is one of the modifications he made...for a reason.

Send it to my PO Box...I will refit the pin and promptly send it back to you.

I never disassemble mine.  

Bore brush and toothbrush it with cleaner, blast it out with brake cleaner, and a few squirts of oil and mine is good to go.  

Here's how I do it (briefly):

Line everything up like so:





Install the slide, and let gravity move the barrel link into place. Tap the slide, move it around a bit, just get it close. It doesn't have to be perfect:






Wiggle the slide a little, while pushing on the slide release. Eventually the release will pop in. Move the slide forward a few times to make sure it doesn't come off (indicating that the slide release is lined up and installed correctly). Align the rearmost notch as shown:





Snap the slide release into place. Easy as pie:




That's all there is to it. Practice it a bunch until it's second nature. It's not your pistol, it's you.

Sure trade it for a Glock or a Sig

Quoted: Here's how I do it (briefly): ... That's all there is to it. Practice it a bunch until it's second nature. It's not your pistol, it's you.

very, very nicely done guide.  my problem was coming between step 3 and step 4.  pin goes in w/ release lever down as shown in pic 3, slide checks ok, align notch, back pin out slightly to allow lever to rotate up to correct attitude, pin goes in most of the way, and stops about 1/8" before fully inserted.

then the wiggling begins.  dear god, the wiggling!

what bugs me the most is that this is a new problem.  i've been cleaning this gun for, ohhh...about 25 years now, and have never had this problem until the last couple of times.  now, i only put 200-300 rounds a year through the thing, so i don't clean it but once or twice a year.  therefore, the muscle memory isn't what it should be.

i know there's nothing mechanically wrong with the gun, i can whine and pine for a more convenient method, right?

Quoted: Sure trade it for a Glock or a Sig

Why would he waste a perfectly good gun?

Send it to me, I will call our corporate office we will schedule a meeting on the benifits of doing a study. After that meeting, many e-mails will travel between desks all listing the pro's and con's of the project. Then finance will step in with the requests of budget details of which department wishes to take this into their budget. Sales will step in with their data indicates that big dollars can be made off this project, as long as they can make a training video. Finance again asks whose budget will pay for the project and the video. Sales bouces it back to R&D as this is THEIR project as it was not sales idea. Legal steps in wanting to place 20 minutes into any training sessions saying it was not our design, and any liability is that of the owners and the designers, this almost kills the project as the cost has now gone shy high for the additional time. Finanace is now sending high priority cc'd messages to everyone over the budget and what department is to charged. This attracts the interest of the board, who ask all to give in house presentations on the project, complete with a sample for inspection.
During this meeting, Vic, the WWII vet who earns extra money, doing errands for the board listens picks up the offending ...45 exclaims I learned this in a foxhole near Bastone and solves the problem in thirty seconds.
This pisses off the chairman who has no idea what bastone is and fires Vic on the spot for interupting the meeting.
At this time HR seeing their chance for a power grab, clam that disscussions of firearms promote a "hostile" enviroment. and notify legal that they have "several" employees that "may" wish to file a lawsuit.
The chairman kills the project in fear. Vic has a heart attack in the lobby and dies. Leagal files paperwork to impound the gun for future defense of the lawsuits.
The chairman books a retreat to Cancun do to the stress, and gets a raise for his forethought in preventing consumer lawsuits.
You will get you gun back in 45 to fifty years after all the appeals from the company and Vic's decendants lose interest. Or it could be less when the merger occurres and the original company no longer exsists.

I used to have that problem too, but I got smart and got a GLOCK

Quoted: Slide release?. You know you only get one chance to leave a slide release "idiot mark" and that is the first time you do it.

I'm proud of my idiot marks.    At least I actually clean the damn thing.  




- BG

Quoted: Quoted: Slide release?. You know you only get one chance to leave a slide release "idiot mark" and that is the first time you do it. I'm proud of my idiot marks.    At least I actually clean the damn thing.   - BG

Mine's getting so beat up that I can't tell if it's got an idiot mark or not.

Do it the easy way. Poke a drift through the frame to captue the link hole. As you inssrt the drift further in, the taper of the the drift shaft will force the holes into perfect alignment. Hold the slide right there and insert the slide stop. Rotate into poistion. Voila! That 's French for "the shaft went in the hole".

What the hell is an idiot mark on a 1911?

Heh, when you slide the slide stop across the frame of your gun as you pop it into it's final resting place on the frame.

It leaves almost like an up-side rainbow an inch in size on the frame where your finish is now scratched.

Your supposed to just pop it straight into place, never touching the frame in the way I explained above.

As far as lining up the slidestop with the barrel link, I'm been blessed with never having a problem getting that in the first few trys.

I think the idiot mark on my 1911 is a nice offset to the mark I left on the other side of the slide when I dropped a sledge hammer on it.

Quoted: Quoted: Slide release?. You know you only get one chance to leave a slide release "idiot mark" and that is the first time you do it. I'm proud of my idiot marks.    At least I actually clean the damn thing.   - BG

"idiot marks" .... hehehe .... thats a good one!

Quoted: What the hell is an idiot mark on a 1911?

My idiot mark was present before I even fired the damn thing. Dumb 'ol Subnet decided he was gonna strip his pistol as soon as he got home from the fun store.

The first time is the hardest. After that, you just say "fuck it" and not worry about it. Personally, I think it adds character. Now that I know how to avoid marking the frame near the slide release, I'm still not sure I could avoid it completely over the life of the pistol. It only takes once...

My AR's are dinged a little around the bolt catch pin, as well. I ding it every damn time.

Quoted: Slide release?. You know you only get one chance to leave a slide release "idiot mark" and that is the first time you do it.

That's when I did it! I didn't realize that it was going to scratch the slide! First and only time ever making an idiot mark.

Quoted: I used to have that problem too, but I got smart stupid and got a GLOCK Kaboom

OK, here is how I do it on my SA with very close tolerances.  After getting the pin through the link pin, I line up the catch portionagainst the detent.  Place my left thumb at the pin end and press in.  Place my right thumb on the catch end and press up.  Once it clears the detent, I keep pressure on the right thumb and use the left hand to ease the slide into alignment.  As soon as the notch is aligned with the catch, SNAP and it is in.  

As to the comment about the link pin scratch, that is what happens when you let your girl learn how to reassemble the gun......

Oh yeah, full length guide rods suck!!!!!  It makes the barrel bushing pin a bitch to remove because of the sharp (relatively speaking) edge.  And, you have to have the damn allen wrench to disassemble.  I am tempted to get rid of it and go with a standard recoil spring and barrel bushing catch.

Quoted: Oh yeah, full length guide rods suck!!!!!  It makes the barrel bushing pin a bitch to remove because of the sharp (relatively speaking) edge.  And, you have to have the damn allen wrench to disassemble.  I am tempted to get rid of it and go with a standard recoil spring and barrel bushing catch.

And lo, another lost sheep was brought back into the fold.