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Thread: Peening of slide

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  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Peening of slide

    I picked up a 1921 commerical ( I think it's an early transistion model) with a pretty peened thumb safety notch. I'm trying it figure out how someone could peen the slide so bad...perhaps it was dropped on its nose at some point in its 90+ year life with the thumb safety partially engaged, or are the slides really that soft? Does anyone have another example that they can show of peening?
    Thanks

    Last edited by RMF; 12th December 2014 at 12:06.


  2. #2
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    I believe in the 1920's the slides were not heat treated for hardening. 1911Tuner could tell you off the top of his head when they started to partially heat treat the slides. Look at some of the better photos in the Collectors Corner area, especially photos of the left side. There's a noticeable color shift that shows up clearly in some photos. The nose of the slide is treated, and also the section directly around the slide stop notch.

    For example:

    In this photo, the darker color of the front of the slide is very visible, but the visual evidence that the slide stop was also heat treated isn't visible.

    So with a soft slide, how could that damage have occurred? It shouldn't be due to trying to shoot it with the tumb safety engaged (or partially engaged), because the thumb safety should prevent firing when engaged. However, the thumb safety could have been defective.

    The other possibility is dropping the pistol on its muzzle. Does the front of the slide or the barrel or the barrel bushing show any evidence of the pistol having been dropped?
    Hawkmoon
    On a good day, can hit the broad side of a barn ... from the inside

  3. #3
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    Appears the pistol fired with the safety engaged. Does the safety look original to the pistol?

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Doran View Post
    Appears the pistol fired with the safety engaged. Does the safety look original to the pistol?
    Thanks Doran and Hawkmoon. The safety appears to be original but it might have been swapped out a long time ago. As it is now, the pistol function and safety checks correctly. The nose of the pistol doesn't appear to show any signs that it's been dropped on its barrel. The only oddness on the pistol beyond the thumb safety peen is that the slide has a very slightly different shade of blue from the frame, although the moderate to heavy 'bluing' wear patterns match well on frame and slide. The slide on this pistol is the correct type as it is a pre-sterilized slide. Overall its a nice gov't model which appears correct and letters to 1921.


    .
    Last edited by RMF; 13th December 2014 at 08:19.


  5. #5
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    Remember, a Model O pistol without a firing pin safety (Swartz or Series 80) WILL fire if dropped just so on the muzzle. That may be what happened to this pistol. In the test I saw to test that theory, pistols were dropped onto a hardwood board, which did not mark the muzzle. I believe the test even included dropping the pistol on carpet, and, while it took a greater height of fall to fire the gun, the gun still fired.

    While unrelated to the drop issue, have you looked at the hammer to see if the "sear notch" and "safety notch" are damaged so as to allow the hammer to bypass them and contact the firing pin? If those notches are damaged, perhaps the hammer was able to somehow fall (dropped on the hammer?) with the safety partially engaged.

    With millions of Model O pistols, everyone has its own story. This is a weird one.

  6. #6
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    They started to harden the front side of the slide in 1925, the full stop notch in 1943 and slides were fully hardened only in 1948
    Originality can't be restored, so put "originality" at the top of a priority list. If JMB didn't put it on the 1911 you don't need it.

  7. #7
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    The Colt pictured was dropped on the muzzle imo. I had my Govt Model in my back pocket and grabbed it and dropped it on the terrazzo floor and it sheared off my new just installed Colt ambi-safety and peened the safety notch much like this one.
    Ken
    "I like Colts and will die that way"
    "It seems to me that I have forgotten more than I remember"

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