Always excited to see the Canpar truck pull up with another Canada Ammo toy :D
Today's haul, the Dominion Arms P762. I absolutely love this cartridge (7.62x25), but my Tokarevs BOTH have broken firing pin retaining pins, and if I'm honest, are pretty mediocre guns.
Without further ado, my first impression, gripes, and some tips I have for tearing it down.
First thing to notice is it's entirely covered in tool oil. Not a bad thing, and relatively easy to just wipe off, but when I say covered, I really do mean it's everywhere on the gun. It's in a ziplock bag, so the case is tidy, but you really do need to tear it down completely before you shoot it, especially if you plan on using corrosive ammo.
Machining is pretty clean, compared to some other Norinco's I have (1911A1, Woodsman). Finish is really good on the frame, the slide, though not quite as nice, I think is at least as good as my 1911A1.
Double action trigger pull is pretty smooth, but long and very heavy. I don't have a tool to measure it, but I'd guess well over 15 pounds. My Girsan Regard (Beretta 92 clone) is much lighter in DA, and it's the only DA I have to compare to.
On the other hand, single action pull is extremely crisp, and I really quite like it.
The action is really smooth, much nicer than my 1911A1 and Tokarevs. I really can't find much bad about it. Similar to the 9mm version (as I've heard), the decocker is a little odd in that it really slams down when the sear releases, so it's sometimes a bit hard to control. If the firing pin safety does its job though, that shouldn't be a problem.
Minor issues I noted:
The sear pin simply would not budge. Tension was off everything, and I just couldn't get it out. I don't have a proper punch kit though, so that could be my bad, but I've never encountered a pin I couldn't get out with jewellers screwdrivers or drill bits (and a hammer of course). Anyway, I just got in there with a Q-Tip and wiped all the oil I could.
The hammer spring isn't retained the same way as a Sig. It's captured by bit of metal held on by a split pin (see picture) and I would most certainly not like to mess with that. I mention this because, as I said earlier, the double action pull is pretty darn heavy, and I might look to get a lighter spring. That said, looking at Sig's, I bet you could just get a real Sig setup for the back there and it would fit. Of course, you'd have to figure out how heavy would still work for the likely harder primers of surplus ammo.
I'm not a fan of hogue style wraparound grips. Underneath these grips at the front, there are some grip serrations similar to the P226. Just me though.
The magazines are sort of double pinned. There's a plate permanently attached to the bottom of the springs that has a metal bit that sticks up to pin to 10 rounds. But then there's a punched dent on the outside too. This wouldn't be a problem except the followers are impossible to get out, and like I said, *everything* is oily.
Couple tips when disassembling:
Use the pointy metal thingy that came in the box to take out the magazine release (I think that's what it's for actually) but it also has a second use. Compressing the hammer spring is a huge pain. Use the pointy punch thing as a bar to just hook under the retaining pin and pull on it.
CanAm, this is an awesome gun, no doubt about it. I can't wait to shoot it to have more good things to say (well, I hope so!)