Michael Tinker Pearce
Member
- Joined
- Oct 23, 2016
- Messages
- 1,590
Some time back I had a thought: If I were making a Detonics Combat Master today, what would I do? This year I got the chance to answer that question. I started with a Hellfire Armory alloy frame and an RIA Officer's Model slide and bull-barrel.
I added an EGW flat-wire recoil spring and guide rod and various bits for the internal parts, some from EGW and some from Klonimus and Wilson Combat. I wound up going with an Officer's-length handle for technical reasons; it's about 3/8" longer than the Detonics but still significantly shorter than a full-size frame. Not a disaster; after I undercut the trigger-guard I can get four fingers on the grip.
I ground the signature Combat Master cut in the back of the slide, made a custom reverse-recoil plug and cut the barrel, slide and guide-rod to length. I cut the dust-cover to match. I modified a checkered aluminum mainspring housing and long-trigger with an overtravel stop. After all the cutting, grinding and fitting and modifying parts I was ready to test-fire it.
That went pretty much as expected; low-power range ammo (Blazer Brass and Magtech) doesn't quite have enough poop to eject reliably, but hotter 115gr JHPs, 124gr. and my handloaded 115gr. ball cycled it perfectly.
I added hand-cut 20 lpi. checkering to the front-strap and under the trigger-guard to improve the grip. The grip safety looks pinned in, but it's still functional.
It still needs sights, to have the mag-well funnel modified and installed and to have the frame coated and the slide stripped and re-blued, so there's still a fair amount of work yet to be done.
I love the way this gun shoots. The light, fast-cycling slide and 9mm caliber bring the gun back on target instantly. Despite the lack of sights I had no trouble keeping rounds on-target at 5 yards, even rapid-fire and double-taps. Really looking forward to finishing this, and shooting it when it has sights.
![H9vAAsS.jpg H9vAAsS.jpg](https://www.thehighroad.org/data/attachments/1071/1071831-608d631297638fd1a431ba74978593c2.jpg)
![Iczgn8c.jpg Iczgn8c.jpg](https://www.thehighroad.org/data/attachments/1071/1071832-5bb6edf049549e617c2f3f2dde260884.jpg)
I added an EGW flat-wire recoil spring and guide rod and various bits for the internal parts, some from EGW and some from Klonimus and Wilson Combat. I wound up going with an Officer's-length handle for technical reasons; it's about 3/8" longer than the Detonics but still significantly shorter than a full-size frame. Not a disaster; after I undercut the trigger-guard I can get four fingers on the grip.
I ground the signature Combat Master cut in the back of the slide, made a custom reverse-recoil plug and cut the barrel, slide and guide-rod to length. I cut the dust-cover to match. I modified a checkered aluminum mainspring housing and long-trigger with an overtravel stop. After all the cutting, grinding and fitting and modifying parts I was ready to test-fire it.
![69EC0cQ.jpg 69EC0cQ.jpg](https://www.thehighroad.org/data/attachments/1071/1071833-ea9089b37e1310b75991f5a98d34ff1c.jpg)
![VQEIBxK.jpg VQEIBxK.jpg](https://www.thehighroad.org/data/attachments/1071/1071834-a833deec744a1728d171f9f0f0f76411.jpg)
That went pretty much as expected; low-power range ammo (Blazer Brass and Magtech) doesn't quite have enough poop to eject reliably, but hotter 115gr JHPs, 124gr. and my handloaded 115gr. ball cycled it perfectly.
I added hand-cut 20 lpi. checkering to the front-strap and under the trigger-guard to improve the grip. The grip safety looks pinned in, but it's still functional.
![TtUm7gq.jpg TtUm7gq.jpg](https://www.thehighroad.org/data/attachments/1071/1071835-7bae85350c0a5b93221c5a57bd4e9dbc.jpg)
![ECOgyYJ.jpg ECOgyYJ.jpg](https://www.thehighroad.org/data/attachments/1071/1071836-f78f7b30cc5709c015acf229a29be2af.jpg)
It still needs sights, to have the mag-well funnel modified and installed and to have the frame coated and the slide stripped and re-blued, so there's still a fair amount of work yet to be done.
I love the way this gun shoots. The light, fast-cycling slide and 9mm caliber bring the gun back on target instantly. Despite the lack of sights I had no trouble keeping rounds on-target at 5 yards, even rapid-fire and double-taps. Really looking forward to finishing this, and shooting it when it has sights.