Slide Problem Colt 380
 

I think you'll see the wear in the picture provided. Yesterday, I found the slide on my Mustang Plus II releasing without warning. Upon closer inspection, I found the slide stop cut on the slide had worn on the rear, preventing the slide stop from completely engaging. i.e. the gun will not stay open. The question is:

1. Can I just take a triangle file and make the edge "squared" again? allowing the slide stop to catch? Or...
2. Is the slide shot... meaning I need to buy a new one? OR....
3. Is this best left to a gunsmith?

This is daily deep concealed weapon for me. I like it, and it shoots remarkably well. I would probably send it to Dave Severns and let him HARD hat it... I'm keeping it till I die anyways....

Your thoughts? Very appreciated.

DaFadda

http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/...a/P1020536.jpg

Michael that is called Peening, and I might be wrong. But I think you need a new slide stop..............HINT HINT

Best left to a friendly gunsmith to fix IMHO...........

Clyde

BTW.... Natchez has the slide on sale (closeout) for $104. So buying a new slide is definitely an option.

See if your LG Smith can fix it for you before you buy a New One..................................


Clyde

BTW If you buy a New Slide it will have to be Fitted any way...............

AHHHHH thanks for THAT reminder!

Fadda,

I'm no Smiff by any means and I can believe I'm going to agree with Clyde.

But if you file the slide down to square up the cut out, the slide could stop past the point where the slide wouldn't strip the first round.

Of course that's if you drop the slide from the slide stop.:D

I may be totaly off.... I duno?????

Greg

It's off to a gunsmith then!

Take it to a gunsmith, the notch is not square with the frame, it has a very slight angle to it!!!:)

I'm afraid you're going to need a gunsmiths' services on this. As was stated,if you try to file it square you'll move the notch too far back. What needs to be done is a small weld with a TIG on the backside of the notch and then reshaping. At first blush a new slide may seem to be the answer but, remember the slide has to be fitted to both the barrel and the frame. They are not a dropin part. By the time you pay for the fitting, you could be looking at $250-300.00. A smith good with a TIG welder and files can do it for about $100.00.
And afterwards you need to have the slide-release and the slide checked for hardness. The Slide-release should be softer than the slide.

Just thought about this, you need to have the geometry of the slide-release position checked too, it may be out of spec.

All,
thanks for the input here. This is why I very seldom go elsewhere, even tho Colt is just up the road from me (about 45 minutes). This Colt Mustang Plus II is headed out to Severns Custom Gun for the repair, an overhaul and then a HARD hat. Dave assures me that once its hard hatted, I will never see this problem again. Which is good, since the gun will likely be in my collection 'till I die.

And so it goes....

DaFadda

Fadda, get Dave S to do the Duty treatment on it! I really like all black guns!

Direct from Dave's site. I've already talked to him. He's doing the repair and refinishing the entire gun. Don't know what he's going to do with the alloy frame, but the slide will Hard Hat.

"Hard Hat is NOT a coating. It is a sophisticated, labor intensive treatment process that both hardens and chemically alters the surface of the metal, turning your carbon steel or stainless steel firearm a beautiful, yet unbelivably tough, jet black in the process." (Severnscustom.com

Update and Repaired! I took the 380 Mustang Plus II to Gunsmithing LTD in Southport CT a week or so ago. Mitch was the lead gunsmith for Ruger for almost 30 years. He still works out of the same shop in the Ruger Building. Some of you may know him, or of him. After a close inspection of the slide, it was determined that it shouldn't need to be Tig welded (something you could only see if you actually had the gun in your hand under good light). The reason it happened was that there was something "not right" with the slide stop. (Thanks Dave!)... He was able to repair that as well. End of story? Got the pistol back this afternoon, and it is cyclying flawlessly.

Happy Ending!
DaFadda

That is good news.

Grizz

Very good news...

How about a pic of the girl????