LLama Minimax mods

[45_Tinkerer]

Just for fun I decided to modify my Minimax 45, I decided that the first thing that "needed" fixed was the ignition parts, so I replaced the sear, disconnector, hammer, hammer strut, trigger, and sear spring with Chip McCormick parts.

The next thing that had to be done was to replace the MSH with a S&A magwell w/lanyard loop, also titanium mainspraing cap, and new mainspring. added the needed length to the grip so that it is about 1/8 shorter than fullsize now.

Then I polished the feed ramp, slideways/frame rails, ejector surfaces, and generally cleaned up the rough edges.

The only thing left is to replace the sights with Novaks and refinish it.

Now don't get me wrong, I liked the little gun as it was, shot mid 240's out of 250possible on the Texas CHL qualification with it, so it was a functional and accurate weapon to start with.

[John]

As I usually say, :wl:

Rgds

[chitoryu2454]

It would be worth the price of admission to see pics of this. i own a minimax, however my is still dressed the way it came. I would really like to see your work. please send pics.
joe

[minimax]

I recently picked one up in a trade with a family member. Its still got all the stock parts but he did give it a trigger job and rounded all those sharp edges with a file and smoothed it up with sandpaper, looks alot better and feels way better.

Did all those chip mcormick parts drop in? You didnt get the grip safety? The one on mine sinks lower into the grip than Id like.

Its only got one problem, the firing pin lightly strikes the primer failing to fire a round frequently.

[res1b3uq]

Had the same problem with my Colt. Needs a new mainspring. Might cost as much as $5.00.

[minimax]

Had the same problem with my Colt. Needs a new mainspring. Might cost as much as $5.00.

I have yet to test fire it, but I think I found the problem. Didnt have a firing pin safety disconnector. It still fired! Firing pin safety was cheap metal and dented enough to allow some shells to ignite. I just yanked all that firing pin safety nonsense out.

[pimp my 45]

Hate to say it but I'm going to put some valve grinding stuff I got at autozone on the slide and on the outside of the barrel to work out all this roughness on my self claimed POS. If you have ever seen pimp my ride well that is what I'm going to do with this thing got to find a metal shop around here to get the material I need for the grips and go from there I might have every pimp in the world wanting my pistol when I get done.

[mel1956]

I really wanted a 40 s&w instead of the .45 but couldn't find one at the Dallas gunshow this weekend. So I bought the mini-max 45. So far it looks pretty good after cleaning it up a bit. Ramp doesn't have any really obvious bad spots. I'll polish the ramp and barrel a bit with a dremel and some jewelers rouge. What is the little pin that comes by the disconnector? Pushing on the grip safety seems to cause it to move up, Is it some kind of firing pin safety? The slide to frame fit seems pretty good on this. No rattles when shaken. I'll get some magazines from cdnn. They have some defender .45 mags for a fairly good price. Trigger pull is a bit gritty but I think I can clean that up with some stoning. I like the idea of using some valve grinding paste to clean up the slide rails. Have to look into that. Also the sights are a bit small. I'll look into replacing them eventually. All in all, not a bad buy for $250. The next step up would have been the rock island compact for about $120 more. Next time I may look into getting a .40 eventually.

Any ideas on what to do to this thing to increase reliability and functionality? Any suggestions welcomed. How about some pictures of what you've done to yours?

Thanks,
Mel

[John]

Risking to be boring :wl:

[pimp my 45]

don't have any pics yet I hope yours doesn't have any problems like mine. Just try to chamber a few rounds with the firing pin out to insure it does not go off with live ammo and end up with a hole in the wall. Just incase you haven't figured out how to take the slide off and the firing pin out this is what you do. Make sure your mag is out if you look on the slide you will see a small notch right before the slide catch, line it up with the part of your slide release that catchs the slide and push the slide release out from the other side pull it completely out. then just pull the slide forward be careful as the spring will have tension on it. Take the spring/guide rod whatever you want to call it out. There should be a plug that has to come out also before the barrel can slide out. Alright now comes the fun part you might want some help with this part one of those times you need a third hand. If you hold your slide with the rear pointing up or away from you you will see the firing pin housing there is a circular part on the right side of the little dip it has to be pressed down while pressing the fire pin down and slide the piece holding the fire pin in. It should then slide out. The circular part has to be held down to get the pin and spring out. Also you will need to put that small piece back in to get the slide back on and oh yeah it will fall out. So after you get the barrel and spring back on the slide and put the slide back on the frame I suggest pulling the slide all the way back and Slide that small piece out so it doesn't get lost. The valve grinding compound might best advice if you have never used it is put a little bit on at a time or you may have problems working the slide it's like liquid sand paper. Oh yeah were you at the Market Hall Gun show B/c I was there also for about an hour

[mel1956]

in the morning. Left around 1pm after picking up the gun. I think 249 for the blued mini max isn't too bad a price. I get a catalog from SOG that has them for 232. I was thinking of using them, SOG, and having a ffl get the pistol for me, but figured the shipping and fees would cost just as much. Is there any advantage to the firing pin safety on the mini max? I have several other 1911s and none have a firing pin safety. I'm familiar with disassembling the 1911 but none that I have have any kind of firing pin safety. So how to disassemble the ignition parts (hammer, sear, disconnect, etc) with the firing pin safety? Any suggestions on a replacement for the grip safety?

I know a lot of folks swear at the llamas but I can't afford a colt defender or even the low end springfield armory compact 1911. Even the armscor/rock island armory compact is beyond my means right now. I will be saving up for a rock island 38 super one of these days. Maybe after I finish building my 1911 full sized .40s&w/10mm (have an old safari arms stainless frame & sti slide).

Thanks, Mel

and I will post some pics a little later when I have time. And a range report when I get out to the range. Which with my work schedule may be a ways out.

[pimp my 45]

I never mentioned that mine was a subcompact this is my first 1911 type that I'm going to tinker with I'm going to disassemble it completely tonight andpost my opions later tonight. I strongly suggest verifing that your pistol will feed so that when you go to the range it won't be a loss of time since you don't get to go very often. I left the show at 12

[pimp my 45]

To take the grip safety off is pretty much same as all 1911's except I had to use a small screw driver to pry the mainspring housing off by putting a flat head between the safety and the main spring housing and applying pressure. The rest is typical 1911 except taking the trigger out, you will have to take the mag release out. To do this, you will see on the right side of the mag release a small flat head screw. Press the mag release while trying to turn the screw to the left as soon as you feel it go left. The mag release should be free and, then, the trigger can be removed. During the dissassembly I found on the right side of the hammer the hole for the hammer strut pen was chipped off. I am going to take pictures and try to post them when my camera gets fixed
Because I know that :wl:

The internals were pretty rough. Took the 600 grit sandpaper and knocked off the rough ridges that were left on them. The sear and disconnector were simply cleaned off since I didn't want to have a nonstop full auto.

It is getting late and I'll work on it tomorrow, then post what I find.

[res1b3uq]

I have two Llama hammers, but I think they are for the 9mm so they probably wouldn't work.

[mel1956]

When I get some time, I will completely disassemble the mini max and take digital pictures. I have a canon digital rebel and will be able to post some pretty detailed photos. I'm particularly interested in this firing pin safety thing that protrudes out of the frame beside the head of the disconnector. I've noticed that it is acutated by the grip safety. On the subject of the grip safety. Does any body know where I can get a different grip safety and main spring housing? I like the flat msh instead of the arched one. I know I will have to make some mods to the grip safety to get it to fit but that shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Thanks,
Mel

[pimp my 45]

Update on the minimax 45 while reassembling I discoved that the hammer pin was bent not allowing the hammer to move correctly. :mad: I've been looking at midway, brownells, and sarco for replacement parts of higher quality than what is on the Llama. I'm going with that saying If there is something wrong with a part replace it with something better. If anyone knows of a place that sells parts or parts kits at a decent price I'm more than willing to check there website out.

[mel1956]

Was wondering if the spring loaded firing pin block in the slide was held in by the rear sight. If not, I don't know the block is kept in the slide. I really dislike the firing pin safety pin in the frame. It makes it hard to put in the disconnector/sear pin. It shouldn't be a big deal to remove the safety and have it function as a normal 1911.

Mel

PS. I'll post some pictures shortly

[wganz]

Update on the minimax 45 while reassembling I discoved that the hammer pin was bent not allowing the hammer to move correctly. :mad: I've been looking at midway, brownells, and sarco for replacement parts of higher quality than what is on the Llama. I'm going with that saying If there is something wrong with a part replace it with something better. If anyone knows of a place that sells parts or parts kits at a decent price I'm more than willing to check there website out.

The man in the little brown truck showed up with the box of goodies!
Neener, neener, neener Pimp My 45 :p

The parts from John Masen Company (http://www.johnmasen.com) appear to be a drop in fit. I should have known that the sear spring would have been different. :confused: Sigh, guess that I'm going to have to get a frame, slide, and barrel to go with that extra sear spring. :o

Had to beat the heck out of the hammer strut pin to get it out to free the hammer strut. HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you replace all the pins since they appear to be fairly soft. The pin holes are fairly rough and somewhat undersize, am having to roll up pieces of 600 grit sandpaper and polish the holes so that the 'regular' 1911 pins will go through. Hence, the pig latin term comes to mind, "Olishingpay atay urdtay."

I'll get a more complete report when I get it fully back together and try to run some rounds through it.

wganz
¶

[mel1956]

what mini max do you have, regular or subcompact? I found it really hard to get the disconnector/sear pin to go in with the firing pin safety thing. I think I'll check to see masen has any parts that will fit the colt officers model. It's the same size as the regular minimax and should work with a little modification. I polished the throat and ramp on mine. Ordered some officer model mags from CDNN that were a pretty good price. When I get a chance to get to the range, I'll give them a work out. I'm hoping the masen rear sight will fit in the minimax rear sight dovetail, so I can remove the firing pin safety. I don't think is very useful and I'd rather have it be like the real 1911.

And I will post pictures once I get a chance to actually use my digital camera. I spend to much time working! And not enough time shooting!

Mel

[wganz]

It is a Mini Max Sub Compact that was Llama's clone of the Para Ordnance WarHog.
Linke to Bersa Llama site with more info (http://www.bersa-llama.com/cat_minimax_sub_compact.htm)
http://www.bersa-llama.com/img/guns/minimax_sub_lg.gif

I'm also have a time trying to get the replacement sear pin in.

¿Does anyone have the 'correct' diameter of this pin? Because I'm tempted to get a drill of that size and slowly open the hole for the sear pin on the right side of the frame by hand with a drill bit because it is going to take awhile to open it with only 600 grit sandpaper.

This one is going to get interesting before it gets shooting.

wganz
¶

[pimp my 45]

The man in the little brown truck showed up with the box of goodies!
Neener, neener, neener Pimp My 45 :p


Just because I took this job in HAZARDOUS WASTE LAND LOUISIANA doesn't mean I won't be back. :cool: ¿Does anyone have the 'correct' diameter of this pin? Because I'm tempted to get a drill of that size and slowly open the hole for the sear pin on the right side of the frame by hand with a drill bit because it is going to take awhile to open it with only 600 grit sandpaper. If you can wait a little while, I'll fix the holes and test it out it'll need about 1000 rounds through it on the first day along with my SIG-226 that needs it's cherry popped :D

[wganz]

Just because I took this job in HAZARDOUS WASTE LAND LOUISIANA doesn't mean I won't be back. :cool: If you can wait a little while, I'll fix the holes and test it out it'll need about 1000 rounds through it on the first day along with my SIG-226 that needs it's cherry popped :D

Yeah, like you're going to get 1k of .45ACP for the POS + 1K of 9mm to go with that LNIB P226 for your birthday. :p

Anyway, found the pin specs over on Midway (http://www.midwayusa.com/rewriteaproduct/536389).The popup on the tech specs had:

# Notes:
# Factory specification on hammer pin diameter: .157" -.002"
# Factory specification on sear pin diameter: .110" -.002"

so the next trick is to find somewhere in north Dallas that would have such a critter. :confused:

wganz
¶

[pimp my 45]

There is a company on jupiter called Fastenall they might have it might have to buy a set to get it but you can never have to many drill bits. Oh yeah I'm tring to get things rolling with that job in Alabama and I'm starting to remember why I left Louisiana.

[wganz]

# Notes:
# Factory specification on hammer pin diameter: .157" -.002"
# Factory specification on sear pin diameter: .110" -.002"

wganz
¶

only had to use a 5/32" carbide to clean up the sear pin hole on the right side of the frame to get the new stainless sear pin back inserted properly.

Did a search for the S&A main spring housing and was scratching my head wondering how to get that main spring housing(MSH) on it until I realized the difference beween MiniMax and the MiniMax SubCompact. Scratch that idea. May do a search for a mag well adapter for a ParaOrdnance WartHog and then drill and tap a different MSH to give a bit longer grip.

May get a standard sized stainless slide release to keep the looks matching with the new stainless extended thumb safety. Heard too much about extended slide releases messing up by locking prematurely when needed most.

Am looking at getting a more flared grip safety but am curious on how much Mr. Dremel is going to have to take off to get it to fit.

Hopefully, pix next time.

wganz
¶

[wganz]

Posted over on the ParaOrdnance section that I needed a magwell adapter. Sure enough, El Commandante came to the rescue with a reference to King's Gun Works (http://www.kingsgunworks.com/newcatalog/page12.html) and they had one in their catalog for $19.99 without shipping & handling.

Now got to decide about the main spring housing.

wganz
¶

[John]

Now got to decide about the main spring housing.

For years, both my 1911s wore the Pachmayr rubber-covered MSHs. I recently tried the Snakeskin MSH from Ed Brown, and that's what both pistols have on, right now. I just like the feeling in my hand, and the aesthetics are just great.

http://www.edbrown.com/cgi-bin/htmlos.cgi/0037.1.593806662445681128

Rgds

[wganz]

For years, both my 1911s wore the Pachmayr rubber-covered MSHs. I recently tried the Snakeskin MSH from Ed Brown, and that's what both pistols have on, right now. I just like the feeling in my hand, and the aesthetics are just great.

http://www.edbrown.com/cgi-bin/htmlos.cgi/0037.1.593806662445681128

Rgds

I'm sure that you're correct that MSH is nice, but in the ancient tongue, I'm olishingPay Aday urdTay and there is a point that I've got to stop since it will be more cost effective to spent that much money but to have gotten an RIA commander sized 1911 instead.

wganz
¶

[wganz]

I'm sure that you're correct that MSH is nice, but in the ancient tongue, I'm olishingPay Aday urdTay and there is a point that I've got to stop since it will be more cost effective to spent that much money but to have gotten an RIA commander sized 1911 instead.

wganz
¶

Tried to put it back together tonight. Major NO-GO! The standard 1911 thumb safety is too long and I'm not in any form or fashion going to trim that plastic plunger tube to get it to fit nor am I going to attempt to Bubbadremel it down to size. Next on the list was the replacement sear/disconnector. The fit was so that there was no way that the hammer was going to fall. OK, still got the original sear/disconnector so that krap will go back into it.

The end result is $185 on a Llama .45 MiniMax Subcompact that has two new stainless steel pins, a new stainless hammer, a trigger pull that would make a California bureaucrat happy, and a small pile of parts that now forces me to get a real 1911 frame/slide/barrel to put them to good use. Sigh, it never ends.

wganz
¶

[mel1956]

I figured out how to fix the firing pin safety thing. I removed the rear sight and removed the firing pin block. Next I removed the pin next to the sear/disconnector. Now, it works just like a regular 1911a1 should. I got some snap caps to see how it functions without having to take it to the range. Works pretty good. I have some pictures to post of all the internal parts and stuff. Some close ups of the firing pin safety components. When I get a chance to upload them to my personal web page on comcast, I'll post them here. I think next weekend will be the perfect time to take it to the range for a test run.

mel

[michael t]

Man you all did a lot of work I just took my sub-compact all apart and polished every thing Channel trigger bow rides in any where the was going to be friction Lite coat of oil on reassembley I left fireing pin safety alone as its like Colt and really isn't a problem. With bare slide on a bare frame it will now move back and forth just by tilting wrist. I have shot around 500 rounds since my polish job and is perfect. I carry at times and now use the 160DPX CORBON Compact round made for 3" 45's I found just like my P-10 that the lighter rounds work best. 230 are really to slow and weren't reliable. I traded my factory rebuilt P-10 for a S&W mod 29 and put boot on another pistol. Kept the Llama for a 45 carry . Oh put the Wolf Springs for para in the Llama mag also lot better than factory.

[mel1956]

I've finally uploaded some pictures of my mini max. Primarily the internals. Here's a picture of all the frame internals including the infamous firing pin safety pin in the frame. As you can tell, mine got bent pretty bad. I think it works better without the pin :) It's partially hidden by the grip safety. Anybody know where I can get a replacement grip safety and main spring housing? Something that would work and look better than the original. I wonder if the S&A mainspring housing with magwell for a officers model would work.

http://home.comcast.net/~mel1956/llama_frame_internals.jpg

[mel1956]

Here's a close up of the firing pin block from the slide. I removed the rear sight and it pretty much just dropped out. After removing the safety pin in the frame and the block from the slide, it functions just like a regular 1911.

http://home.comcast.net/~mel1956/firing_ping_block.jpg

There is a tiny spring that sits in the hole in the firing pin block.

[mel1956]

Here's the stripped frame and slide (well, almost stripped slide).

http://home.comcast.net/~mel1956/bare_frame_and_slide.jpg

[mel1956]

And the bend safety pin. You can see where I had to grap it with the needle nose pliers to get it out. Also you can see top of it where the slide has smashed it. When the bottom bent around where the slot is, it cause it to stick out instead of coming back down when the grip safety was released. The slide when it went forward smacked the top of the pin. That caused the slide to jam up on the frame. I'm really glad I removed the whole firing pin safety thing. I think it will function much better now.

http://home.comcast.net/~mel1956/bend_safety_pin.jpg

[mel1956]

Now a picture of the slide and it's components (well, most of 'em anyways. I didn't remove the firing pin and stop). You can see the slot where the firing pin block sits in the rear sight dovetail. If you look closely enough, you can see the firing pin. It is visible when the firing pin block is removed. I would imagine that a full size firestorm has the same firing pin safety mechanism. If so, then I would imagine any of the 22 conversions would work once the safety is removed.

http://home.comcast.net/~mel1956/slide_parts.jpg

[mel1956]

Finally, a picture of the assembled pistol with all the magazines I have for it. I bought some new followers from a guy on ebay. I'll give them a shot this weekend. Not to sure how they will work. They looked better in the ebay picture than they did in hand. Two of the mags with the bumper are McCormick shooting stars. I don't like the shooting stars per see, but I got them pretty cheap on CDNN (about $13 each). The stainless one with out the bumper is a springfield armory one for the officers model colt. It has the same follower as the shooting star. I've replace the follower on it. Hopefully it will work. Also replaced the follower on the llama mag and it seems to function a bit better. The best of the bunch is the novaks. It has the best follower and comes out cleanly when the mag release button is pushed. If anybody knows of a good source for followers and mag springs, let me know.

http://home.comcast.net/~mel1956/llama_and_magazines.jpg