...Until My Black Cloud Rained Down On Me Once Again.
I had it all packed and ready to ship, via my local UPS hub, to Glock so they can do a warranty repair of the sight. The front Tijicon night sight dimmed badly last summer when I was at the NRA LE Instructor course for handgun and shotgun. My health issues right after that had me forget all about that problem. When I retrieved my pistols from my former employer last month, I soon remembered the sight needed replacing. I finally got around to contacting Glock about it again, just a few days ago. They got back to me today telling me to just send in the slide and they would replace the sights under warranty. I asked for standard sights, no more night sights for me. That is not mainly because the sight went dim but more due to the fact that night sites are a waste of money, a waste of time (takes longer to sight in with them in dim light) and are pretty much as useless as teats on a turtle. Yeah they look cool, and they do give a nice sight picture, but people take the time to line them up just right even when in close in dim light and that, as opposed to point shooting, could get you killed. So, not for me anymore. Anyway, the standard sights will never go dim. Oh well, as I said, my black cloud was right over me today.
With the Glock 26, wrapped in bubble wrap and in the box with the necessary paperwork, I sealed it all up and was about to go to UPS when it hit me that I did not have a pistol on my belt. I decided to give a quick cleaning to one of my Beretta 92FS pistols. Wouldn't you know, my black cloud was right over me when I did it. I have cleaned my two Beretta 92FS pistols and my Beretta 92SB (the gun that made me Ballseye) hundreds of times with never a glitch. Easy as pie. I could disassemble and reassemble them in the dark or at least I think I could do it and with ease at that. So what happened? As I was giving the final once over wiping off excess Gunzilla, something came loose in my hand and I heard the tiniest of pings on the fish tank cabinet to my left. Yes, the loose piece was in my left hand and I just knew that ping had to have been a spring. I was right. When I looked closer, I saw the darned slide stop lever was in my hand, not on the pistol, and the ping was the spring that holds it in place and it nowhere to be seen. (Look for the part labelled 22 and note that diagram is not to scale, what you see on the screen, or at least when I looked at it, that was about the actual size of that spring while the slide stop latch was much smaller in the diagram than in reality). I suppose, I put too much pressure on it, or whatever, and out it popped. Never has happened before that I can remember.
Well, it took me about a half hour just to find the spring. Then, I had to figure out how to get it back in place. Now after my trouble with the AK retaining spring a couple of days ago, I kind of dreaded trying to get this spring set right. When I took a close look, with 2 pair of readers on, one over the other, I could see the tiny hole that one end of the spring would fit into and the groove on the slide catch that would accept the other end. This was relatively easy compared to the AK spring fiasco. I tried to set the 92FS spring about 5 or 6 times and got it right on the last try, luckily it only too a couple to a few minutes at most. After I set it back into place, I realized there would have been an easier and better way to do it - MAYBE. Heck, I did not care, I got it back in place and it works. A close look at the spring makes me think one end is a tad too short as it only fits into the groove on the slide catch by about 1/16 or less of an inch. I went to the Numrich Gun Parts Corporation website and ordered a replacement, in fact I ordered two of them @ of less than $3 each. I had tried Beretta first but they did not show the spring for sale except in a kit for $168 (containing twenty something common replacement parts). I am sort of happy that they were out of stock, otherwise I may have bought one and been short that much cash for the gun show this weekend. Although, being that I own the three 92 series pistols, I submitted my email address so Beretta could let me know when they are in stock again. Hopefully, by then, I will be receiving my full pension and have enough saved up for it.
Thinking of it, that series 92 pistol parts kit from Beretta would probably be a wise purchase to make. One never knows when a spring might get sprung while shooting or when a spring might get lost in the carpeting while you are disassembling or reassembling the pistol. It also contains other parts like the locking lug and a firing pin and a recoil rod and spring. One other thing it contains, and it has four of them, is the grip screw, washer and bushing set. Did you guess why I mentioned that? I decided to also remove the grips and clean under them and one of the bushings unscrewed still attached to the screw, instead of the screw unscrewing from the bushing. That was an easy fix and all I can say is thank goodness for Loctite Thread Locker Blue #242. Funny, none of the grip screws have washers, as they come with in the kit. I wonder if they were an add on in later manufacturing, as in after I bought my two 92FS pistols, or if mine was just missing them when I got it. I'll have to check the other one, the grips have never been off of that one as it has only rarely been shot. If it had washers, they will still be there. If they are missing, then that these guns were manufactured without them would be a safe bet since the are consecutively serial numbered.
As it was and as it is, I decided not to send in the Glock 26 for the warranty repair to the sights just yet. I have to qualify for my LEOSA card on Wednesday. It would be just my luck, I show up there with the Beretta and the slide stop latch falls off because maybe I did not get the spring set just right (which I am sure I did get set right) or that they would see I had 15 round mags (illegal here in NY except for LE which I am no longer since I am retired). While I have pre-ban mags, I could just imagine someone giving me a hard time at the range which is a police department range since I have heard they go ape shot if they see a retired guy with hi-cap mags for the LEOSA quals. I really just want to get it over and done with, with the least friction and I do not need to get riled up by somebody who tells me my pre-ban mags are illegal. (Yes, the NY State Hi-Cap mag ban is still in effect, it did not have a sunset clause and even if it did the liberal jerks here in NY would have voted for it all over again.) So, I am going to take the Glock 26 slide out of the box and out of the bubble wrap, and put the barrel, and recoil spring, and rod back into it, and set it all on the frame, so I can shoot the 26, with its 10 round mags, for the LEOSA qual.
Well, I guess things turned out sort of okay even though it looked, for a short while, as if it might take me weeks to find that darned Beretta spring (as it did with another spring I once lost in a carpet). I had actually given up looking for it and had been about to put the pistol aside and move onto other chores when I glanced at the floor for a moment. My gaze fell right on it. My black cloud must have slipped a bit because it let through a little sunshine right at that moment, right after it had rained down on me for too long awhile for today!
All the best,
Glenn B
