My own S&W .38 Safety Hammerless (4th Model) with a slightly shorter barrel than the Colonel’s and custom Desert Ironwood grips.
There’s a classic story that float’s around the gun world about Colonel Rex Applegate and a famous self-defense shooting in Mexico. In his own words:
“Just prior to one of my regular trips to the states around 1950, I had been in southern Mexico, near the Guatemalan border, in the area of Salina Cruz in the company of a Mexican Army officer. On this particular evening the officer and I encountered a very drunk, machete-wielding Indian who seemed bent upon decapitating us both. The officer carried his .45 Automatic in a US Army holster. While he was frantically trying to get it into action, I was successful in drawing my Safety Hammerless from the Myers holster, from under my sport shirt and dropped the machete wielding Indian after putting five slugs into his torso. He finally fell to the ground about five feet from me, just as I was getting ready to throw the empty gun at him. Due to the Mexican army connection, there were no repercussions.” – Col. Rex Applegate
Typically this is cited as an instance of failing to stop an attacker, usually in support of .45 caliber. But did you notice one tiny little detail that these folks fail to bring up? He actually did stop his assailant. Determined attackers sometimes soak up a dozen or more modern hollow-points (yes, sometimes .45 hollow-points) before dropping. Given that the Colonel was almost certainly using anemic factory RNL ammo that represents some impressive shooting!
Holster in the style of the ‘Myers Rig’ that Colonel Applegate refers to in the story.
The Colonel did, in fact, decide he wanted more power. Specifically he wanted a similar gun in .38 Special. American Handgunner just posted how this incident led to the creation of the S&W Centennial revolver, and you can read about that here. That’s actually a pretty big deal; given that the best-selling self-defense revolver today is a direct descendant of the Centennial.
…but we’re going to call it that because I’m lazy. So a while back I found an 80% Hybrid Polymer kit pretty cheap and picked it up, less because I wanted one than that I was curious how difficult it was to complete one. I answered that question here.
For assorted reasons I decided to make it into a 9mm range-toy/PDW/home defense gun. I ordered a bunch of parts, put them together and it worked. It’s fun to shoot and I am not hopeless with it.
Pretty much how it’s been ever since.
For other reasons I have not been entirely happy with the adapted mag-well. It works fine the parts are good quality but I never liked the look. *Shrug* I didn’t dislike it enough to do anything about it. It worked fine, which was what really mattered.
Then the BATF launched another game of ‘No-it-isn’t-Yes-it-is’ about braces being stocks and making these guns illegal SBRs. I’m getting sick of this and was considering just filing for an SBR and calling it good, but that spooky receiver might be problematic. Then I had an issue at the range which I erroneously attributed to the magazine-well adapter. Chris at McCallen Defense had a purpose-built 9mm lower right there for $140, and no mag-well adapter meant no issues with one, so…
The lower in question was the Aero Precision Enhanced Pistol Caliber unit. I’ve had good luck with AP products, they come highly recommended and they’re local. I had to ask online what was enhanced, and there’s quite a bit, actually. My friend and gun demi-god Tim informed me, “Enhanced equals billet machined, integral trigger guard, set screw for takedown detent spring. We sell the 556 version, very nice.”
It certainly looks very nice. After dinner I took the gun and lower and headed out to the shop to swap things over. This was accomplished with no particular drama, and I was impressed with the construction and details of the lower.
Instead of a roll-pin the bolt hold-open uses an Allen screw. Nice. A little Blue Loctite and it will be there until I remove it.
In a reasonably short time everything was back together and functioning correctly. I really, really like the look; it makes a handsome gun. Tomorrow it’ll be back to the range for test firing, but I am confident it will work as it should.
So, to recap the build-
Aero Precision EPC lower and lower parts kit.
Foxtrot Mike Glock-Compatible 5″ M-Loc Upper with blast-can
SBa3 Brace
Timney Impact Single-Stage trigger and 45-degree ambidextrous safety
Magpul handgrip
Angstad 5.4 oz. 9mm buffer
ETS 31-shot clear composite magazines (which will be replaced by Glock magazines eventually…)
Bushnell TRS-25 red-dot optic
Monstrum quick-release riser
Generic pop-up iron sights that co-witness with the optic.
Here’s some pics of the finished build-
A nice compact package.The flip-up back-up sights are generic Amazon fodder. They work and are relatively robust……and the front sight makes a pretty good thumb-stop.The blast-can starts inside the handguard. I had to Loctite it to keep it from unscrewing.The Bushnell TRS25.It’s not fancy and it lacks a lot of features of more modern optics, but it works, it’s tough and affordable.
So, there it is, struttin’ in its new suit and looking good. Tomorrow we’ll see how it works.
Stay safe and take care,
Michael Tinker Pearce, 15 January 2022
If you like what you see here please consider supporting me on Patreon by clicking the link above, and look for Tinker talks Guns on Youtube! Early days yet, but more content is coming!
So here’s the thing. I said that when a certain threshold was crossed in Patreon contributions I’d make videos. I was recently reminded that threshold was crossed (like a year ago) and I needed to get off my butt and make some videos. OK. As of yesterday there is a Tinker Talks Guns Youtube channel with a temporary Channel Introduction video.
You know what to do. Like and Subscribe. Or don’t; it’s a free-ish country. Oh, about that. Youtube monetization criteria are a moving target, and I just don’t have the time and energy to figure out where the hoops are, let alone jump through them. Screw it, if one or more videos are accidentally monetized I won’t complain, but I’m just going to assume none of them will be. I’ll be depending entirely on Patreon for support, just as I do now.
I did another magazine-hack recently, and that was going to be the channel’s first real video but, umm, I can’t manipulate the gun and hold the camera at the same time. Oops. There’s a fix for that in the works, but it ain’t fixed yet so you’ll have to resign yourself to text and images.
Nice Gun You Got There. It’d be a shame if your magazines cost a fortune, wouldn’t it?
(Insert evil laughter here)
F.Dusek Duo, later the CZ Duo
So I got this cool little mouse-gun. Kind of a Christmas present. The Duo .25 ACP, a semi-clone of the Colt 1908. Neat little gun, fun to shoot. A lot of people feel a .25 ACP is useless. I disagree, but it is seriously never going to be my first or even second choice to use for self-defense. Technically I don’t need a spare magazine. OK, it’s not always about ‘need;’ it would be nice to have one just because. I mean, how expensive could it…
Mother of God!
Even the Triple K version, which is only moderately likely to be capable of being made to function with some work, is pretty expensive. Correct magazines are… *gulp.* Nope. OK, all is not lost. A Colt 1908 magazine will probably fit, and they’re… Oh dear God. Nope, not affordable. Not even close. I reminded myself that I didn’t really need a spare and got on with my life.
Then I found I could make the Beretta M1951 magazine work in the Sig Sauer P6 and thought, ‘I wonder…’ Ben’s Loans, a long-time favorite gun shop, has the Bins of Random Crap on a bottom shelf. Miscellaneous scope mounts, old pistol grips, several, uh, I don’t actually know what those are, and a random assortment of not-easily-Identified pistol magazines. Worth a look, right?
Man, if I were building a single-stack .32 Auto they would have me covered! As it was I did happen to find a .25 ACP magazine, and darned it if didn’t look like it would fit the Duo with minimal persuasion.
‘New’ magazine on the left.
As I was coughing up $4.99 plus tax for my find the cashier asked, “Hey, do you know what that magazine fits?”
“Not a clue,” I said. “But I’m pretty sure I know what I can make it fit!”
It’s Not Rocket Science. No, really.
The new magazine was longer and holds 7 rounds instead of 6. I can work with that. It sticks out the bottom. I can work with that. Sometime in its past an angry punch attacked it and the follower sticks. OK, I gotta’ fix that. A judicious combination of hammer and grinding got the magazine magazine-shaped again and working smoothly.
Using a cut-off wheel and a jewelers file I carefully cut a slot on the back of the magazine for the heel-release,Yes, I removed the spring and follower first.The magazine sticks out, but so what? I get an extra round and it’s easy to strip out.
I could have shortened the magazine and re-worked it so it could be flush-fit, but I didn’t mind it sticking out slightly. It works correctly and easily, and that’s the important thing. I refinished the mag with some Oxpho blue, gave it a good cleaning and oiling and it works a treat.
Extra magazine, no second mortgagerequired. Just a few bucks and a little ‘sweat equity.’
It’s a thing to consider when working with old pistols; there are a lot of old magazines out there waiting to be adapted…
Stay safe and take care,
Michael Tinker Pearce, 11 January 2022
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