Help me with tool sizes please

[Brian1979]

I am ordering a roll pin specific punch for the removal of the pins in the slide. I want to be able to clean the firing pin and extractor channel from time to time.
I also may become brave one day to remove other pins in the frame for cleaning or maintenance.

Please tell me the size punches I need. I think the roll pins is a 3/3n punch but I am not sure with the other one I need.

And if you have a link where to buy these it would be great. I looked at Brownells but they use a short punch to start the pin only and I dont think it will punch the pin all the way out.

PS the gun is the USP45 Compact

Thanks.

[Kochaholic]

The slide roll pin punch size is 3mm, 3/32 is too small, it may work but if the pin is seized the 3/32 punch will damage it. For the lanyard pin, the same 3 mm can be used as this pin comes out very easily when you depress the lanyard upward. A 1/8 punch also works well here. This is all you should really need. Try Harbor Freight, Sears, Snap On etc. Google is your friend. Roll pin start punches are for Roll pins that fit very tightly. You should be fine with just the regular punch. Give the pins a shot of penetrating oil, Kroil or even CLP the night before you drive them out. (probably not necessary)

[Brian1979]

Thanks.

I called HK today and the pins are in fact just regular 3x14mm pins with no special coating or anything HK specific. I am going to find a online place to buy a bunch from as the HK tech said he would replace them every time they are removed or at worst every other time.

PS for the newbies out there HK confirmed nothing needed but cleaning for 10-15k rounds. He said at that point a new recoil spring would be good but then I think that is it.

[Brian1979]

http://www.mcmaster.com/

Found em'. I doubt I need the Stainless ones but I figure if I just keep the pins oiled and clean from time to time it should be fine. I cant believe HK doesnt do anything to protect the pins from rust. I would imagine these little suckers in the slide hole could being to start rusting if not cared for.

They even have the punches and dental picks so I can just get it all in one shot. I have seen ths stickies about the dental pick being a big help so should I ever need to get in there I can do it now.

Any other tools you guys can think of I may need?

[AWD]

Brian I can vouch for the pins rusting. My magazine release roll pin started to rust a little. It's not a big deal, metal rusts... but if you keep them oiled you'll be good to go. Or go with stainless.

AWD

[MaverickH1]

Call me what you want, but I just use spare picture hanging nails I have sittin' around. :D

That's what life on a budget turns me into, I guess. Gotta save up for that SL8! Or parts to fix my truck... :(

[Brian1979]

Wait you use nails instead of the roll pins?

As for the rust I figured they would because these pins are bare steel. I suppose just keep the oiled and remove them more often for cleaning the firing pin channel. I would be worried about rust starting on these pins because it will spread to the holes in the slide.

So I guess I will order the 1/16, 3mm, 3mm dimple punches, a dental pick, and pins. No other tools you guys think I need?

[MaverickH1]

No, no. I use nails as punches.

[Brian1979]

LOL, damn I thought you were a true Red Neck there for a minute. :)

[MaverickH1]

Nope, still in training I guess :D

[BytorJr]

Great topic Brian!!!

So, are you going with the coiled or slotted pin in stainless?

Just curious. I'm thinking Slotted is what is in there, but I could be wrong since I've never taken mine apart.

[Brian1979]

I dont even have the gun yet so I am just buying up everything I know I will need based on research from this site.

I am guessing the roll pins are slotted and from what the tech told me they are nothing special.

Check out that link I posted and you will find them on there. I didnt get the Stainless since I figure that is not what the gun came with and I care for my weapons well enough to not worry about rust. Cure the pins in some oil and be sure to oil up the slide for protection and it should be good to go. Routine cleanings would mean I will just place a drop of oil over those pins and blow it back out the other side so they should always be protected.

If ever I do see rust I know where to get some Stainless pins from. :)

[Kochaholic]

I don't know what HK replaces the pins with but someone's got it wrong as the pins are not left in the white that are installed from the factory.

[Brian1979]

Well the guy that took the call today at HK assured me there was nothing special about those pins. I asked him if they were coated and he said no and that I could match them up with any pin found at a hardware store.

Trust me I asked him about them over and over. It wouldnt make a lot of sense that they would treat something that small which is a part that is tossed after each removal.

I would rather replace those pins every 1k rounds to do a good cleaning then to buy the more expensive stainless pins and try to reuse or go longer between cleanings. I guess I am coming from all 1911's and am used to more maintenance them you HK owners but I never not clean my firing pin channels. The only thing I dont do is detail strip my 1911 every cleaning but I still do it often enough that it never really is dirty inside. My extractor and firing pin channel are always nasty dirty so I couldnt imagine not getting in there for 5k rounds or more and seeing what was inside.

I dont anticipate any issues with something so minor as a treated roll pin or not but I will post pics of them and the factory ones when the time comes to clean my HK. It should be in my hands with in about 2 weeks at which point I will just clean the frame and oil/grease as necessary before firing it. I plan to shoot about 400-500 rounds my first day out with it so I will be breaking it all down for a good cleaning and snap pics of those pins then.

[Brian1979]

Got the roll pins and tools the other day.

The pins are coated with something for sure even though they are steel. The bag says carbon on it so I am guessing it is just some sort of carbon wash to protect them a bit. They all seem to have a faint amount of grease to prevent rusting because they feel slippery.

I also got to DROS my Hk yesterday and looked at the pins. They had some whitish crap caked on them so I think they are now dropping a bit of loctite over them to secure from coming loose.

The pins I got look like they will work just fine and they look way bigger then once then are installed. I guess they are just opened a bit more to get more spring to them once they are pressed into the 3mm hole. But at this point they look more like 3.5mm round fully opened.

When I change them out I will oil up the hole in the slide to protect the metal then air gun it dry. After some blue loctite on the sides of the pin should be just perfect before tapping it back in. I may not do the loctite right of the bat because I plan to clean in there often enough that I dont think the pins will walk on their own. Besides from the looks of it they seem like they will be a very tight fit so oil may be necessary to get them in best and then that means Loctite wont be of any use since it wont cure. If I had to guess I would say the factory likely oiled them up to get them in the placed a drop of loctite over the tops of them. This is why there is that white stuff on the tops of them.

[SIGtrarian]

Great topic Brian!!!

So, are you going with the coiled or slotted pin in stainless?

Just curious. I'm thinking Slotted is what is in there, but I could be wrong since I've never taken mine apart.DO NOT use stainless pins! I'm not positive it will be a problem, but some forms of stainless will bind itself to regular steel in the presence of moisture. I've had this problem using stainless screws in regular steel, and have broken off screw heads trying to remove them. If you use stainless pins replace them occasionally, but that sort of defeats the purpose.