Dr. Strangegun got his ParaOrdnance P-16 back from the gunsmiths the other day after its caliber augmentation operation. It went under the knife a sixteen-shot .40 and came out a sixteen-shot 10mm Auto. Of course, the zippier cartridge made it imperative to correct the factory's sloppy work on the locking lugs, since having only a few thousandths of engagement leaves it as more of a "delayed blowback", which is something you definitely don't want in a 10mm Auto. So, long story short, it's back in the hands of Shannon, hopefully just to get the lug engagement recut (worst case, though probable, would be a new bbl.)
(Incidentally, for those that wonder why I don't normally stock in a broad variety of ParaOrd, here's another reason. The Doc bought it expecting to spend some cash on it as a project gun, and was also savvy enough to recognize the telltale signs of "primer wipe" on the spent cases. A novice shooter might have just gone on and rounded the lugs off with a few hundred rounds, and become a dissatisfied customer when his gun suddenly went Tango Uniform with a ruined barrel and cracked frame.)
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Be interesting to see how this one winds up; I've long thought that the 10MM might be a better cartridge for a Camp.45-like carbine than .45 ACP, and offer a better power choice in a hi-cap pistol than ACP as well.
Well, i can tell you I'm planning on getting some standard-cap magazines with +4 bases (yes, +4, some company that starts with an A makes them) and if I'm not mistaken there's a mec-tech upper available....
As for how it wound up, it was an absolute pleasure to shoot... I turned it back over so it would *remain* a pleasure :)
(i'd ask this on dr. strangegun's blog, but he doesn't allow us anonymous cowards, so...)
for those of us who don't work in a gun shop, could somebody kindly enlighten the world: what is primer wipe, what usually causes it, and how do you recognize it? i tried googling it, but all i got was epoxy and polymer surface finishing tips.
thADVANCEanks.
The sign was a little tag of metal pushed sideways on the primer surface, and shown to be *really* bad from parallel scratches up the case head.
It happens when the gun unlocks so fast that the firing pin is still protruding into the primer indentation when the barrel dips. The parallel scratches show that there was still an appreciable amount of breech thrust when the barrel dipped.
I've never seen it but I figure if it's really REALLY bad that the extractor hook could bend a small portion of the rim. By then you're beating the hell out of a lot of small parts and it would be obvious that there's a lockup problem; gas venting, excessive recoil, swelled cases, blown cases, cast sleeping with dogs, general mayhem....
I was curious about "primer wipe" also.
I tried Google and was treated to the same results as the anonymous poster above.
Thank you for explaining it.
I had a quick question... How many rounds of .40 did you put through it before the conversion to 10mm?
I would be curious to know if the problem is the result of the differences between 10mm and .40, or if it is a problem with the stock .40 as well.
Shouldn't notice it with the .40S&W. If you set up moving parts to respond to X amount of pressure, they can handle that okay. when you put in X + pressure, you have to build up the piece to handle the extra pressure and match the cycle curve that the original one produced in order to function right. The 10mm Auto is/can be a beast if you don't do the conversion well.
I love the 10mm for what it can do. I have a Delta Elite and a Glock 29 and am really suprised that in the higher velocities that the pistol doesn't kick that hard. Yes, it's a good shove but still controllable. The 29 was bought for concealled use and I figure with a good load the 10 rounds in there should work quite well.
That gun would've had primer wipe with any round you would've chambered it for this side of .22LR.
The lack of locking-lug engagement was just way out-of-spec...
I wonder if Para will ever see the light and do a P-16 in 10MM?
And, Doc, who is this mystery company that starts with "A"? I'm drawing a blank here...
I'm drawing a blank there too, I found them the other day and I *actually* can't remember the name; I'm not playing some twisted game with you, I really can't name them :)
Arredondo.
Interesting about the problem in that pistol - I'm suprised that it made it out the factory door. Of course, I don't think that the QC person would have thought that someone was going to convert it to 10mm Auto! :)
No, Joe, unfortunately this pistol was, by any definition, BROKEN right off the factory floor. My only wish is that I'd noticed it and sent it back under warranty before I had it modified.
Even with "cowboy" .40S&W loads it would have failed eventually; sooner rather than later is likely.
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