FEG P9M Cold Blue Results with Safety Problem

[tpelle]

Several years ago I bought an all-matching FEG P9M with the finish mostly gone - maybe 80% on the frame and 10% on the slide.  Last week I decided to re-blue using Birchwood-Casey Perma-Blue.  I bought the system that included the Cleaner and Degreaser, the Blue and Rust Remover, and the Perma-Blue along with swabs, steel-wool, etc.

Here is what the pistol looked like as originally received:

And here is the same pistol after the cold blue:

I don't think it came out too bad.  I followed the directions.  I detail-stripped the pistol, of course, and I blued the slide, the frame, the slide stop, and the hammer.  I should have done the trigger and the safety, but honestly I forgot those pieces until the next day when I did the reassembly.

I have one problem however.  The safety on this pistol, even though it is the old classic small-button safety, always worked good.  Not 1911 crisp, but neither is the extended safety on my MkIII.  After the blue, however, this safety is extremely difficult to move on and off.  I can't even do it with my right thumb (right-handed shooter), and have to use my left thumb to push down on the safety lever.  I though I had maybe screwed something up during reassembly, but I removed the hammer and hammer spring, the safety the sear, and the sear spring, then I reassembled it again!  Still very hard to work, but it might be getting a little better after switching it on and off a couple of hundred times and applying copious amounts of lube.  Note that the sear and the safety were not re-blued.

Anybody have any ideas?

[ToddSig]

Nice job with the cold bluing tpelle. I know a lot of folks have a dislike for cold bluing, mainly saying it does not last, which is probably true. On the positive side, it is usually easy to touch up with the cold blue. Anyway, the Birchwood-Casey Perma Blue looks great and did a nice job on the worn out finish. It came out consistent and a good dark coloration. 

For the tight safety lever, sometimes the safety detent/plunger and spring is too tight. Working the safety up and down might loosen it, if that is the problem. Add some oil. I have had this happen. One way to find out is take the safety out, remove the plunger and spring and reassemble. Does the safety now move freely. If so, perhaps clean out the spring hole and reassemble with the detent and spring. If it remains tight with out the spring and detent, might be the shaft not rotating, or perhaps the inner lever not moving freely against the sear. I would first look at the spring and plunger.

[tpelle]

I looked at the spring and plunger on the safety, and it seems to be OK. I used a small screwdriver and can push the plunger in with no effort at all, and it springs right back out.

I guess I'll detail strip the hammer, sear, safety, and sear spring, maybe tomorrow, and see if I can figure it out. When the safety is set to safe the sear is locked, and when you get the safety in the fire position, the hammer will drop when you pull the trigger. Everything seems to be OK except the safety is so hard to operate now.

The safety on this one always, before re-bluing, clicked on and off with more positivity than did the original safety on my FEG Counterfeit FN, but was no problem to operate. I did replace the safety on the counterfeit with a new style MKII/MKIII ambi safety that I converted to a single-sided safety.

I figured that the re-bluing process just darkened the metal somehow and didn't add anything to it. In other words I didn't think the hole that accepted the safety would become smaller, but that's almost what it feels like.

Maybe I'll just punch out the ejector and sear pin, leaving the safety in place but remove the sear, and see how it works.

The "legend" associated with this pistol was that it was an Israeli Police gun, so it maybe saw a lot of holster wear and little actual shooting, so maybe that's why it always worked with a more positive "click".

[ToddSig]

If it is not the safety detent having too much pressure on the frame, you should first check how the shaft is rotating in the frame hole. If it is tight, remove a little material from the shaft. If that is free, check to see how the safety stub interacts and rotates with the sear. Take off the grips and look through the right side and see if the safety stub is contacting the sear as it rotates. If it is you might need to remove a little material.

Image of the safety stub and sear first one is safety in off position. Second, safety is engaged. I thought the C&S safety instructions might be helpful as well. It applies pretty much to all safeties. Hope it helps.

[tpelle]

Thanks. I think I may have fixed it, although I'm not sure exactly what I did wrong. I detail-stripped the entire rear of the frame, leaving out the sear and the sear spring, and verified that the safety itself worked OK at that point. I then took it apart again and reassembled it again. Now it works. The safety is still a bit more stiff than that on my FEG Counterfeit, but I can manipulate it with my right thumb.

(Another part of my problem may be due to tendonitis in my right hand - especially the thumb.)

I suspect that the sear spring may have been the issue. I know that reassembling one of these means that you have to hold the hammer against its spring with one hand, the sear against it's spring with your other hand, then insert the crucial sear and ejector pin with your third hand. It may have been the lack of the third hand that may have caused my problem. Something must have been misaligned.

But thanks for the help.

[ToddSig]

Glad it worked out and turned out to be an easy fix of re=installation of parts.  And again, great job with the cold blue, an excellent transformation.