PDA

View Full Version : My Hi-Powers & me!



robertbank
12-12-2006, 09:27 PM
Some of my friends here are aware, for me, inserting a garbage bag into the garbage can is a major mechanical accomplishment. In short, had civilization relied on my mechanical genius the wheel would have been the major invention for the 21th century and the incline plane my contribution to the 20th.

That said I disassembled my three Hi-Powers last night!

Here was the challenge. My Inglis had a large "shoe" safety installed on it. I had the original. This gun is a safe queen, held as an investment of sorts so I wanted it back to its original configuration. My MKe 1 had the magazine safety still installed and my Mke 3 was the gun I wanted the "shoe" safety on.

To complete this task I found rudimentary instructions off of the net -

http://www.alpharubicon.com/leo/hipowerhistory.htm

I had ordered a small set of punches from Lyman - you know the ones every aspiring gunsmith wannabe must have. Planning ahead is rare for me as is following instructions, but I digress.

Let me tell you, the trigger group is an easy removal, once you have tried every method that doesn't work. Punching the pin out is the easy part I soon discovered.

After fiddling around with it for 10 minutes I soon had the pieces on my bench. My initial shock that the little arm thngy, that pushes on the long thingy that drops the hammer had fallen out of it's place, was overcome after five minutes when I figured out how it re-installed. The mag safety was an easy removal, just punch the pin out and catch the spring before it flies into parts unknown.

Now re-installing the trigger group is really quite simple if you spent the last 40 years of your life as a watch maker. I hadn't!

I can tell you before you are done getting the trigger group back in place you will have a rather precise idea on how each of the parts fit into the gun. I can say with some certainty that the author of the above article should be drawn and quartered for his simple statement about simply rotating the group back into place. It does, but keeping the arm thingy that pushes the rod thingy, that releases the hammer, in it's little place, is an art I have yet to master. But if you cuss enough it does eventually find its place in the gun. I found holding your tongue slightly extended and at right angles to your jaw worked the best.

Surprisingly the replacement of the Inglis safety was easy. Remove the slide first. Just RELEASE the trigger, punch the pin out, remove the safety and insert the new one. Simple! Oh and don't forget to remove the grips. More on that later.

That's two down one to go.

Now armed with my successes of above I moved on to the Mke 111. I removed the slide, oh how simple that is. It also became apparent that if this project was to be completed the grips must be removed. Tough to get at the spring that is supposed to be pushing on the hammer with the grips in place.

I then punched out the pin that holds the ejector in place and promptly found out why you MUST release the trigger first. See the instructions contained in the above article.

The darn thing does indeed pinch your finger when it releases. No real damage done, Linda told me the blood blister would repair itself over time and won't require immediate medical attention.

In the excitement of sucking my pinched finger I discovered the ejector on my bench along with another yet unnamed part that belongs in the gun somewhere. It had a hole in it so I instantly knew it had to go in a place close to the ejector, I am a quick study, ....and eventually did after several flipping attempts.

A couple of minutes spent looking at my Mke 1 led me to the proper placement of all parts relative to the rest of the gun. Now, are you aware there is a little detent in the Hi-Power safety? I too discovered it after several failed attempts at re-installing the safety. I discovered that if you push it in, the safety finds it home as it is supposed to. JMB was a sneaky little devil.

Re-installing the pin that holds the ejector is really quite easy if you have three hands.

In the absence of same, using a pin punch as a slave helps significantly. I eventually discovered the use of same, and again if you hold your tongue, as above, with your thumb opposite holding the trigger, your fingers depressing the flat thingy that pushes on the hammer and the other hand pushing on the pin, and your tongue for mental support......

Well the world is right. My Hi-Powers are as I wanted them to be. The Mke 1 has now a decent trigger. I attribute this to the removal of the mag safety and also the cleaning up of 40 years of accumulated gunk under and around the trigger group. The Make111 has the large safety shoe - I don't know who makes it but is is similar to my safeties on my 1911's and my Inglis is restored to its original beauty.

I now know I can do all of the above more or less without fear and surprisingly for me I only have three parts left over - the mag safety, it's spring and the pin from my Mke 1.


Take Care

Bob aka "The Smith"

Hunter
12-12-2006, 09:54 PM
Well Bob sounds like you got it figured out. I especially enjoyed all the technical jargo such as "thingy".:mrgreen:

45nut
12-12-2006, 10:08 PM
Kinda had a similar experience the other day.
found a pac lite top half replacement for my ruger mkII in a pawn shop.
Now I hadn't taken apart a ruger 22 pistol in a while.....take down,,so simple.
yeap,,it came apart fine,,,took the next 2 hours to finally remember how to drop the lil hangin arm thingy just right to swing up the latch and lock it back in,,whew. it worked after R&R so it was mission accomplished and I only cussed a lil bit,,didn't throw anything and generally behaved and the left over parts were exactly as expected,,,just the old top half. Sure made it a lot lighter despite having a 8" tube and a scope.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/45nut/100_0434.jpg

accuracy tests later.