Props to Damato Custom Stippling... w/matching slide, and can now too

[91Eunozs]

New stuff at the end...



—original thread—

So I saw Chris Damato finally returned from his latest deployment and was taking orders for custom stippling... I've long admired his work so I finally bit the bullet and sent him my G21 frame:







Grip reduction
Remove finger grooves
Trigger guard under cut
Round trigger guard, polished finish
Mag release recess cut
Starburst stippled

Also had 3 of my mag baseplates stippled.

Absolutely ecstatic with the result. I balked a bit when I saw how much custom shops were charging to stipple frames..afterall, all I need is a soldering iron, right?

I can't imagine how any hack job of mine would have turned out. Instead, I have a work of art and my G21 is actually a pleasure to hold now. I've always liked the way this pistol shoots, but hated the way it felt like a piece of 2x4 lumber in my hand.

Feels like a completely different gun...similar to a full size 1911 now, but with a lot more grip. Couldn't be happier and highly recommend him...cheap prices for the quality of his work.

Not affiliated, etc. but here's his web page: http://www.damatocustomstippling.com

Next step is to send the slide out to Glockmeister for some work:

[quazi]

That actually looks really nice!

If I ever decide that I hate the finger grooves on my Glocks maybe I'll get them taken off and have the frame stippled.

[91Eunozs]

Well, it took damn near a year for me to get around to it, but I finally sent my slide off to get milled and Cerakoted by Glockmeister. Sent it off a couple weeks ago and it’s back prettier than ever. And since I shoot almost exclusively suppressed, with taller suppressor sights installed in lieu of the factory sights.



Crappy indoor lighting pic of it assembled because it took me so damn long to get it back together.



The Cerakote was just thick enough around the chamber that the barrel/chamber block wouldn’t seat properly. Finally got the stock barrel to seat and function smoothly but the Stormlake barrel is still binding up a bit.

Gonna lube it up like a porn star and put a couple hundred rounds through it mañana... Worst case scenario, I’ll break out some ultra fine sandpaper or polishing compound and take some of the Cerakote off the chamber area and the hole on the front of the slide to get the thicker Stormlake barrel to slide smoothly.

Oh yeah, that blue trigger and stainless pins will have to be replaced... Dropped some extremely subtle hints to my wife that they would drop right in to a Gen4 G30/30S (“Honey, buy me a G30 for Christmas”)...that I could then Cerakote Gray to match one of my rifle sets.

[Halfapint]

Ugggg.... I hate you. So pretty!

[91Eunozs]

Put a hundred or so rounds through the factory barrel last weekend (while function checking other weapons too), but that didn’t loosen it up enough for the Stormlake barrel:




Yeah, yeah...rounds all over the place. I was more concerned with function during mag dumps than accuracy for that session.

Broke out my square ceramic finishing stone and have been gently rubbing/clearancing the area under the front edge of the slide opening for the barrel’s chamber block and the little stepped areas at the rear of the slide opening; same with the Storm lake barrel block.

Put a big dent in my .45 training ammo,



...but got another 330ish rounds through it today, and it’s sooooo close to fitting.



Tried to fit the Storm Lake barrel between every 50 or so rounds and the block is definitely getting closer to completely locking into the slide, but the little tabs on the bottom still protrude ever so slightly below the bottom of the slide and are hitting the locking block in the frame.

Oh well, my right thumb may be sore as hell from loading and reloading mags today, but at least I had a good therapy session putting holes...a lot of holes...in paper.

[91Eunozs]

Finally!

After more than a week of working over the inside of the slide and the barrel block with a flat/square polishing stone for a few minutes pretty much every night after work, I finally got the Storm Lake barrel to fit!



Can’t wait to get it back to the range with the can...



Have a new black trigger with a gold safety as well as black pins to replce the silver ones here. Will swap the blue/silver bits over to another pistol.

[91Eunozs]

Success!

Had an hour to myself today so I ran up to my local indoor range to ensure the “new” slide and new sights actually work.

Yep!

1 mag at 7 yards without the can to ensure everything’s cycling properly (yes, I had the thread protector on while firing):



Then threaded on the AAC TiRant .45 can and ran another 7 mags worth of the double-tap center of mass/single cranium shot drill at 7 yards:



...with a couple of flyers from rushing my shots.

Then ran it out to 10 yards for a 30-round mag dump, shooting as fast as I could at COM with a factory Glock mag sporting a Kriss extension:



Zero malfunctions...real happy with how it shoots.

Will work on my propensity to push my shots to the left over the next couple of months before my next handgun course with my son over Spring Break next year. A good friend and old flying buddy of mine got my son gift certificates for two different week-long Front Sight Academy classes for two people when he graduated from high school earlier this year.

We’ll use one of them for this class while my wife and daughter visit their best friends back in Seattle to see a Broadway production that’s finally travelling to other cities...I’ll drop them at the airport then drive on to where my son’s going to college before heading to Pahrump, NV for the class. My wife and her best friend (daughters are besties too) have been talking about this for more than a year, so it makes for a great opportunity for some mom/daughter and dad/son bonding time where everyone actually gets to do what they want instead of a compromise vacation!

[91Eunozs]

Well, that was fast!

I was out rearranging the garage with some wall-mounted storage as we continue to declutter our lives...one thing I miss about the military is the forced move/purge every few years...when my wife comes back from running errands with a package from the Glockstore!

Just the impetus I needed to do a detail strip, clean, and rebuild. Here’s the result:



Thinking about swapping out the rear cover plate since this one is no longer done in an AF color scheme...



But not this week...this one is finally finished. Gonna just shoot and enjoy it for now...

[quazi]

I need to shoot my Glock 40 some more. For some reason the finger grooves bother me on it while they don't on other Glocks. If I decide I want to keep it and the finger grooves actually bother me I think I might send it off to that guy.

[91Eunozs]

I need to shoot my Glock 40 some more. For some reason the finger grooves bother me on it while they don't on other Glocks. If I decide I want to keep it and the finger grooves actually bother me I think I might send it off to that guy.

Go for it! Or try doing it yourself...I know I haven’t the talent, so I sent it off. Very pleased with the end result...feels like a completely different hand gun, much more to my preference, and so much easier to shoot.

[quazi]

I was thinking about it, and while I'm pretty sure I don't have the talent for a nice looking stippling I do think I could probably take the finger grooves off with a belt sander and not have it turn out looking like garbage with no resale value.

[91Eunozs]

I was thinking about it, and while I'm pretty sure I don't have the talent for a nice looking stippling I do think I could probably take the finger grooves off with a belt sander and not have it turn out looking like garbage with no resale value.

I thought about that as well, and may do exactly that if I pick up a used gun any time soon. And if you’re not too concerned about overall appearance, I’d do the stippling as well.

Practice on some magpul mags or scrap plastic first.

Some of the home made jobs I’ve seen are quite nice...especially the simple linear or completely random designs.

[91Eunozs]

Minor update... Finally got around to replacing the flashlight when I found the same one on sale with matching finish:



...and the old light migrated over to my son’s Sig:



Looking forward to using these in a week-long defensive handgun course next month...or maybe I’m just looking forward to taking a week off from work!

[91Eunozs]

The original paint finally completely flaked off my AAC TiRant .45 can, so I took the housing in yesterday to have it Cerakoted burnt bronze. Already complete!



Got home from work too late to get a pic in good light, but here are a couple...