I am also attempting to buy a hammer retaining pin (part #19) / the topic has some posts in this ancient thread:
https://czfirearms.us/index.php?topic=57303.0
Is there an update as to where I could find this? Online you can buy it for 2 bucks (CZC, CGW, etc) but I was hoping to get a stainless one and that doesn't appear to be sold anywhere. (feel free to let me know if I'm wrong on this however!)
So I'm looking to see if a hardware store has a pin (or maybe even a better quality pin). Checked Harbor Freight without much luck earlier today. Seems to make more sense to get a stainless pin via a non-CZ source rather than paying 41 bucks (CGW price for chroming one smaller piece) just to chrome of a minuscule 2 dollar piece of material.
Don't, just don't install harbor freight chinesium anything on the gun you're contemplating spending hundreds of dollars to upgrade.
Also, don't touch the finish until you have well-worn gun -- it almost always opens up more issues than you started with and also devalues your gun. And that's with perhaps the sole exception of you're going to be using it in saltwater on the regular or live immediately adjacent to the ocean...
Red dots are about speed and IMO you need irons cowitnessed to use them effectively... You also need full extension to acquire the dot.
So I wouldn't mill this gun for HD, only for competition for your specific and proven on a less valuable gun setup.
Me personally, I'd get a rail mount light that has an integral laser and upgrade internals to your needs -- and then call it good.
Not sure why you feel the need for a stainless steel pin. Seems like a lot of trouble for an inferior part. Stainless steel is generally softer than hardened steel although the retaining pin peg is a fairly low stress part. Aesthetically it is such a small thing most would never notice if it were stainless or not.
I disagree with RSR on red dots. You do not need full extension or even to be 100% lined up to find a target with a quality red dot. Being able to co-witness is a good backup and any quality mill job and dot will allow that.
I you want , read the white paper in red dots by Aaron Cowan at sage dynamics. He advises and trains LE on RDS use. His white paper and YouTube RDS evaluations can give you insight on some of the best (and worst) dots. Research has show that under use of force conditions dots are superior to iron sight use for maintaining threat focus and improve accuracy thus reducing liability. And for those of us who have older eyes where it is more difficult to maintain a front sight focus dots allow us to continue to carry. Just this week at the range I hit a 10” steel plate 7 out of 10 shots at 100 yds. With iron sights I drop to 2/10 and only because I can see the dirt flying on the berm to help zero in. Yeah, I know will likely never need to take a 100 yd shot with a pistol but what about going up against an perp armed with an AR-15 at 40-50 yards (Greenwood Park mall, Indianapolis shooting). This also translates to typical HD ranges, if I am awakened in the night, cannot get my glasses on, I know I can put more rounds on target with a RDS pistol than iron sights.
Long read but this is the most recent edition of the white paper but lots of good info even if you just pick out certain sections to focus on. In it he primarily focuses on RDS for duty use but on hos YouTube channel he evaluates optics for citizen catty pistols.
https://www.sagedynamics.org/_files/ugd/7dc128_6377087e72264cd18dbcb04eea4686ce.pdf