My GSG

My GSG .22

Here is a small review of changes and modifications I have done to "customize" my GSG.
I work on MY guns for MY personal enjoyment.
Note that there was very little money spent here. Yeah, I'm cheap but this is a $300-$350 gun and I'd rather put my money in better pieces.

As far as I know, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the GSG .22 as it is out of the box, I just wanted to purty it up and void my own warranty. If you like yours the way it is, then keep yer booger hooks in yer pockets and off the thing. If you decide to change it, you are on your own. I'm NOT a gunsmith, machinist or woodworker and I've NEVER stayed in a Holiday Inn Express so don't blame me if you do anything I did and you don't like the outcome.

Overall, my GSG is a cheaply constructed piece compared to all the other firearms I have played with over the years, made the cheapest way possible from the cheapest material and for heavy shooting isn't going to last very long without a lot maintenance. This of course is my opinion, your GSG may be constructed better.

The first thing I changed was the guide rod. After reading about failures in so many posts on 1911 forums as well as other places, I decided to not risk a failure and changed it before firing the first round. I am fortunate to have a lathe so this was an easy decision for me. I played with several designs on the guide rod from aluminum to steel to brass and combinations and settled on solid brass with a longer rod because it added a little weight to the piece. Performance wise, no detectable difference.

The bushing was ok (steel) but I replaced it because I had a better one. The tighter this fits in the slide, the less likely it is to turn also.
Then I made some grips. (nothing wrong with the stock walnut grips, I just wanted to make my own) I tried walnut, pecan, cherry and ended up using some acrylic material I salvaged from a countertop sample from Lowes. I like the smooth feel better than the checkered stock grips but that of course is personal. You can even get checkering tools if you really want to make a mess. I did and I did.

I ordered a standard thumb safety from Sarco because it was cheap. (grin) and I hate the ambidextrous safety)) I had to do some fitting and based on this and the low quality I recommend a better part. The Sarco part works but not as well as I would like. Also from Sarco, a trigger, the three hole lightened trigger. All it needed was polishing and a few light file strokes across the top. There is no set screw in this trigger and I thought about drilling and tapping for one but changed my mind because it works well as is. The stock trigger is fine and there was no malfunction but I didn't care for the feel and wanted a flat face like my other 1911s.

I had a spare grip safety from a flea market purchase (mfg. unknown) that looks like an Ed Brown, so I popped it in and it worked and fit with some minor frame sanding/polishing. I also had to change the hammer strut to fit the new grip safety. I had a spare from my RIA .45 that fit perfect. Then I put the sear spring in the vise and took a little of the bend out of the grip safety leaf. This helps a lot to reduce the grip pressure required. If you do this, be absolutely certain the disconnector leaf is NOT in the vise jaws.

Some don't care for the arched MSH (me) so a simple exchange. I had a flat MSH and the innards are a direct changeout EXCEPT, the retaining pin. The GSG MSH pin won't work so have a pin on standby before changing. The magazine safety will also be defeated with this change so if you don't wish to override the magazine safety, don't change it.

I did not touch the sear, hammer or disconnector!! These parts are best left to a qualified gunsmith and I ain't one.

So there you have it. Mine loves CCI ammo, the federal bulk stuff from WalMart and tolerates mostly good, the white box bulk Winchester stuff.

That's about it. I can pop 2" groups with the Federal, a little better with the CCI and a little worse with the Winchester at 15 yards. I've run around 5000 rounds through with a few FTF FTE but, I can't say weren't ammo or operator related. This is my shooter and fun gun so reliability is relative to me with this piece. I trust it as safe and reliable but it is NOT my defensive weapon. I usually run through 4 full magazines at a fairly slow pace before reloading them so as to get the most out of my outing. This GSG shoots as well as my Ruger .22/45. Not quite as accurate but a nice shooter none the less.

At this time, I have no plans to make any more modifications other than maybe cutting the slide top flat removing the roll marks, and different sights if I find some throwaways. I like smooth naked slides. I'll probably not put any more money in the thing though and just shoot it till it breaks, fix it and shoot it some more.

If there are pictures here, I figured it out. If not, well...


R/slim.

Update:

I took my home made mill to the slide. Pictures in my album if interested. Please do NOT do this. My slide was not true (flat) and well,... I kinda cut it a little deep on the back and had to re-cut the cocking serrations. I should have stuck to sanding but I stuck it in the mill. Do NOT do this cause it ain't pretty and neither is the language that was expressed at the mill operator.






UPDATE!

Update on the GSG .22 project.

After removing all the paint from the sides of the slide, I discovered it would not polish. I tried jeweling and though it worked, it was too much for me so I started looking for another way. Krylon paint did not work. It was pretty and looked great but rubbed off so easy, I removed it before assembling the gun. Well, dang! Now what am I gonna do?

There is a product called alumablack, but will it work? How about duracoat? Well, YouTube research shows that maybe I can do this. Oh yes, no problem, all I need is $400.00 worth of tools, cleaning stuff mixing jars, airbrush... Yep, I can do this!

Fast forward, air brush, paint, cleaner... and... You too can do this at home! The airbrush is (I believe) 10 times easier to use and control than a standard can of spray paint. Make sure you have your paint mixed properly and away you go. (I just followed the enclosed directions with the duracoat I ordered)

Well I'm pretty well satisfied except I mixed enough paint to coat the flight deck of an aircraft carrier to do a slide but I still have some left. ...paint that is. Pictures included cause without pictures, it didn't happen...





Well, You know the trigger and sear I was going to leave alone? I didn't. I bought the Ed Brown sear tool and a couple stones. I couldn't help myself and now I have a nice crisp 4# trigger that breaks as clean as snappiing a peppermint stick. Man I LOVE this stuff.

Slim.