Tac-Sol .22 conversion - holy crap nice!

[CJB]

Hey folks, just wanted to say, an rough looking agent from the US Government came to my house and sought me out personally, then demanded to see my ID.

Then he handed me the box from Tac-Sol, and some bills and junk mail! :D

Pics to follow, but this Tac-Sol .22 conversion is exquisite. Just breathtaking workmanship. Won't have the camera back until Friday (its at work).

But... yes, pics to follow. Get out your drool bibs.:cool:

[Bawanna]

I'm on my 3rd drool bib this week. What's the hold up?

[CJB]

My "real camera" is currently tied up....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/bandersnatchreverb/P4065985.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/bandersnatchreverb/P4065986.jpg

Two quickie shots with the Oly point n shoot....

On an unaltered Caspian frame, the slide did need to be worked in. I lapped it with the finest stuff I've got in the shop - 1200g

They fubar'd the sight windage screw retainer, I've got a new screw and retainer coming in - gratis.

Other than that, I'm waiting for Brownells to get off their behinds and actually ship some Accraglass Gel and atomized stainless. The slide was tight, but the barrel tenon is a little loose. Very little. Only .005 loose. But - I'm going to "glass bed" the tenon into the recess in the frame, a little tricky to do, since it needs to be done instages, and any misalignment will cause binding. I thnk I can pull it off - being anal about all the rest... should be a non issue.

Trigger, since its a very low mass slide moving, is at 2.5lbs I'm also waiting for 2-56 set screws to arrive, so I can inset them into the trigger bow for take up adjustment (like Clark used to do).

The safety will be changed for a blue one, soon as it arrives. I had that on hand, so just stuck it in for now.

The magazine intentionally hangs low for allowance for a longer spring - and for match/palmrest grips to be utilized. Herrett National's will be on order soon.

The pics dont do it justice - a work of art it is. Absolutely a work of art.

[Longitude Zero]

Looks don't impress me. Function is where its at. How does it shoot???

[CJB]

So far....all I can say is it functions, cycles, shoots. I've not done any accuracy testing whatsoever.

After Leesburg's bike thing this weekend, then I'll have some more time. Been prepping for the trip for a few weeks. The PM45 will be in my pocket the whole time.

[CJB]

Ok, hows it shoot....

9 shots flawless, never would feed #10 out of the magazine (last shot).
On close inspection, it was observed that the slide stop was holding the follower in the magazine down too far. The lip on slide stop was engaging the retractable detent on the follower, but.. since the detent was trying to lift the slide stop, and since it couldn't, the follower quit rising, and the last shot would 3-point jam.

What to do.

I decided that slide stops were way easier to get and replace than those EXPENSIVE and "works of art" Tactical Solutions magazines. The magazine is machined aluminum, made from 9 different pieces that all fit together seamlessly. I didn't want to futz with those. Instead, I filed a little off the bottom of the lip on the slide stop. Still holds open on the last shot, and feeding a little better on the last shot. A bit of deft filing and we got 99 percent feed on the last shot. A little more... and perfecto. Holds open just fine, feeds just fine. I'm a happy camper.

With any luck I'll have some targets to post tomorrow nite. So far its been "function" and breakin. I'm still waiting on the Brownells order too. I cant help but think that a better barrel/frame fit will result in a better barrel/slide consistency, improving accuracy.

Got a little polishing that needs to be done on the disconnector top, or possibly the bottom of the slide. When the disconnector pushes the sear, you can feel a bit of "snick" in the trigger as the parts settle in. The take-up should be totally smooth. It wont throw off timed slow fire or timed fire, but rapid fire needs all the help I can give it (for me at least!).

[TonyT]

The Tactical Solutions 22 conversion unit is an excellent unit. It is an improvement in some respects over the former Jarvis unit. The only minus is that with some ammo a fired case is not fully ejected and slips on top of the round being chamberd between the top of the barrel extention. The Jarvis unit was open on the top and prevented this from happening. The TacSol unit eliminates the firing pin breakage of the old Jarvis unit. I have more than 8000 rounds through my TacSol unit without any problems. If you are interested in bullseye level accuracy you will have to investigate the Marvel Unit#1 otherwise the TacSol unit is gtreat.

[CJB]

The situation with the full ejection is solved by using a correctly weighted mainspring. There are two situations beyond TacSol's control. The first is the springs themselves, many of which are stronger then "standard" by varying degrees. The other is the geometry of the face of the hammer. On many aftermarket hammers that geometry has been slightly altered, making slide racking harder - as a way to further decrease recoil of the slide. I found, that a stock #22 pound spring (I think thats stock at least) would function, but not hold open on the last shot. That was even after I fixed up the slide stop to allow the last round to feed. With the #19 pound spring, it holds open reliably. I could maybe go to a lighter spring - and shoot some very light loads, or put the standard spring in there, and use hotter (and more expensive loads). For the cheap stuff, standard loads... in my gun... the #19 works ok!

There is some minor tweakage needing to be done to correct horizontal stringing with the TacSol, but even as it is, its shooting pretty well. I promise - some target pics next range session. So far, I've still be more interested in function rather than performance... so there's not much to show.

[TonyT]

Looks don't impress me. Function is where its at. How does it shoot???
Over the years I have used several 22 conversion units for 1911's and my comments are as follows:
Colt 22 Ace -all steel, a plinker in terms of accuracy, floating chamber fouls easilly and is a pain to clean.
Kart/Dvorak - all steel, finicky feeders, preferred by some bullseye pistol shooters, I tested the Dvorak and could not obtain reliable feeding.
Marvel #1 - aluminum slide, does not lock open after firing the last shot, provides bullseye level accuracy at 50 yards, designed for SV ammo, requires heavier recoil spring for HV ammo, my bullseye unit has been 100% reliable with SV ammo.
Jarvis - all steel, slide locks back after firing the last rouind, perfers CCI Mini mag or Remington Golden for reliable functioning, accuracy better than Colt but nowhere near the Marvel#1.
Tactical Solutions - an improved version of the Jarvis, less firing pin breakage, their variable power recoil spring allows use with a broader range of ammo, accuracy on a par with the Jarvis unit but no competion with Marvel#1
Ciener - aluminum slide does not lock back after firing the last round, accuracy on a par with the Jarvis and Tactical solutions units, reliabilty has been excellent with a wide variety of ammo, beware that customer service is nonexistent (my unit arrived with a smoothbore barrel).
AA -I have not purchased the AA unit for the 1911 since it is a virtual replica of the Marvel unit with the addition of a steel insert in the slide to lock back the slide after firing the last round. My AA unit for the Glock-17 has been a relaible performer with CCI Mini Mag or Remington Golden ammo.