Unique DES 32-U

[fc60]

Greetings,

Purchased a used DES 32-U and I would like to communicate with those that still shoot one.

Questions I have are, what is the chamber profile, where do you buy your parts, does it prefer particular brands of ammo, and last, where do the fired cases go?

Cheers,

Dave

[Dr. Jim]

Hi Dave, I own one.
Traded a Steyr five shot airgun for it, came with a variety of spares, and like both my other Uniques has not had anything fail. AFAIK, parts are not easy to find, last ones I saw were at Sportec in Malmö. I have only used my standard load H&N .314 HB over 1.6 grains of bullseye in GFL cases. I made a new brass catcher as it throws empties 3-4 metres forward and 3 metres to the right. Watch out for slide cracks, seems this model is prone to them unless an auxiliary short spring is installed over the main recoil spring. Europeans also suggest that annual spring replacement is mandatory.
Have to admit I love the pistol, but I have been unable to shoot for about a year........

Cheers Jim

[Leon]

Congrats on the purchase Dave - they are fine guns. Have one as part of my collection. Compared to today's crop of plastic/polymer/alloy guns, it is all steel and made to very high quality standards.

I managed to get mine at a very attractive price as it had a LH grip on it. I sourced a new grip for it from Rink.

As for parts, Sportec in Sweden has some parts in stock. They seem to be the last bastion of Unique in Europe and, as Uniques are still hugely popular in Scandinavia, they have started to manufacture new parts as well - which is very encouraging. Link = http://sportec.se/Produkter/Reservdelar_Vapen/Unique

Depending on what you are after, you can also source Unique parts on this French auction site - naturabuy.fr.

Some DES32 magazines for sale at the moment (these are very, very rare these days ) -
https://www.naturabuy.fr/Chargeurs-pist ... 24708.html

[SamEEE]

Frames/Slides crack above the takedown lever, keep an eye on that area. Seems like they are undersprung, and might benefit from a buffer. Shot one for 3-4 years before getting my GSP.
Cases go out at 3 oclock at an elevation of between 20-30 degrees - there is a provision of a case catcher on the right and they work about three quarters of the time. The case catcher like of looks like a nutsack.

Shot Lapua casings, with Lapua (98gr) projectiles with N310 & Federal Gold Medal Match primers.

Leon is right about the parts. They are expensive but available from Sweden.

Some have spring plungers on the takedown lever, and others don't. It is a useful mod to add a spring plunger catch to hold it in the locked position until you actually want to take it apart.
Nice piece, it is little wonder they went bust - they are a very nicely finished piece with no expense spared!

[fc60]

Greetings All,

Many thanks for the links.

I have discovered two hairline cracks in the slide near the boss the recoil spring guide rod passes through. I am sure my Welder can address this.

There may also be some frame cracks located at the magazine well where the slide mates.

My pistol does have a second spring that slips over the main recoil spring.

Curious, the recoil spring seems to be identical to the 22lr DES/69 recoil spring?

The feed ramp of my barrel is nothing I have seen before. I will have to sort out a way to take a photo as it is difficult to describe in words alone.

My take down catch needs to have a small punch inserted to allow the catch to slide upward.

Most likely, I will contact Rune at Sportec for some spares.

Cheers,

Dave

[j-team]

Frames/Slides crack above the takedown lever, keep an eye on that area. !

Also in the frame at the front of the rearsight pedestal.

I had one in the 1990s, liked everything about it except the fact I couldn't ever get a good score with it! The guy that bought it off me got it as a parts gun to keep the one he already had going.

[fc60]

Greetings,

My "new" Unique DES/32U keeps offering surprises.

I discovered that the slide has been welded back together. The Welder did a nice job, however.

*************************************************************************************************************

A question regarding the firing pin and firing pin spring.

The springs I have look new and unaltered. Which end goes toward the shank of the firing pin?

Otherwise, it is great fun to shoot. If you hold still and do not do anything silly with the trigger finger, it groups quite nicely.

Also, no malfunctions thus far, about 300 rounds.

Bon Tir,

Dave

[Leon]

Greetings,

My "new" Unique DES/32U keeps offering surprises.

I discovered that the slide has been welded back together. The Welder did a nice job, however.

*************************************************************************************************************

A question regarding the firing pin and firing pin spring.

The springs I have look new and unaltered. Which end goes toward the shank of the firing pin?

Otherwise, it is great fun to shoot. If you hold still and do not do anything silly with the trigger finger, it groups quite nicely.

Also, no malfunctions thus far, about 300 rounds.

Bon Tir,

Dave

Hmmm.. interesting. My Des 32 came with two slides. The one fitted is perfect, but the other one is cracked. I am wondering if it is possible to re-weld so the repair is invisible ? Then contemplating having it titanium nitrided to match my 96/U

[fc60]

Greetings Leon,

With the popularity of X-Ray scanners at the salvage/recycle centers, you should be able to determine the type of metal. I suspect it is similar to our 4140 alloy.

The Welder will now be able to repair it with the correct filler rod.

Mine was nicely done and reblued. You have to look closely to see the repair.

What gave it away, originally, were the letters D and E were hard to read on the DES32U roll mark. They had been polished away.

Mind, you need a professional welder. Someone certified to do aerospace work would be my go to guy. They are trained to work with the high strength alloys.

It would also be rewarding to build a combination heat sink and alignment jig.

Cheers,

Dave

[Leon]

Cracked slide DES 32

Picture of the cracked DES 32 slide....


My DES 32

My DES 32

DES 32 and 96 together

DES 32 & 96

[fc60]

Greetings Leon,

The cracked slide is well worth a repair attempt.

Regarding your DES32U, I see you have the optional heavy weight. Mine is a much smaller device.

Cheers,

Dave

[Dr. Jim]

Léon, Dave, mine came with that huge square profile weight. With it installed the pistol is somewhere around 100 grams over the ISSF limit. Since I put a sight base and an Ultradot on it for NRA match use, I never did fire it with that monster on it. I did see a note from some user in Europe I think, who milled off a lot of the mass o get a profile like the 260 gram version. Mine just sulks in a drawer in the shop.

Cheers Jim

[David M]

For fine weld repairs, look into having it Laser Welded.
I had a Hammerli slide done and was very impressed.

[Leon]

For fine weld repairs, look into having it Laser Welded.
I had a Hammerli slide done and was very impressed.

That is very interesting. Thank you for the advice David.

[Leon]

For fine weld repairs, look into having it Laser Welded.
I had a Hammerli slide done and was very impressed.

That is very interesting. Thank you for the advice David.

Question David - can I just post the slide to Laswerweld? It's not a "registerable" part - i.e. frame or barrel, so that should not pose a problem should it?

[fc60]

Greetings,

I have my DES32U up and running, sort of.

I purchased a new recoil spring from Sportec and I do not feel it is strong enough to restrict the slide from hitting the take down piece. I put Dykem on the two parts and, sure enough, the marker dye goes away.

I installed a spring designed for my FAS603 and it seems to help a little.

With my pistol, there is a second recoil spring, about 15mm long by 8.5mm diameter, that slips over the long spring which acts as a buffer.

Does any one have one of these short springs that is brand new? I need the free length to do some spring calculations prior to winding up a bunch of replacements.

It might just be that this shorter spring has shortened in length via fatigue.

Springs I can make on my lathe. The hard part is knowing the proper dimensions prior to starting work.

Cheers,

Dave

[fc60]

Greetings,

Underneath the DES32U grip screws are small O-rings.

Mine are all squashed and difficult to measure.

My best guess is that they are either 2mmx4mm (8mmOD). Or, 1.5mmx4mm (7mm OD).

Does any one have some new ones and, if so, post the dimensions.

O-rings are plentiful from my supplier. I just have to order bags of 100.

Cheers,

Dave

[Leon]

Just got my spare DES 32 slide back from the Laser Welder. Brilliant job.. They fixed up the previous cruddy repair job as well.