My thoughts on parts compatibility:

I had an FN alloy frame pistol sitting around, waiting for a Detective slide, and purchased a Girsan PI. I swapped the slides on the two pistols - BHSS did the work for me because they are quicker and better at this than I am. I have yet to shoot either, but they both passed the tests at BHSS and should run perfectly.

Both frames have SFS and BHSS barrels installed along with the BHSS Trigger and other BHSS parts. I am waiting on a new pair of “Detective” guide rods and springs (back ordered right now) designed for the FM short slide. The FM guide rod and spring from my Detective seem to fit and function with the PI slide, and is easier to remove and install that the OEM Girsan guide rod and spring.

As far as I can tell, all appropriate parts are interchangeable between the Girsan and FN.

My FN alloy frame will always be used with the Girsan PI slide. The Girsan frame will always be used with the FN slide from the Alloy Frame. These two slides will not be interchangeable without refitting the Trigger Pawl/Lever. This is exactly the same as my other Alloy Frame which has been mated to my FM Detective Slide… the original FN slide will not function properly without changing the Trigger Pawl/Lever fitted to the different slide.

I believe this would be the same when swapping any High Power slide to a different frame… there will be some slight differences in how the Trigger Pawl/Lever contacts the Sear Lever. I have had some success swapping slides from different FN pistols in the past… I was just playing around with interchangeability and not as critical at the time. Having a Slide properly mated and optimized to a Frame, much like they would be upon leaving the factory, seems to provide the best results.

My FN Alloy/FM Detective Hybrid has been 100% reliable and used as a carry pistol for years now. I expect the same for my FN Alloy/Girsan PI Hybrid… once I have put a thousand percent rounds through her, she would become my favorite High Power for carry.

*On both of these Hybrid pistol projects, I have no desire or need to use the frames with their original slides.

Cheers,
Tim

 

I had some Wolff 26# hammer springs so I installed one in the Girsan. To do so, I had to clip a couple of coils off of the spring. I have a BHS hammer spring tool but could not compress the spring enough to get it on the hammer strut.

I do not like the idea of clipping springs.

If you are interested, I could see if I have a spare BHSS spring to send to you. It would be interesting to see if this worked for you without clipping coils off.

I might even be able to liberate a slightly used C&S Wide Combat Trigger with a new spring. These improved my trigger pull over the OEM FN Trigger. I am converting all of my BHPs to the BHSS Trigger.

Feel free to PM me…

Cheers,
Tim

 

I do not like the idea of clipping springs...

And with good reason as it's not smart.

Spring rates

Hola amigos, spring rates sure is a popular topic, but apparently most people are confused about what is a "spring rate", so I wanted to make a few comments based on articles posted long ago by my friend John Bercovitz. In usual engineering terms it means the "spring constant" (force vs...

www.1911forum.com

...If you cut a couple of active coils off any spring, you will lighten the maximum force since X1 and X2 will be smaller but you will also make the force curve peakier because the spring constant will be greater...

 

And with good reason as it's not smart.

Spring rates

Hola amigos, spring rates sure is a popular topic, but apparently most people are confused about what is a "spring rate", so I wanted to make a few comments based on articles posted long ago by my friend John Bercovitz. In usual engineering terms it means the "spring constant" (force vs...

www.1911forum.com

Cutting the hammer spring is not as critical as cutting say the recoil spring. It is not my custom to do so, but there was no way that Wolff 26# spring was going to fit the hammer strut. I plan on shooting the gun soon to see how it performs. The factory spring was super stiff.

I appreciate the info I can glean from this forum. Thx guys!