It has been mentioned many times of how easy it is to round out the hex slot while tightening or removing the screw and how the threads are damaged if you dry fire the gun. This has become a major problem to me since we started CBN plating, at least 60% of all the slides we receive has the screw damaged and needs replacement. To correct this problem I had some stainless steel screws custom made with a phillips head and hardened to be very close to the hardness of the firing pin. After dry firing 25 times the screw thread hardly showed any marks on the thread. If enough people are interested in these screws, I'll add them to my web site. I have them for the P3-AT and PF9. Thanks
So all slides that you plate will come back with these custom Sprinter Screws? Hint. Hint. Please.... -Scott
The NEWER extractor screws (Post PF9) are harder than the older ones and don't strip. But they did not make them hard enough to damage the firing pin. There is a REASON why KT keeps that screw as soft as possible. You might be better off to just buy the hard chrome screws from KT. Packer.
I'm well aware of the new screws and have a bunch of them. And after talking to KT in depth, the reason for the soft or stock hardness is cost. The custom approach was a better solution and will not damage the firing pin.
Not all of them need them, but I got you covered But it may be a good idea to replace them all. I also ordered stainless steel set screws for the P11 family that has the same hardness.
Do the 2G hard chrome models have the hard chrome screws? I have a 2G hard chrome P3AT with a S/N of JNQxx so it's fairly recent. I try to use only live ammo or snap caps but I may have "lost count" and dry fired a couple of times. I hope that the pic on the forum of the extractor screw damaged by just a couple of dry firings was an early very soft screw.
Do the 2G hard chrome models have the hard chrome screws? I have a 2G hard chrome P3AT with a S/N of JNQxx so it's fairly recent. I try to use only live ammo or snap caps but I may have "lost count" and dry fired a couple of times. I hope that the pic on the forum of the extractor screw damaged by just a couple of dry firings was an early very soft screw. [/quote] KT doesn't have a Hard Chrome screw, they use a soft stainless steel screw and even the new ones show thread damage from dry firing. Even the Black screws used on the blued models are stainless steel that have black oxide applied to them.
Just to toss a couple of cents worth in here. The softer screws not only don't damage the firing pin they also don't strip out the threads in the slide when a bunged up screw is removed. This in my opinion is a very GOOD reason to stick with screws that are softer than the slide. Like I said JMO but I'll stick with the soft screws myself.
