In early March 2023, I picked up my second RIA 52000 Pro Ultra Match 6″ HC 10mm pistol – more affectionately known as “The Big Rock”, which is exactly what it is. I sold my first Big Rock many years ago because I needed the funds and regretted it once I started making custom 10mm mags for whole family of high-cap 10mm and .40 S&W RIA pistols. I couldn’t buy a new one at the time because Armscor, who owns RIA, only seems to make them periodically. Maybe 2-3 years later after I wished I had it and was looking, 52000s started popping up on my saved searches – Gunbroker alerted me first and I bought one about a week later. [A number of places have them now including GrabAGun – click here]
I should add that as soon as I ordered the pistol, the next thing I did was to order another set of grip panels from Mark Browne. His grips just look and feel great compared to the rather boring but durable G10 composite grip panels that come with the pistols.
Bottom left is the new Big Rock with its factory grip Panels. Above it and to the right is the 51679 with Mark’s wood panels. The lighting doesn’t do the wood justice.Here is a better view of the wood on the 51679 plus you can always go to the blog post about it and see more.
The new panels for the Big Rock arrived
I emailed Mark and told him how much I liked the first set and he said he’d look for one with plenty of grain and contrast. What showed up was awesome.
…Wow…
Fitting them to the Big Rock
While RIA does use modern CNC machines to make the frames, the funnel fitment can vary – I know this based on clients that have fitment issues with the relatively shorter 9mm mags using Dawson Base Plates. Either they do not use a jig or it moves and wheter the funnel sits exactly can very. Why this matters is that you may find the panels go right on or you may need to fit them. DO NOT FORCE THEM! So let’s step through this.
Each OEM grip panel is held in place with two unique Allen head screws. Remove the screws and the panel lifts right off. Note in this photo how very little material is between the grip screws hole and the funnel – that’s tight. The pistols are made in the Philippines and then need to travel across the Pacific. They liberally coat these pistols in preservative oil and this is one example of how much they use. Have a towel or rag handy to wipe this stuff off before you start installing the wood panels. By the way, this is typical of all the RIA 1911 pistols and again highlights why you need to clean them.This side went right on without adjustments being needed. That was an unexpected pleasant surprise. They panels need to seat fully without pressure being needed. If you try to force them in, something will snap.Everything is nice and flat and the screws went in without forcing them. The screws are installed until they are firm – not so tight the wood snaps – they just have to keep the grip panel in position, You do need to use a dab of medium-strength screw threadlocker such as Loc-Tite Blue to keep the screws from backing out.The other side had issues. Teh funnel was riding high here and the panel would not even seat fully. To adjust the wood, take a single cut file and remove a bit of wood from the bottom and try over and over.Fitting is slow work with wood. It is better to be able to take more off than wish you could put it back on. After maybe 5-10 minutes I thought I had the panel good to go but it was still riding too high and the screw could not seat properly. So, more fiiling and testing until it fit completely. Take your time and you will get a nice fit without a gap. This is a great example of time, patience and handwork can generate a far better end result than being in a rush with a sander and taking off too much. The bottom is the new Big Rock.The top is the new Big Rock with it’s 6″ barrel and slide. I really like the gloss finish. It really brings out the contrast in the wood.
Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
Folks, Palmetto State Armory (PSA) has an interesting Daily Deal going on right now. They have 1,500 rounds of Swiss P Defense Blackround 9mm NATO ammo. Two reasons you should care: First, this is the NATO load which is slightly hotter than 9mm Luger – SAAMI pressure for 9mm Luger is 35,000 PSI and Nato is 36,500 PSI with approximatly 1,1100 FPS for 115gr 9mm Luger and 1,250+ FPS for the 124gr 9mm NATO — It all means more energy. Second, the maker is Swiss P Defense of Switzerland who is truly a top notch ammo maker. If you are even considering picking up some 9mm ammo that will work good in a pistol, PCC or sub-gun, I’d recommend you check this out.
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
2024 edition prologue: I had to revise my list of Uzi videos to reflect one that had been removed from Youtube and two that were added.
As part of my research into the iconic Israeli Uzi, I found these videos that do a very nice job providing background on the political climate driving the need for the Uzi. For fans of the Uzi, these may give you some appreciation for the forces that shaped it.
The second video is a great one from Ian of Forgotten Weapons:
And one more video:
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
I want to share a WordPress plugin that made a huge difference for me. I was getting spammed via my contact form many times every day and it was getting very frustrating. I absolutely hate spammers and needed to find a solution that could be installed by a non-technical person.
I started by searching on the new WordPress plugins page for “contact us form” and started reading. I thought I would need to get a new contact form with some kind of security mechanism like CAPTCHA.
They were at 2,861 reviews with five stars (that’s a heck of a feat to pull off all by itself) and 2,646 of them were five stars. The plugin also had over 200,000 installs. A plugin can’t get scores like that unless it actually works.
The following bulleted list is off the WordPress plugin page:
Anti-Spam features
Stops spam comments.
Stops spam registrations.
Stops spam contact emails.
Stops spam orders.
Stops spam bookings.
Stops spam subscriptions.
Stops spam surveys, polls.
Stops spam in widgets.
Stops spam in WooCommerce.
Real-time email validation. Is email real or Not.
Checks and removes the existing spam comments and spam users.
Compatible with mobile users and devices.
Compatible with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU).
Blocking disposable & temporary emails.
No Spam – No Google Penalties. Give your SEO boost.
Mobile friendly Anti Spam & FireWall.
Stops spam in Search Form.
Disable comments.
Spam FireWall: Anti-Flood.
Spam FireWall: Anti-Crawler.
Hide «Website» field for comments.
Block messages by languages, countries, networks and stop words.
Email Address Encoder – protection for email addresses published on your site.
So, I installed the plug-in and in the settings page, told it to automatically get the key. That was pretty much all I had to do and it started working.
Wow… the spam instantly went away and that was a week ago. What a relief. Now, when I get a contact form email, it really is a customer and not a single spam has snuck through since.
I was so relieved I immediately paid for the plugin for both my blog and WooCommerce sites (yes, I run two separate instances). It was my way of saying thank you — all the bogus spam was very frustrating.
If you have a WordPress site, are drowning in spam and want a simple and very effective way to get rid of spam — get CleanTalk.
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
It was our last outing with the Scooter that I noticed the ignition switch, if we can call it that, was floating on my mother-in-law’s Pride Mobility GoGo Eliter Traveller Scooter. I was surprised that it happened given how well it had performed up to that point. From what I could tell, the backing nut had slowly vibrated loose until it literally fell off the back of the switch. Everything worked – all the parts were there but I had to put it back together. I figured a blog post would help anyone needing to tighten the switch or even replace it.
To work on the scooter, I removed the chair, its mast and the battery pack. I also removed the forward and reverse control lever that is held in by two screws. In hindsight, I am not sure I needed to do that. By the way, removing the battery compartment also reduces the risk of sparks/shorts by disconnecting the power from the system.
To get inside the center console, you need to remove four screws – the two closest to the operator and the two furthest forward. The ones in the middle hold the lower half to the handlebar and do not need to come out.
One small detail, I had to push the top cover slightly towards the back towards the seat to get it to lift off once the screws were gone. Reinstalling the top recover also meant I had to slide it forward slightly before reinstalling the screws.
It dawned on me after starting that I had better take some pictures. The operator is to the left and the forward is to the right in this photo. You can see the four empty screw holes that need to come off. On the top cover you can see the loose locking nut.Another view of the switch and loose nut.If you were replacing the ignition switch, you’d unplug the two wires, loosen the nut and push the ignition switch assembly out through the top and insert a new one. That is Loc-tite blue medium strength thread locker. I put that on the switch with the body out so the nut will not rattle loose again.The nut is down snug. I thought a photo might help if someone needs to know what wires go to what terminal numbers. There are only two wires but three terminals on this model.
From there, I slid the top back on and reinstalled the screws and put the rest of the stuff back on.
Works great now.
Bought Spare Keys Too
One last note, mama only had one key for the scooter. Turns out they are generic and not keyed to a specific scooter. I bought a spare pair off Amazon that works great. This way she can have a key and I can have one on a trip.
Summary
Her key switch is good to go and no we have some spare keys too. I hope this helps you out.
Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
Back in 2022, we bought a used Pride Mobility GoGo Elite Traveller scooter for my mother-in-law. I wrote a blog post about replacing the battery charger and the original batteries were still good though I knew that if the scooter was made in 2019, they probably only had a year or two left. Guess what? They quit charging in the Fall of 2023, pretty right on schedule. Living in Michigan, my mother-in-law wouldn’t be using it in the Winter as she doesn’t go out much so we decided to wait until the Spring of 2024 to deal with it. Well, that gives me two things to tell you about in this post.
First – Dead batteries freeze and I made an avoidable mess
Ok, the decision to put the battery replacement off made sense monetarily. Why spend the money just to have it sit. Well, we store her scooter in her attached but unheated garage, we had plenty of days well below freezing – some even in the single digits – and her batteries froze and busted their cases.
In the back of my head I knew dead batteries pretty much froze just like water at 32 degrees Farenheit but it never crossed my mind as part of the decisionmaking. If we had taken the battery compartment indoors, it would not have been an issue.
For giggles, I looked it up. Fully charged batteries with fresh electrolyte will not feeze until around -40F and websites give a ton of different answers on that with two saying that number is -76F. I saw mention that If the charge is around 40% the freezing level rises to around -16F but another website said -20F at 80% so go figure. Where they all agree is that if the battery is dead, meaning 0% charged, then it is the same as water at 32F. Why? The electrolyte is 25% sulferic acid and 75% water and the charge is what lowers the freezing point.
How did I find out? Well, we needed mama’s scooter for an upcoming trip so I lifted the housing off the scooter and brought it home. By the way, if you have never removed your battery pack below the seat on the floorboard – lift straight up firmly. There is a very strong velcro-like material on the bottom that does its job and doesn’t want to let go but will if you lift straight up. Technically, what they are using is Dual Lock or a clone of it that is stronger than traditional Velcro hook-and-loop fasteners.
I brought the compartment home, flipped it over on my bench to remove the 8 screws and what looked like water dripped on bench. Also, electrolyte has a unique smell so I knew I was in for a mess and moved it all onto the concrete floor so I could take it apart.
Safety note: You are working with a solution that has a relatively small amount of sulferic acid in it (3 parts water + 1 part acid). Wear nitrile gloves, protective eye wear and have good ventilation. I’ve found some people are very sensitive and others are not. I’m lucky and it doesn’t really bother me but I’ve worked with people that would get chemical burns real easy. So, if this is your first time and you have no idea, play it safe.
The batteries were stuck in the compartment. I suspected they used something to secure the batteries because they did NOT want to come loose. I thought they had really gone wild with Dual Lock fastener strips so I pulled hard with my fingers – nothing. I tried lifting with a little pry bar and didn’t get anywhere. Finally, I F-bombed it, got some Vise Grip pliers, got a real good hold of a terminal and lifted with all the strength I could muster — then I heard the tearing sound of velcro, saw the battery starting to rise up and kept pulling until the battery lifted out. Did not expect that!
Yes, there was a regular hook-and-loop type velcro on the end of each battery and the bottom of the compartment. What had happened was the adhesive they put on the strips on the bottom of the case and slowly oozed around and glued the batteries down as well. Sheesh. I was just glad the plastic of the compartment did not snap.
This is what the inside of the battery compartment looks like. The shiny black stuff around the velcro is the adhesive that oozed out and “glued” the batteries in place.Both sealed batteries had their cases deform and crack open when their electrolyte froze.
With the batteries removed, I poured some water with baking soda in it to neutralize the acid in the velcro, the ends of the wires that were floppng around and the compartment. I did not dunk everything because there is a circuit breaker that I did not want to get water in.
I’m amazed at how this photo I snapped in a rush turned out. The bubbles are the chemical reaction bretween acid residue and the baking soda and water solution. Stir the baking soda and water around to make sure there is plenty of it to neutralize the acid. When all of the acid has been neutralized, the bubbles will stop and you can rinse it off.
I then carefully rinsed out the water, dried it with a towel and put it front a fan overnight to completely dry out. I did this to the top and bottom of the compartment and the screws that hold the compartment together.
When everything was dry, I applied Silicode spray and wiped it off.
It looked great once we cleaned it up. Note, getting rid of acid residue is something you always want to do. Otherwise, vapors can cause parts to oxidize.
Moral of the story – take the battery compartment in for the winter and avoid the risk of it freezing. I blew an hour cleaning up an avoidable mess.
Second – Actually replacing the batteries is pretty easy!
Okay, actually replacing the batteries is straight forward – although you may have to fight the velcro’s adhesive like I did. I could not find Interceptor brank 6-DZM-12HG batteries and different firms claimed compatibility but had different sizes so I decided to confirm the details by looking at the now-very dead originals.
The scooter uses two identical batteries. This one froze and that’s why the case and label look so bad.
Volts: 12
Capacity: 14 AH
Size: 3.9 x 3.9 x 5.9 using my calipers. Including the F-type tabs, the total height was about 4 inches
By the way, the dimensions are really important because Pride Mobility sold both standard and extended range battery systems. The latter has batteries far bigger than what will fit in the standard model’s case.
With the above, I was ready to dig on Amazon for batteries. Lots of sellers claimed their batteries were compatibile with the GoGo Elite Traveller but some only had 12AH of capacity which means those batteries would not last as long / go as far.
I also pay attention to reviews and want more than 30 reviews – the newer the better – to get an idea. Actually read the reviews. Some sellers will change the product for sale so you see reviews for one product but they are selling another.
One listing really jumped out at me – Mighty Max 12V 15AH batteries with 330 reviews and a 4.6 star rating so I took a closer look. The reported 15AH capacity puts them slightly ahead of the original 14AH batteries. The reported size was 5.94×3.86×3.86 – which would work with mine – the 5th photo in the listing shows specifications including the dimensions. That’s what I went with – Mighty Max model ML15-12. They arrived a few days later direct from the seller and seemed to be everything they said they would be.
I wrote the date on the batteries with a paint pen and applied industrial velcro to the end of each battery and let them sit overnight for the adhesive to bond. I really didn’t want to deal with the batteries sticking again so I sprayed the bottom of the battery and the bottom of the compartments with mold release compound (which I have handy due to my casting business). You could get the same effect by buffing the bottom of the battery with light shoe/boot wax.
I put two strips of industrial velcro on each battery and then set them on the table with the weight of each battery pushing the velcro’s adhesive into place. In general, self-adhesive velcro needs to sit at least overnight to get a good bond otherwise it will pull right off. Also, clean the bottom of the battery with alcohol to make sure it is clean and doesn’t have any release agent left on it from when they were made.
I didn’t bother bringing mama’s 24 volt charger home and instead just topped off each 12 volt battery before I installed them. It took my Noco 12 volt 5 amp charger maybe 3-5 minutes to top off each.
Wiring is easy red goes to postive and black goes to the negative. Then you put on the cover and reinstall the screws.
Wires are re-attached – note the color coding. Red to red and black to black. If I ever need to know, I can see the day I installed them also thanks to the orange paint pen.I use a Dewalt cordless screwdriver a great deal due to my having Carpal Tunnel problems. The regular length Philips bit and extended length are Dewalt also. I’ve used a ton of cheap import bits and find that they wear out too fast with the Philips bit edges rounding over and not getting a good bite. You can definitely use your favoite Philips screw driver as well of course.Installed and ready to go.
The batteries worked great. I weigh probably about 240 pounds with my jacket and I drove mama’s scooter about a half mile with no drop in the charge indicator and that was good enough for me. I am sure I weigh twice what she does,
The scooter was almost ready for our trip other than fixing a loose ignition switch which I will cover in another post.
I still think the Pride Mobility GoGo Elite Traveller scooter is very well made. Mama enjoys getting her freedom back and will sometimes joke and head off ahead of us during a walk.
Two big takeaways I want you to have from this blog – Don’t forget batteries can freeze . Second – you can definitely change the batteries yourself. You do not need to buy a whole new cabinet and battery assembly unless you really want to.
I hope this helps.
Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
As some of you may know, we make custom magazines for the Armscor Rock Island Armory (RIA) A2 HC family of .40 and 10mm pistols. Once in a while I get to talk to a new owner before they go to the range and either they ask for advice or I give it regardlesss 🙂 I will tell anyone that will listen that they need to clean, lubricate and cycle their pistols 200 times before they go to the range. I’ve been sharing this advice for years but never really had evidence. Guess what? Now I do and I truly hope people will take this to heart and do it.
I recently purchased a RIA 52000 Big Rock – this is their 6″ barrelled 10mm match pistol. I had one years ago that I sold when I needed money and regretted it – especially after I started making the custom mags. What I am going to show you is true of all Rock Island 1911-style pistols – not just the A2 HC models – and for almost all semi-automatic factory-produced firearms. They are not ready to go out of the box and if you take them straight to the range they are going to fail a lot, you’re going to get frustrated, blame the gun/ammo/mag/dealer and it’s not their fault so please read the following and heed the advice.
Opening the Factory Box
For RIA 1911 pistols, they ship them in a bag absolutely coated in some kind of oil – just what I am not sure. Do not look at that and think it is all lubricated and ready to go. It absolutely is not and it is actually pretty dirty – you need to get rid of all of that including the junk in the bore.
STOP is right. What is in the bag is not ready to go.First off, wipe it down. It will be drenched in oil to keep it from rusting. The 52000 Big Rock is definitely big.This is what your white towel will look like. Note it is not just clean oil – there is debris in it and it’s not inteded to lubricate but to prevent rust. This stuff is everywhere in the pistol and we need to field strip the pistol, clean and oil it to ensure proper functioning.
Now you may be thinking your Glock was pristine compared to that and while it was cleaner it was also pretty dry and needed to be lubricated. The Rock Islands are decent but they need to be cleaned up.
How about the barrel?
The anti-corrosion “oil” and grime are everywhere in the pistol.
This is a real photo of an area of the bore before cleaning. It was captured with my Teslong borescope. The brass or copper color is probably from the test firing they did but the main thing for you to see is all of the preservative and grime in there, You do not want to shoot with this junk in there as it could adversely affect the pistol in any number of ways including affecting accuracy, By the way, the Teslong Rigid Rifle Borescope with 1080P resolution is pretty remarkable. I really like mine – it’s many times better than anything I have experimented with that I could afford.I have used Ramrodz for years – the giant Q-tips on the right – to clean pistols. I just started trying the Clenzoil Bore Stix (on the left) and they seem to be decent with the advantage of having a cleaner/lubricant on them already. The Ramrodz being unprepared let me decide what I want to coat them with given the situation at hand so pros and cons with both. BTW- the sticks can snap easily so you hold them close up by the “bulb” when you insert them and then run the back and forth with the stick.Here’s what the first Ramrodz looked like after I ran it up and down the bore a few times. It was coated with Kroil penetrating oil to help break things free. You can see the grime that came out. I then decided to try a Bore Stix with just its normal coating.The Clenzoil BoreStix seemed to remove even more grime than the Ramrodz but it is hard to say because the Kroil was in there working as I switched from the RamRodz to the Bore Stix.This is after cleaning and lubricating. Again, the Teslong borescope is a game changer for me in terms of actually seeing the bore in considerable detail.
What I want you to take away from this section is to clean the bore – you can absolutely use your favorite method – patches, boresnake, whatever – but definitely clean it.
Field Stripping the Pistol
Armscor includes a half-way decent manual about how to field-strip your 1911 and I recommend you read it. Some of their models have barrel bushings and they have at least two models of full length guide rods that I know of. You just need to break the pistol down into its major groups – do not start taking apart the frame unless you seriously know what you are doing or you are going to get a hard lesson in how a 1911 goes together internally and it is not simple enough for the average shooter in my honest opinion. If you are a person that assembles 1911s from the bare frame – go ahead and do it. Have fun. If you have never disassembled and reassembled a 1911 – don’t. You don’t have to at this point is the bottom line.
One unique thing about the Big Rock you need to know is the unique full length guide rod (FLGR) they used and as far as I know, it is not in any other RIA pistol. If you have one of the 10mms, you are aware of the FLGR design which uses a pin to capture the two halves of the FLGR from separating, The Big Rock’s FLGR is threaded. To remove it, you turn counter-clockwise quite a few turns to unscrew the two halves and separate them. Now pay attention – that is a 20 pound spring in there and it will launch one half or the other so capture or retain the assembly by securing it with your other hand to prevent you from digging around for a launched part.
That slotted part is the FLGR and it is removed by turning it counter clockwise. I was taking pictures here – remove it with the slide closed so there is less tension on the spring. Notice the dent in the outer edge of the barrek at about the 5 o-clock position. The crown was fine and that’s what really matters. I’m not going to bother sending it back.
I’m not going to write a comprehensive guide to lubricating a 1911, read your pistol’s manual. I will tell you I now use ALG’s Go-Juice which is a thin grease on anything that slides. Before the ALG, I used Super Lube Synthetic Grease applied with an acid brush and before that I used wheel bearing grease. I would at least recommend doing this while the weapon breaks in. If you want to go to an oil later after it has worn in, then do it by all means. Right now though, you need the extra lubrication the grease brings. If surfaces slide together, use grease.
If they turn, use oil. I am all over the place trying oils. Right now, I am using ALG’s biosynthetic stuff. Don’t ask me what is in it. Before that I have used a ton of different oils – MGW, Super Lube, Mobil 1, etc., etc., etc.
Getting a jump on breaking in the pistol
You will hear guys call it “breaking in”, “wearing in”, “letting the parts get to know each other” – they all refer to any firearm needing to smooth out parts through their normal cycling. Expensive guns, such as customs and semi-customs, an experienced gunsmith used huning stones, rubberize abrasive bits or whatever was their preffered tool, to get rid of the tooling marks and sharp edges to give you a smooth weapon right out of the box.
Well, RIA is not expensive and they don’t spend a ton of time fitting and tuning their parts for a perfect fit. You know what? I’m fine with that – it’s easy to smooth things out but first I want to show you why you need to do this via some digital photos courtesy of an Andonstar AD246S-M digital microscope.
The following are example photos showing the tooling marks on various areas that need to slide freely. The tooling marks are everywhere and cause friction until the places where surfaces contact start to wear down the protruding areas:
Bottom of slideSample of tooling marks on slide rail areaTooling marks on the receiver’s slide area.Front of the left side of the receiver – the shiny areas are already making contact with the slide and wearing in.
Again, the above are all examples. Areas starting to shine are wearing in and starting to smooth out. I’d maybe cycled the slide a dozes or so times before the above photos were taken as I wanted to show before.
Now, there are tons of things you could do with honing storines, rubberized abrasive bits and even with lapping stones. If you want to do one or more of those, go for it. I have an even simpler solution – rack the slide open and closed a couple hundred times. Literally, don’t have a mag in it and work it back and forth over and over. It’s a workout with that 20# spring but it will accelerate wear-in dramatically. Think about it, a lot of firearms get more reliable just under a 100 rounds. You are really smoothing things out at 200, What you will notice is that if you do the above, you will not waste a lot of time and money dealing with jams.
How do I know this? I have owned a number of RIA pistols over the years. My test pistols that I use to test each mag before they leave have been handcycled thousands of times and the slide feels like that of a high-end pistol – like it is sliding on glass.
The following photos show contact areas after thousands of cycles:
Shiny areas neans the parts wore together and smoothed out.In this area the tooling marks are all but gone.Again, lots of wear – only the deepest tooling marks are still there.The bottom of the slide is worn smooth.
Guys are always surprised how smooth these pistols are and then even more surprised when I tell them they are unmodified RIA pistols that have had their slides cycled thousands of times.
So, do you need thousands of times? No, just go for 200 and you can do more if you really want to.
Last comment on the FLGR and reassembling it
I seriously started hating on the unique Big Rock FLGR design when it came time to put it back together. You are fighting a 20# spring and I couldn’t remember how I did my last one years ago or find any tips or tricks about how to do it. The best thing I can tell you is that you need to secure the back half against the barrel link with the left hand. Insert the front section with the right and try to get front threaded insert into the hood of the back, try to hold them in approximate alignment as you try to screw the front half back in. Translation – it sucks and I have no tips.
I haven’t gotten this frustrated iin a while. The FLGR assembly is those three parts – the 20# spring and the two sliver rods. The one saving grace, the only saving grace for that matter, is the design of how they come together. The two shafts need to line up with the front long part with the slot sliding into the short stubby back part hat has a hooded opening. This photo was mere seconds before I launched the back half six feet away where it luckily hit a wall and dropped in plain sight because I wasn’t keeping it secure enough with my left hand. Note, I still have a 1911 recoil spring plug somewhere that launched in my shop and was never found.This is just to prove it is possible to get them back together. Note the purple ALG thin grease on the slide.
Summary
I hope this post helps impress on you the need to clean, lubricate and cycle your pistol, or whatever firearm, before you go to the range the first time. I do this myself and have shared it with many, many folks over the years and the feedback has always been positive.
By the way, the majority of guys who contact me hating on the RIA pistols did not break them in so I walk them through this. The second largest majority are really frustrated with the OEM magazine.
If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.
As a small business, I order a lot of tools and supplies from Amazon each year. Of course, when tax season rolls around, I need to start pulling stuff together for my accountant. Guess what? Turns out Amazon discontinued the order history report that I have used for years to download all of my orders so I can then work things out.
I read a ton of posts and Amazon changed order history to now be a special request that they say will be processed in days. You can do this if you have the time – go to your account, scroll down to the bottom and look for “Manage Your Data” and then find “Request Your Data” — or click here. One of the options is “Your Orders”.
Well, it’s been a day and still nothing. I don’t have time for this BS and if you search there are plenty of other ticked off people but for whatever reason, Amazon will not relent.
So, click here to read the instructions and the only thing I would add is you navigate to Amazon Order History – where you see all of your orders. Then, run the Amazon Order History Reporter extension – it will as you for what year you want the data and slowly create a table. It’s not a speed demon but that is fine – it was did in 10 minutes what was going to take me 2-3 hours if I had to do it manually.
Once the table is drawn, there is a an option button in the top left to download a CSV (Comma Separated Value) file that Excel an import.
It gave me all I needed – date, what was ordered, total and what credit card I used plus a number of extra fields that I didn’t need but others might.
Get it. Like I said above, I even paid the requested $7.95.
Conclusion
So, Amazon, this was a really uncool move on your part. Philip, thank you. You saved me a ton of time.
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