ltwguns.com

I had the last 2 Ti framed pistols that I built carburized by Tripp and would have to say it was worthwhile to the point of being a must on any further Ti's that cross my bench.

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The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love and something to hope for.

Ned's work is impressive especially when you consider the difficulties in working with titanium. I just finished a titanium commander. I won't be doing another. Nice Job Ned.

arg...

Patrick...I get no pics ?

Beats the heck outta me. I can send you thumbnails, but then you'd "miss the celestial glory that is before you."

Another quote, which I've probably butchered.

I switched computers and now...suddenly...you posted the pictures right.

Cool. The quote was from Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon." I've got a million of them. (Quotes, not movies.)

what kind of pattern is on the front strap?

That is one fine looking pistol

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The only place you will find success without hard work is in the dictionary

IIRC, Ned refers to those as Conamids (Cone/Pyramids)

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I will never forget you Lou......February 21, 2009

John Ralston
5 SHOT LEATHER, LLC - Finely Crafted Custom Handgun Leather

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They are Conamyds. I visited Ned this weekend, and had a chance to see the Inner Sanctum.

Compared to my old shop, Ned runs a surgically-clean place. Compared to a surgical suite he runs a clean place. Judging from the notebooks on his shelf, nothing is done from memory. All is measured, inspected, assessed and if need-be corrected.

Heck, he even noticed that the 1911 I had for him to fuss over had a chamber a few thousandths out of concentric with the bore. And it is a tack-driver, too.

As soon as the Nedster 9 is back, I'll post some photos of the Virgil Tripp magic.

Indeed Patrick, nothing here is done from, um..... ah...... whatever it was you said.

very nice! i'm looking forward to seeing the post-Tripp pictures

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Robert (13.45)
NRA Benefactor Life member

Back from Virgil, and looking like this:




The slide/frame fit sounds gritty, but doesn't feel nearly as gritty as it sounds. I'll have to shoot it to see if the POI or accuracy have changed, and do a lot of shooting to see how it holds up.

But as I didn't get this built just to admire it, that shouldn't be a problem.

The carburizing runs over the top, partway across the top of the frame the width of the slide rail bearing surface. The slide has it too, where it bears on the frame. Verrrry interesting.,

Interesting indeedy.

Carburizing just doesn't seem to me like it can be the right term-- carburizing, in heat treating, is when low carbon steel is made to absorb carbon on the outside so that the outer surfaces can be case-hardened.

I know, I scratched my head over the very idea of "case-hardening" a Ti frame. But we've got to call it something.

You'll get a chance to shoot it next week, Ned.

When I spoke to Virgil, I think the term used was "carbidizing", which to me sounds right since you're sputtering a hard layer of a carbide compound on top of the Ti.

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Ted

I wondered if it qualified as sputtering. Going by Patrick's description I figured it was.

"..sputtering a hard layer of a carbide compound on top of the Ti." I love it. I'll have to figure out how to use it.

Actually if was Virgil who used the term "sputtering" when he was describing the process- I can't claim authorship.

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Ted

I see lots of pictures, but I don't see the award winner I took of the owner, Ned and the gun at SHOT. After all of the razzing I took about how to properly frame you two, I'd like to see that picture posted here.

Humor me.

....did I let my picture be taken with Sweeney!?

....did I let my picture be taken with Sweeney!?

Can someone please clue me in as to what this coating does, and why?

In a nutshell, Titanium galls. Given a suitable surface treatment, and used in applications where the heat/pressure/lubrication can control it, galling isn't a problem. Guns apparently aren't aerospace enough to avoid galling.

This little blaster was galling in a few hundred rounds. (Not a reflection of Ned's skill, I might add.) So I sent it off to Virgil, as he has the treatment for the problem.

Yes, Ned, you did allow yourself to be photographed with me.




And the award for the gun;



Anyone who plans to go to SHOT and take photos, be aware: the best lighting you'll find there is one shutter stop above a coal mine.

Well Mr Sweeney, I must apologize. I thought I did a better job than that. Apparently I thought the photo was all about Ned since he is dead center in my sights. I'll do a better job at SHOT 2008 if you will let me handle that expensive camera again.

Ned, I don't want to question your engineering prowness, but is the Titanium really buying you anything over aluminum? I know Mr. Sweeney is known for shooting tens of thousands of rounds through a gun, but a 1911 chambered in 9mm seems like a hard anodized aluminum frame would have saved all of this trouble and sputtering, etc. Am I off in la la land by myself here?

I don't see any significant gain, really. You can think of Steel, titanium, and aluminum as 3/3rds, 2/3rds, and 1/3, weight-wise, and their respective weights per cubic inch actually come very close to exactly those proportions. So looking at weight only, Ti saves you 1/3 on whatever part of the total gun weight comes from the frame. Not that much. Strength wise it has it all over aluminum, but I would mostly agree that an aluminum 9mm ought to have a pretty decent life expectancy. Even in Sweeney's hands.

That is, I believe, the third Ti frame I've worked with. Never had any complaints about galling on the others although they did seem on the edge as I worked on them. Maybe the other guys don't shoot as much as Patrick.... actually that's quite likely.

nice thread. Thanks for sharing!

Oh, so close. I shot a 250-20X on the rifle qual course, two hits short of a passing score. You can see three of them right by my shoulder, low left. Those were the 50 yard kneeling shots.




I then went to the range next door. It is the computer-controlled popups range, 50 to 300 meters. There, out of 20 targets I scored 11 hits.

Nice shooting little gun, Ned. The next one will not be Ti.

Hmm...looks like he just glued some lint to it.