DAC 394 (Sig 228 Clone) Kit

superbikeracer said:
Night 2:

Managed to get some more time in on the gun last night. I fitted the decocking lever. I had to file out some casting imperfection on the inside of the frame where the bushing sits so it would drop in flush. I also had to file a bit of metal away so the lever would come down all the way and sit on the bushing.

Next I fitted the plastic hammer stop (without breaking it! woot :) ) The hammer stop pin was too tight and had to be fitted as well.

Next up is the hammer itself. I remember reading about people having to re-radius the back of the hammer but I can't seem to find anything now in the thread. What did you guys do to cut it back a bit? It won't sit back far enough for the pin to go through.
Click to expand...

joe-boy had the benefit of his beautiful milling machine and there are wonderful pictures in this thread by joe-boy.:D

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=390844&highlight=DAC

I carefully used an angle grinder and a zip-cut disk, used on the side of the disk. I did say carefully -right?
 
bennyh said:
I Just bought my DAC 394 from some body who didn't want to go through this major fitting process and I've been reading this thread for a while. I understand that a lot of different places are required tweaking, but I wish some body could through all this fitting process one by one(perhaps in a video clip). That way every body could have access to a real reference to measure the actual work is involve with this guns. And man could decide if he wants to go through it or not.
Click to expand...

CGN'er joe-boy has some wonderful information in his thread here:

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=390844&highlight=DAC
 
effects said:
Today is Monday, 19 October. Fastenal informs me that my order will be ready on Friday, 23 October. I have ordered 20 ea of 3.5mm, 2.0mm, and 5/64" pins. PM me with address for a set. Cost will be at cost. I will mail envelope with pins and self addressed return envelope for you to mail a small amount of $. I let you know but I think it will be no more than a dollar or two. S&H and pins all in. Honour system it will be.

----------------------------------

Edit: My intention is to provide for guys who built a DAC 394 kit. Guys that have SIGS and are just looking for cheap pins should look elsewhere. If you can afford the $1000 pistol, you can pony up and buy the SIG brand pins. As I understand it the payback on Karma can be a real #####.
Click to expand...


I've been waiting to find some pins before I take my DAC out to the range for a test fire. Let me know when you get yours and I'll pay handsomly.
 
Hokus Grey said:
I've been waiting to find some pins before I take my DAC out to the range for a test fire. Let me know when you get yours and I'll pay handsomly.
Click to expand...
Shoot me a PM with address. As discussed these pins will be at cost. A buck or two for a set via a Self addressed envelope that I'll send with the pins.:)

--------------------------

Edit: Just checked again. I should have the pins Friday, 23 OCT.
 
joe-boy said:
Are you looking at the 'Electroless Nickel Plating' kit ?? You might give Caswell Canada a try ..... they have both the electroplate and electroless nickel kits. In the electroless they are selling a mini kit ( 5 pints ) for $95 dollars.

h t t p://www.caswellcanada.ca/shop/electroless-nickel-kit.html

:cheers:
Click to expand...

Caswell's can also order in Cerakote firearms finishes. I am waiting for a quote from them.

From what I have read the air cure finish is more forgiving than the oven cure one. I was planning to get the oven cure cerakote and use a $20 toaster oven for finishing my DAC 394 but I am going to do a bit more research.

BTW Princess Auto have a mini HVLP spray gun on sale at the minute.
 
superbikeracer said:
Next up is the hammer itself. I remember reading about people having to re-radius the back of the hammer but I can't seem to find anything now in the thread. What did you guys do to cut it back a bit? It won't sit back far enough for the pin to go through.
Click to expand...

I used a belt grinder to do almost all of my shaping (trigger bar, locking block, hammer, sear...) It is easily my most used tool for metal working and has paid for its self many times over. I got it from Lee Valley, I think it was around $90. You have to supply a motor to drive it but being in the HVAC industry I had plenty of old 1/2HP blower motors kicking around...

grinder.jpg


With a 60 grit belt it files through metal like crazy, with a 5 micron belt it will polish an blade to a razor... I wonder If I could fit a 1hp motor in there...

Anyway, I just ensured my table was square and went at the back side of the hammer with a 220 grit belt. I think it took all of 3 minutes. If only I could fit it in the mag well to get rid of the ribs...

MB
 
Canadian Tire has one like that with the motor and the round sanding disk as well for $79 - looks like it would work well for me.

I really don't trust myself enough with a grinder or dremel ;)
 
This Old Man - He played One - He played nick nack on my ...

I - uh - know a guy who spent far too much time building one of these.

If anyone has become - um - disenchanted with their 394 project - even if parts are missing or damaged, PM me - maybe I can salvage your kit - maybe trade it for something that does work.

EDIT: Well - I just went back and read all posts here - very interesting.

I think that it would take a great deal of preparation to bring it to a level of shine suitable for plating . Mine looked like chrome before bluing, yet the bluing brings out imperfections. I did a hot - rust job on the frame, which was a great new experience - it is obviously very durable. I blued the slide - but I may hot-rust it also after test-firing. The internals all seem to work well - no majour issues in fitting.

This has been a fun project - a challenge for sure.




IMG_2763.jpg

IMG_2766.jpg

IMG_2762.jpg
 
Last edited:
So! My spilt pin order won't be in until Monday. I did receive the M4 x .7 button head screws and washers today! The M3 x .5 screws that come in the DAC kit are almost useless. My M3 tapped holes held up perfectly, but the threads on my screws stripped out on one and then two. The button heads are slightly higher but look okay!
 
Joe:
I opened the trigger guard up to give better ( faster ) access to the trigger. I may find a place to put an adjustable trigger stop also - to keep the trigger back further - again, to give better access to the trigger.

I also opened the guard up at the rear - a little more than I needed to. Next time, I may open it up on top - I notice that my trigger finger is held down a little too much - making the finger just a little uncomfortable.

I really did not like the bite on my trigger finger from the corners of the tip of the trigger. A little careful work - rounding the tip of the trigger fixed that problem completely.
IMG_2771.jpg


I put a lighter spring in the mag release - it was unnecessarily stiff. A little work made the mag pop out easily.

After test-firing, I will put a lighter hammer spring in, and lengthen the trigger pull to the rear, and maybe a little to the front, giving a long light pull.

A little work with a tiny file cleaned up the grooves in the frame - getting rid of the casting line down the center. The gun is not as red as the pictures appear.
IMG_2765.jpg


If I had any advice for guys doing one of these guns, it would start with this:

Turn off the power tools. I used a Dremel sparingly - do not touch a flat surface with a Dremel.

Put the mill file away after you have the "rails" cut out.

A wooden block ( I use two - one which is 1 inch wide and a foot long, and the other a rectangle - say 3 by 4 inches) with 320 to 600 grit will to a wonderful job at a controllable rate. Certain areas can be done without the block - just cut a sheet in half and fold it twice, giving a band of sandpaper that can be held by the ends to do round surfaces.

I will stop now.
 
mp5k said:
Main thing, take your time. You can always take a bit more off, but its a lot harder to put metal back!
Click to expand...

Different strokes. I prefer go like hell building. But the risks of an unrecoverable FU are greatly increased. LOL. I also have the luxury (But I haven't had to use it yet on this project) of an electric "glue gun" Made by Miller, that sticks steel together with added molten metal. :) There are occasions though that I have the settings on my electric steel "glue gun" set too high and then my "glue gun", damn it all to hell, turns into an electric "drill gun"! LOL
 
Hokus:

Thanks - It is a rust process which uses heat to accelerate it.

It is certainly not for the faint of heart - it made my heart faint to see all my shiny work turn to rust in seconds.

Midway through the job, it looks like it has been left in the rain, with no oil on it for two weeks.

It is, it seems, more durable than anything that I have seen, though not as shiny. Well okay - stainless is durable too.

The pictures show more red than they should.
 
Well boys time to stick a fork in it, cause I think its done !!! :D

I applied the Cerakote tonight ...... graphite black on the frame and stainless on the slide. The only thing left to do is another range run to see if I've improved the light primer strikes ...... I've reshaped the firing pin, done the MiltonBradly modification to my hammer strut, and I even took a couple of coils off the firing pin spring. Hopefully I'll see some results.

Well, its late ..... I'll think I'll toast her with a beer, then off to bed. Oh yeah, here's a couple of pics of her in her party dress !!

DAC394projectdone.jpg


DAC394projectdone2.jpg


:cheers:
 
That is looking very nice joe-boy! Heck, there all looking good everyone! I like the contrast between the levers and trigger compared to the frame. I'm really leaning toward a two tone look now...
My take down lever sits slightly off parallel with the slide as well, I cant decide if I want to mess with it or not.

I forgot to mention that I changed out my firing pin spring to a lighter one (misc spring from a Princess auto grab bag) to maximize the strike. I have also swapped my hammer spring to an Ed Brown 19lb 1911 hammer spring (I have a pack of five but only two 1911's) and that has dramatically dropped the DA pull. It will touch off WSMP primers in both modes (only SP I have at the moment) but the strike in DA mode is really light. I'll likely shim the spring a bit to get "just enough" whack to do the job and then some...
 
effects said:
Different strokes. I prefer go like hell building. But the risks of an unrecoverable FU are greatly increased. LOL. I also have the luxury (But I haven't had to use it yet on this project) of an electric "glue gun" Made by Miller, that sticks steel together with added molten metal. :) There are occasions though that I have the settings on my electric steel "glue gun" set too high and then my "glue gun", damn it all to hell, turns into an electric "drill gun"! LOL
Click to expand...

For those of us afflicted with "instant-gratification-itus" a metal glue gun can and often is a project saver. My fabrication ability and confidence grew significantly once the term "you can take metal off, but you cant put it back on" no longer applied :p

That said, patience in a virtue when dealing with precision components and tight tolerances. I have more than once spent more time correcting one of my overzealous grinding sessions with a welding session than I would have if I had been a little more patient and used a file in the first place...

HEY NOVEGA, Any word from Dlask on a new breach block? Will your kit be back to life?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom