My 40-X pistol will have 5:30 ignition.

Bill Calfee

Gun Fool
My 40-X pistol will have 5:30 ignition.

CYA friends:


I love my new 40-X pistol.......

But, no matter how much I love it, I can't get away from the fact of it being SAP ignitioned.

I've studied and studied on whether to go to the trouble of converting it to MD-PAS ignition, or, loving it like it is and enjoying what it "can" give me.

By the way, it shoots......I'm thrilled how it shoots......

But, I know there could be more.

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So I've made a decision:


I am going to convert its SAP ignition to 5:30 ignition, and enjoy it like it is.


I'm going to spend my time building a new MD-PAS triple pistol.


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5:30 ignition?


CYA friends, the way a 40-X is made, leaves the two clearance slots in the bottom of the breech bolt, that pass over the loading ramp, with two different widths.


The loading ramp has two different widths.......the side that the ejector teat is on is wider than the opposing side.


Therefore, the teat on the bottom of the breech bolt that rides between them is off-set.


When one centers up this teat to drill the new firing pin hole, it places the firing pin at about 5:30 instead of a true 6:00.


I've already drilled the new hole.....


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Converting a 40-X to 6:00 ignition, 5:30, is more difficult than converting an XP 22.

Since the firing pin is shortened 1/2" on the XP, requiring a new cocking piece retaining pin hole to have to be drilled, it is a simple matter to align the pin tip to the new hole and drill the cross pin accordingly.


But on a 40-X one can't simply turn the firing pin up-side-down, because the cross pin hole has to be re-used, which means the pin tip will not align with the new 5:30 hole in the breech bolt nose.


Another issue is, that the cross pin hole and cocking piece are drilled as a pair.......so sometimes the pin and cocking piece will not align when turned over 180 degrees.....

( Oh, and I will not simply drill an oversized hole for the cross pin, like custom firing pin makers do to solve this problem. On a centerfire, with the firing pin in the middle, one can get away with doing this.....but on a rimfire the firing pin has to be aligned and held securely, unlike a centerfire where it doesn't hurt if the firing pin rotates slightly)

Anyway, the cross pin hole and cocking piece will not align when turned over, since I've already tried it......


Therefore, what I'm going to have to do is to go through all my 40-X firing pins and hopefully find one that will align.


Then I'll have to machine off the pin tip, and re-drill the new pin tip hole using the new 5:30 hole in the breech bolt nose as a drilling jig.


So my new 40-X pistol will have SAP, 6:00 ignition.


I love this 40-X pistol, and man it does shoot.


But man, I want a MD-PAS triple pistol.


Your friend, Bill Calfee


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If you look at these pictures closely, you'll see that to center the teat on the bottom of the breech bolt nose, leaves the new firing pin hole at about 5:30.

Which means nothing, really, just interesting.

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I found a match.....

I found a match.....

CYA friends:


I went through all of my 40-X rimfire firing pins and cocking pieces today....

I finally found a match, that will allow me to turn the firing pin up-side-down, so I can give my new 40-X pistol 6:00 ignition.


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What an anticlimax I'm going through..............



CYA friends, I can now give my new 40-X pistol 6 ignition...........


But, it's not MD-PAS.......................


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Back when I competed, I never had a pistol as accurate as my new 40-X pistol...


I would have bent over backwards, back then, to have had this new pistol..........


And as killer accurate as it is, even with 12 ignition, it's like having a Coke without ice, trying to drink it warm.


It ain't complete without MD-PAS ignition.



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Before it's over, I intend to have a MD-PAS triple pistol.


Your friend, Bill Calfee


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My new 40-X pistol will have 6 ignition, at least.

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