ghostsoldier Posted November 21, 2005 Report Share Posted November 21, 2005 (edited) Hey fellas…great board you have here. Glad to be a member…I’ll be sending some bucks your way soon, Nick, to show my support! I have a couple of questions for PK, Damon, or perhaps another RKI, about modifying a SA Kahr. I want to ‘reconstruct’ my TM1 Moonie Special to look more like a USGI M1 (around ’43 or so) for my WW2 reenacting impressions, and I was wanted to pass these mods by you vets for your inspection, and to see if I forgot anything: …I’ve bought USGI woodwork for it; that’s an easy bolt-on option (I had to open the foregrip slot to ¾â€) that gives it the ‘ding and dent’ look... …I’ve applied for the SBR stamp from the ATF…(still waiting)…10.5†barrel to follow… …I bought a Kerr repro sling from What Price Glory… …I modified the mag catch as per the FAQ tips for FA mags… …I need to radius the receiver corners to get rid of the CNC milled look, and re-blue it (or Park it...whichever)… …I loc-tited the rear sight screws… Now, I want to do something with the God-awful “rod-through-the-cylinder†style safety switch, and my questions are such: Are the pivot plates between the Kahr and the USGI version the same? Can I use the USGI rocker pivot/Fire control lever in the Kahr pivot plate, or will I have to swap it out completely? If the above is not feasible, can I swap out just the Safety levers? Are the USGI bolt handles knurled/checkered, or smooth like the Kahr’s? Did I leave anything out? I know it won’t look exactly like a USGI model (front sight, stamped control wordings, etc,), but it will be a hell of a lot closer that what it does now…and that’s what I’m after. Thanks in advance for the input! Rob Edited November 21, 2005 by ghostsoldier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkeye_Joe Posted November 21, 2005 Report Share Posted November 21, 2005 Hello Rob...Hawk from the WWII forum. I'm not sure what you mean by this: QUOTE Now, I want to do something with the God-awful “rod-through-the-cylinder†style safety switch, and my questions are such The M1 and M1A1 Thompsons had the pin in the post style safety and fire control switches...so that is correct for your impression. Here is a pic of my Bridgeport M1: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Hawkeye/Tommy5.jpg And the cocking knob was not knurled.. it was smooth. Not sure about ther pivot plates. I've not owned a Kahr to check that out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z3BigDaddy Posted November 21, 2005 Report Share Posted November 21, 2005 Nice shoes Hawk!! That is some clean lookin gun you have.... I think we need to find you a new sling maybe..... Didn't someone just have one rip in two? I would hate to see that thing take an unexpected fall..... http://mail.roadfly.com/z3bigdaddy/Tommy5.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giantpanda4 Posted November 21, 2005 Report Share Posted November 21, 2005 Early M1s may have had the flat selector and safety switches. M1A1s all would be pin type. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkeye_Joe Posted November 21, 2005 Report Share Posted November 21, 2005 Yeah .. those are my barn loafers... http://www.machinegunbooks.com/forums/invboard1_1_2/upload/html/emoticons/laugh.gif QUOTE I think we need to find you a new sling maybe..... Yep .. that was me.. I bought a new repro from Jerry at WPG and it's not gonna fall......anymore. Funny .. when I first got it I posted here asking if I should get a good repop and was told to keep that one. well .. it failed but the Tommy didn't hit the ground.. http://www.machinegunbooks.com/forums/invboard1_1_2/upload/html/emoticons/rolleyes.gif Oh yeah one other thing you didn't mention Rob, get a bolt hold open and some EZ pull springs for your new baby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motorcar Posted November 21, 2005 Report Share Posted November 21, 2005 The pin or paddle type would be correct as so much went through rearsenal rework that either could be correct USGI. The pivot plate with three prongs on it for USGI full auto vs. two for semi auto will drop right in your Kahr without modification to the safety. The fire control selector would enhance the looks of the semi, but the bolt hold open feature would provide no purpose on the M1, since it has no provision for drum magazines and the stick mags will lock the bolt open on empty. For finish you might consider a GI parkerizing job that PK or Damon could do for you. If you look through the archives you may find photos of T-Man's 1928 WH that PK reworked. He did it parked for re-enacting and it is stunning, looks like it just landed at the beach in 1944! He also made a quick change barrel set up for blank ammo or ball, pretty cool mods. Rivot the sight in place and you will never worry. Good luck with the project and don't forget to post photos when it is done! http://www.machinegunbooks.com/forums/invboard1_1_2/upload/html/emoticons/wink.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghostsoldier Posted November 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 Hey Hawk…thanks for the welcome! Nice Bridgeport! Yeah…those are same levers I have on my Kahr… Giantpanda4, I didn’t know that tidbit about the pin-type switches on the late model M1A1’s…I just assumed they all had the paddle-style switches, especially the early M1’s with the protected rear sights…but, I just won a copy of Frank’s book “American Thunder†off of evilBay, so now maybe I’ll have a good reference book to use when these questions come up! About the springs, Hawk…is that the recoil and firing pin buffer springs kit offered by that Jerry (what’s-his-name?) fellow, for around 50 bucks? Man….that stock spring set sure has one hell of a pull to it! I sure could go for a “two-finger†draw! Do you have his contact info? Motorcar…thanks for the good info; I really appreciate it. This is my first post and I’ve already learned a hell of a lot! I’m going to search the archives for TMan’s gun post. BTW, pics of my M1 transformation will follow, I promise… Interesting story I picked up at the weekend gun show: I talked with a dealer about some original Thompson wood, and he told me a story about a local farmer he knew of who bought several big truckloads of surplus Thompson buttstocks from the US Government years ago, complete with the metal fittings, for 25 cents each! On top of that, the old guy had them stored in one of this farm barns, and was using them for firewood in his heaters every year during the winter, until someone got wind of it, and convinced him to sell the leftovers to an arms factory up-country who used them on re-furbished Tommys! I don’t know how true this is, but the old guy telling me the tale sure seemed sincere…Oh, the humanity of it all! (Especially when I just saw a pistol grip on eBay sell for 130 bucks….!! http://www.machinegunbooks.com/forums/invboard1_1_2/upload/html/emoticons/blink.gif ) Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghostsoldier Posted November 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 QUOTE (LIONHART @ Nov 21 2005, 10:06 PM)That Story is about as old as some of these Hills around here....(And it's about time for someone to add more to the Story to make it more entertaining)... Well Lionhart...I guess ol' P.T. Barnum sure had me pegged! http://www.machinegunbooks.com/forums/invboard1_1_2/upload/html/emoticons/rolleyes.gif Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z3BigDaddy Posted November 22, 2005 Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 "I just won a copy of Frank’s book “American Thunder†off of evilBay" Wait a second you didn't just steal that one from me did you? Are you pmshindy? And I needed that as I only have two copies, one for the home and one for the office.... Thought I might need one for the car too........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkeye_Joe Posted November 22, 2005 Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 QUOTE About the springs, Hawk…is that the recoil and firing pin buffer springs kit offered by that Jerry (what’s-his-name?) fellow, for around 50 bucks? Man….that stock spring set sure has one hell of a pull to it! I sure could go for a “two-finger†draw! Do you have his contact info? http://www.tommygunner.com/pages/parts/ezp...ngkit/index.htm http://www.tommygunner.com/images/products/parts/ezpullspringkit/ezpullspringkit.jpg $65.00 per set.. but I hear that they are worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron A Posted November 22, 2005 Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 I have two sets and they work for me. http://www.machinegunbooks.com/forums/invboard1_1_2/upload/html/emoticons/iagree.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bisley45 Posted November 23, 2005 Report Share Posted November 23, 2005 My 27 WH likes those springs, so do my fingers after I get done shooting. Damn thing was more effort than to pull back the bolt on my FN-FAL with the gas regulator turned to Gr for single shot. BB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grey Crow Posted November 24, 2005 Report Share Posted November 24, 2005 The Ezpull springs ARE a God Send! I picked up 2 sets. Well to add a little more to that story, it seems the gent also burned the metal parts feeling that it was to much work to remove them, he also found that by leaving them on that it held heat longer in the woodburner, reducing his heating bill by 95%. http://www.machinegunbooks.com/forums/invboard1_1_2/upload/html/emoticons/wink.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghostsoldier Posted November 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2005 QUOTE (Z3BigDaddy @ Nov 22 2005, 12:04 AM)Wait a second you didn't just steal that one from me did you? Are you pmshindy? Z3...naw, it wasn't me...I don't fancy myself an 'eBay sniper'...I'm more like a Tommy gun on there...."pray (I bid high enough) and spray (as much bid money as I can and still keep hid from my wife)" http://www.machinegunbooks.com/forums/invboard1_1_2/upload/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif Rob (PS...is Frank's Number 2 book just an addendum to the first, with the same info as the first book and some additional stuff, or is it a whole new edition?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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