I've been looking to do some lightening to my slide on my limited gun (M&P 40 Pro).  I contacted some places and am being told it's a 12+ week wait!  Therefore, I've been thinking about doing something myself with a drillpress using a 5/16" cobolt bit.

 

I think drilling holes on the top and sides would be straigt forward but am wondering if it's possible to make slots by drilling several overlapping holes close to eachother and then straightening the slot by sliding it back and forth with the drillbit inserted. 

 

I plan to clamp guide boards/fences to the drillpress baseplate exactly the width of the slide to ensure it doesn't move side-to-side.

 

Anyone try this?   Do you think I can get decent results? 

 

Thanks,

Mike

im thinking you will not be happy with the results.

 

you will not be able to use the drill bit to "slide" it back and forth to make a straight edge.

 

you might just want to find a machine shop.

A drill press is not a lathe...

Or a mill The chuck on a drill press can not tolerate lateral loads. The bearings, chuck etc etc are only designed for straight up and down.

Thanks for the responses...I figured as much.

 

I tried contacting some local CNC shops but they won't work on firearms.

 

So, anybody know of a place that can do this without having to wait months?

Let me know if you find someplace local in NJ. I am converting my MP9-Pro to an Open (minor) pistol. I will be placing a DeltaPoint with the 3.5 dot in the dovetail, and adding a comp.

 

 

I wouldn't even think about using a drill press if you only want to make round holes in the slide.

Premature failure risk and warrenty voiding must be accepted in order to proceed. Please dont take offence to my next comments. If you just dig the look then rock on and move foward. But in terms of increasing your speed in competitions, are you really shooting at a national master class level? The only pitol it makes sense to me to do this to is a steel gun you are trying to get the brass to burp out of the gun with the lightest load you can get to run reliably with. Not sure how well that is going to fare in a .40.... Is there still a power factor in USPSA?

Shane - no offence taken and you make valid points.  No gun improvements are going to make an average shooter into a GM...it takes tons of practice, good fundamentals and being lucky enough to physically/mentally have the potential to do so.  It's more of a way to make my M&P unique.  Performance benefits would be an added bonus.

 

The Costa Ludus line of M&Ps are some fairly extreme examples of slide lightening. The Glock 35 has as slot on the top of the slide right from the factory.  So, I'm not too concerned about affecting the integrity of the gun as I don't plan to have a bunch of metal taken out.

 

I've read of about several people doing it and have reported less felt recoil, better balance, faster cycling and the ability to use lower power springs.  Now, this is purely subjective but makes sense in theory with less mass in the slide.  I'm not sure how much it would help but it I find it interesting and shouldn't cost too much to try.

 

Nick - I'll give you a ring to discuss. 

 

Thanks,
Mike

Roger that brother. Sounds good to me . If we aint having fun with it, whats the point right!

I would talk to www.burwellguns.com or www.businessendcustoms.com, or www.ccgunworks.com

 

see what their timeframes are. 

 

A lightened slide doesn't reduce recoil, but it does get the recoil impulse over quicker.  The gun will feel harsher to shoot, but will recover faster

i run a machine shop, let me know how you make out with the other places i might be able to give you a hand.

I've seen some lightening jobs that use saw cuts on the upper corners of the slide rather than slotting...if you have a good saw maybe you could build a jig to hold your slide for that

 

IMAGE SEARCH EXAMPLE those were probably done on a mill but maybe you can see what I was trying to describe

 

In case of disaster, rumor has it that bare slides can be purchased from S&W. Although I haven't seen confirmation, plus that's subject to availability.

If the slide breaks in half when firing you're going to have a very big hunk of metal heading straight for your eyeball.

Thanks for the responses...I figured as much.

 

I tried contacting some local CNC shops but they won't work on firearms.

 

So, anybody know of a place that can do this without having to wait months?

 

 

The slide is not a firearm. Be sure you presented the issue to them properly. 

I've seen some lightening jobs that use saw cuts on the upper corners of the slide rather than slotting...if you have a good saw maybe you could build a jig to hold your slide for that

 

IMAGE SEARCH EXAMPLE those were probably done on a mill but maybe you can see what I was trying to describe

 

In case of disaster, rumor has it that bare slides can be purchased from S&W. Although I haven't seen confirmation, plus that's subject to availability.

 

Those are with a mill or EDM wire cut. I've seen a drill press lightening job. You can do it as long as all you want are circles. 

 

For the OP, he might be able to do a glock style hole in the top is he does two drill holes, and has a lot of care and patience with a mini hack saw or cutoff wheel, and files. 

I'm going to have Nick take a stab at milling slots on the top and sides.  I'll post some pics when it's done...unless he screws up LOL.

Do not do this.

Do not do this.

 

Do you mean don't do this with a drill press or don't do it at all?  I've decided to have Nick @ Mastodon do this with his mill.

Look at it this way..if they are busy its for a reason. This is not a simple task. If its done incorrectly there is too much that can go wrong. Just send it off and wait. Get it done right the first time

Machining the unitized Aimpoint mount/A3 sight I designed, fairly difficult. Punching a hole in a slide, not so much......

 

 

Machining the unitized Aimpoint mount/A3 sight I designed, fairly difficult. Punching a hole in a slide, not so much......

 

 

 

 

That looks cool as hell.  It also looks like it weighs a ton.  What would be the benefit to that?

That looks cool as hell. It also looks like it weighs a ton. What would be the benefit to that?

And what's the demand on something like that? It's cool, but I didn't realize there was actually enough of a demand to make something like this.

Machining the unitized Aimpoint mount/A3 sight I designed, fairly difficult. Punching a hole in a slide, not so much......

 

 

 

 

that is awesome? what kind of CNC you do it on?

The design is actually from about 8 or more years ago. The weight is actually not as bad as it might look. It is actully less than a carry handle sans optic. And there was plenty of room to reduce weight. Instead of blurbing Ill just copy and past the benafits from the original slick.

 

Unitized design

• No mismatch in heights between Aimpoint mount and BUIS

• Superior strength of the mount

• Superior clamping surface and improved repeatability

• Everything is always there where you need it.

Integrated rear sight

• Co witness in the lower 1/3 of the optic

• Rear sight is far stronger than flip up rear sights

• It is always up. In the event of a dot optic failure there is no need to take your eyes off of the danger area or threat. Just adjust your cheek weld to pick up your irons. No looking down or being distracted by trying to deploy the flip sight.

• For those that prefer irons for longer shots, its an easy cheek weld transition.

Clamp mounting instead of quick release

• Because of the unitized design there isn’t many reasons to take it off and have to re-zero.

• A number of individuals returning from current operations expressed that although quick release is nice, they still felt the need to re-zero before any operation. This was an issue. They expressed that a unit that was just mounted and left would be a big advantage.

• If you do need to remove, you are only removing 1 item instead of 2 (Aimpoint mount and BUIS, both needing a zero check) instead of just the unitized mount.

Near future designs

• A unit for the mounting of the Aimpoint M4.

• A unit with a flip up rear as the market simply demands it.

Yeah we're idiots...... What are you thinking......?

 

 

 

 

 

Pass......

 

 

 

My backlog magically became two months... Sorry.....!

 

 

 

 

Nick - You could have handled this a bit more professionally.  Not returning my PMs isn't cool either.  

This is msg73's slide all finished

 

 

 

 

This is msg73's slide all finished

Very nice!

I want to give a big thanks to Victor (vmastro87) for stepping in to help a fellow shooter.  Once I have everything put together, I'll start a new thread with more pics.

nice!