As promised, I had a surprise to offer.
What was that surprise? Well, back at a funshow in January, I picked up a High Standard Crusader Compact. It was slightly(?) used and was in reasonably good condition.
After test firing it to ensure it everything was in somewhat good working order, I had some modifications in mind. Some were necessary, like replacing the recoil spring and rounding the bottom corner of the extractor to help in this department, as when I test fired the pistol, it had issues with getting the last round in battery.
Unlike the Delta, this one didn't need many mods. I had to replace the recoil spring, as I said above, but I also wanted to replace the grips and trigger. My thoughts of putting a different mainspring housing on it were dashed when I found out that the two I bought were each different in size than the factory original.
Some folks may like a parkerized finish, but not me. So, using the last little bit of DuraCoat I had left, I set about refinishing her. I will tell this, the pebble texture on the frame was pure-D-accident. I mixed the DuraCoat too think and it came out in globs. After I found the reducer, the consistency was much better and the slide was a snap to paint.
The only thing I had to send out was the barrel. There's a Wilson Combat pistol down at the funstore that has probably the coolest muzzle crown I've ever seen. So I had my smith put a 30* crown on the barrel. I mean, why pay $3000 for a Wilson Combat pistol with a really cool crown, when I can have the same thing for the cost of shop labor? (Which was $40, by the way.)
So, you may ask, what's the big surprise? Well, this little shooter is not for me. No, this little beauty is a birthday gift. For the most supporting, loving, and caring person I know. My wife.
(In the interest of full disclosure, since she puts up with me, this makes her the most caring and loving person I know.)
P.S. In case anybody's wondering, she absolutely loves her new little heater.
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