45ACP/super Compensator .....

wquiles

Well-Known Member
Ian, a couple of more pictures.

Back of the barrel:
IMAG0012.jpg


Area around the link, which I went ahead and polished after taking these pictures as you recommended:
IMAG0009.jpg


IMAG0010.jpg


IMAG0011.jpg



As to the accuracy part, plenty for my mostly short distance shooting. At my age and with my eyes, this gun already shoots better than I can hold :cool:


And I know it is part of the other thread (Happy 1911) about the mags, and tweaks, but I went ahead and tool the extractor out while I had the gun apart for these pictures, and gave the radius and polished the underside of the hook, to make the rim an easier/smoother path as suggested in that thread. Man, this forum is AWESOME :)

Will
 
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Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Will, how do you plan to clean the compensator? Just scrub with a wet brush, wipe out, then reassemble the gun? Soak the barrel and compensator in solvent, then scrub and dry?
Got to believe that a comp like that collects lube and carbon pretty fast.

And yes Will, this place is awesome! I keep learning every day.
 

wquiles

Well-Known Member
Brad, to be 100% honest, I haven't thought that far in to the future yet - I have no idea :)

This is just the prototype comp, and I got the piece of steel in the lathe already, waiting on my shoulder to get better (pulled a tendon in my shoulder a week ago), so that I can start machining the close-tolerance 3x port design that my colleague from the Glock forum helped me with. I have until that comp is completed to figure out how I am going to keep it clean.
 
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Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
What kind of steel are you using?

And get that shoulder better, we need to see the fine machine work you do.
 

wquiles

Well-Known Member
Thank you Brad. Getting a little better each day :)

For steel, I am planning on again using the same mild carbon steel piece that I started with. The ugly, rusted piece of steel at the beginning of this thread.

IMAG0021.jpg


I just ordered a 1/4" carbide end mill ($15, new on Ebay) which I will use to mill the 3x pockets, which should arrive by the time I get the lathe operations completed.

This time, the exit hole will be much closer to the bullet dia (.452"), so I am likely going to aim to something like .470" exit hole or so.

Will
 
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wquiles

Well-Known Member
Yes, it is. But it is not like a suppressor extending 7-8" away from the muzzle - this is more like 1". I am thinking about making a fitted pin (probably Aluminum, not to mar the barrel's internals), to check for alignment prior to shooting it.

I might start at 0.010" to 0.015" per side and watch for strikes, and adjust afterwards in the lathe if needed. Part of the fun/experimentation :)
 
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wquiles

Well-Known Member
OK, my shoulder feels much better, so I started work on the updated compensator (v2, if you will). Started with the same piece of ugly steel:
IMAG0072.jpg


Turning it down ....
IMAG0073.jpg


I tend to not like the auto carriage feed and always do by hand, but today I used the auto-feed, and the finish came out great!
IMAG0074.jpg




Short video of the auto-feed in action (loud!):
lathe auto feed (10 seconds)



Started with the drilling operation:
IMAG0075.jpg



Then boring to size:
IMAG0076.jpg



Threading (.578"-28):
IMAG0079.jpg


IMAG0080.jpg


IMAG0081.jpg



The money shot ...
IMAG0082.jpg
 
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wquiles

Well-Known Member
Part the piece:
IMAG0083.jpg



Comparing to v1 on the bottom (remember v2 is a 3x port design):
IMAG0084.jpg



And as it turns out, my v1 was "very" tight, with an exit hole of just .468" (I wrote down it was .568" by mistake earlier):
IMAG0089.jpg


Since this is a little longer, I made v2 about .474":
IMAG0086.jpg



I next go to the milling machine. After measuring distance to the barrel, and since I will be using a .250" mill and .150" spacing, I calculated where to drill and mill from the edge for each of the 3x ports:
IMAG0090.jpg



And I am of course re-sing the "stubby" barrel and 5C fixture for the milling operations. I added a spacer in between the comp and fixture to allow for room for the mill that will be cutting the "flats" on the sides of the comp (lesson learned from v1):
IMAG0091.jpg
 
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wquiles

Well-Known Member
I started with a drill (here using a solid carbide bit):
IMAG0092.jpg



Then mill away steel. The original design guidance from my buddy called for 0.150" spacing between ports, but once I started on the mill I decided to make them 0.100" instead, which makes it a little bit more "compact", and it matches the spacing I had in v1:
IMAG0094.jpg



Then mill away the flats to match the flats on the slide:
IMAG0095.jpg



And mill the recess for the guide rod on the bottom:
IMAG0096.jpg
 

wquiles

Well-Known Member
All done with the mill. Now back to the lathe for trimming and rounding the front after the cut:
IMAG0097.jpg


IMAG0098.jpg


IMAG0099.jpg



Finished machining work. Still need to us a small file to de-burr the sharp edges by hand:
IMAG0100.jpg


Then use the cold blue from Brownells:
IMAG0104.jpg



And set in place with red locktite (which worked perfectly with v1):
IMAG0105.jpg



I will make a few rounds today to try things out (specially now that I also have the great GI magazines!), but I don't know if I will get to visit the range today or not. I will report back once I do :)

Will
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
How deep do the ports go below the bottom of the bore?

Very nice work.
 

wquiles

Well-Known Member
Thank you :)

I initially "spec" them to be about .888" on paper, but I chickened out when doing the milling cuts and just made them .856" from the top surface on the comp, since I was a little worried of hitting the outer wall on the bottom round part of the comp.
 

wquiles

Well-Known Member
I am very much an amateur/hobby machinist, with lots to learn, but thank you for your kind words :)


I was able to make a few test rounds yesterday, using 800x powder:
IMAG0106.jpg



I have been using Rem 185 gr JHP, so I am also using the Hornady equivalent:
IMAG0107.jpg



XTP on the left:
IMAG0108.jpg


IMAG0109.jpg


IMAG0110.jpg



and I am mixing some of the 250gr cast WFN as well for a good test of the v2 comp. Note I always have the barrel ready to use as a guide :)
IMAG0111.jpg
 
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Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
:rofl:
He buys bullets!

That said, I am interested to see how it works. Too bad there isn’t a good, simple way to measure recoil and muzzle flip reduction. I am sure Bill could plan something out for you but I don’t know how reasonable strain gauges are price wise.
 

wquiles

Well-Known Member
Well, yes, I did buy those. Probably 20 to 25 years ago, but yes I did. Guilty as charged :eek:. In my defense, there is lots more data on JHP bullets than cast, and since I wanted to proceed with caution, I used what I already had at hand, before testing with cast bullets.

I know first hand that shooting a 230gr FMJ "ball" ammo at full factory power (about 350 ft-lb) with a stock configuration feels "stronger" in the hand (more felt recoil), than this hotter 45 Super with the v1 comp (so far in the 567-600 ft-lb range). I also know that I had to lower the recoil spring weight for the slide to even begin to cycle, so I also know that the comp is slowing down the slide somewhat as well. Although comp makes the report much louder, the comp "does" work to redirect energy, making it relatively more manageable. I had a guy at the range who was firing a stock 45acp fire a couple of shots of my 45 super with the v1 and he said it was not bad at all. So it is not just "me".

Unfortunately so far I have been doing the videos at the range, but that is not very scientific at all. Honestly I am just glad I have been able to find a friendly person to shoot video for me :)

The only scientific method I know, that I have seen before is to use a Ramsom test. That is supposed to be pretty repeatable and consistent.
 
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F

freebullet

Guest
Dont let Brad fool you, his years of high power comp weren't done with homemade bullets.o_O

Rusty junk to usable compensator, priceless.