caring for the safety?

[jebib3]

short of dis-assembly what can I do to make the movement of the safety easier? Thanks!

[mvelimir]

Clean, lube and ................... practice, practice, practice.

[boomer]

The safety is a detent pin lock/groove in the safety roller section of the safety in the slide. The only way I know of to reduce the stiffness is to shorten the pin spring in the slide by a couple of coils and to polish the roller surface of the safety while you have it apart.

[boomer]

short of dis-assembly what can I do to make the movement of the safety easier? Thanks!

If slide disassemble is intimidating to you I would be very happy to assist you to remedy your problem. I don't know where you are located but I have all the tools and equipment needed to reduce the detent spring pressure and polish the safety roller surface. I would be very happy to do it for you and all you need to pay for would be the shipping. The slide alone can go through regular mail with out a problem.

[juniustaylor]

That's a pretty good deal that boomer is offering. Disassembly is pretty straightforward. A hint from "fknipfer1" is to use hemostats (forceps). Push the firing pin from the back side with a punch so that it sticks out from the bolt face. Clamp it with the hemostats so that it stays compressed. Now you can take a common screwdriver or similar device and put it in the safety where it's split and move it out the side. Put it in a large plastic bag/Ziploc during this part. Anyway, the safety "barrel" will come out the side. The detent and spring will not normally "shoot" out from my experience, it stays in place relatively well.

Hint: It's a bit easier to remove the safety barrel if you put the safety lever in a position between Safe and Fire. This removes the detent from the indents and ends up compressing the detent into it's hole.

Read and re-read this a few times while looking at your slide and it'll make sense. For pictures, just ask. You can't really do a good job on the safety without removing it and doing as boomer suggested - clip the spring a coil or two and polish the barrel where the detent contacts.

[boomer]

Hey JT,

The forceps are a great idea indeed. The only thing I will add is to put some cardboard from a cartridge box between the pin and the forceps to remove all possibility of scoring the firing pin. Once the pin is damaged in a P 64 it is toast.

Regards,

Boomer

[juniustaylor]

Yeah, I had thought about that as well. fknipfer1 used it on his P-83 with good results. The cardboard would certainly do well to protect the pin. That was a concern I had as well, fknipfer1 reported no defects. Better to take extra precaution as the parts are rare to come by.

[boomer]

I do believe that is the function of this forum is to share knowledge about the P 64. I know Norm Sutton is just great with his years of experience so is Dick. Knowledge is not a heavy burden to carry and I am always looking for more.

Stay safe and be well

Boomer

[vimes]

jebib3, have you shot it yet? One thing I noticed on mine was that priror to the first range trip the safefy was nearly impossible to work (i.e. I could do it but only with the pistol sideways using 2 hands and lots of force). This was even after a field strip and good cleaning -- though I didn't disassemble completely prior to shooting.

After a few rounds I could do it with one hand but it was a little difficult. After taking it apart and cleaning/lubing well I can do it with one hand easily. I could probably lived with it as is but just wanted to take it apart. Like these guys said, it's not too difficult. Actually getting it back in was the hard part for me but there's a couple good threads on here about it.

[juniustaylor]

When doing mods to the safety detent and spring, you have to do it a little at a time. Otherwise the safety lever will be mushy and not have a good firm feel when it clicks into its positions. If the point of the detent is slightly rounded, that helps also.

[pursuit]

My new P64's safety is hard to move. I will wait to see if it loosens up with time!!

[jebib3]

Perhaps I am a little premature as I've only put about 100 rounds through it to date. Can I live with it? Yes. Under the circumstances I guess what I'll do is wait till I put about 300 rounds thru before I do anything. What I'd like to be able to do easily, is to hold the pistol in one hand and with the thumb be able to release the safety. Thanks for all the constructive comments, and interesting dialogue too!

[bt2010]

put it this way mine broke and i had to part out my gun. Hindsight is always 20/20, so if i had another chance I would have never put the safety on . I would have just left one in the chamber and pulled tha hammer back when needed. I barely used mine and my safety crumbled like sugar.