I’m not suggesting that you totally trick out your firearm, but there are a lot of things you can do to make your firearm your own without getting into legal trouble:
https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/blog/customizing-your-concealed-carry-gun/
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ummm… nothing, mostly. Apparently not a hot-rod kinda gal 
I will be adding night sights to pretty much everything I carry, and we’re looking at a grip sleeve and flat-faced trigger for my granddaughter’s EDC as well. She’s a little hot-rod-ier than I am 
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I did nothing to my EDC -> PPQ. It’s perfect. Nothing more I could make it better…
My range gun - RIA Ultra TAC HC ->
- trigger job to make it lighter
- tune extractor
- refinish thumb safety
- undercut trigger guard
- replace fiber rod at front sight to make it brighter
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Ok, in no way am I ‘modding’ my EDCs beyond a CTG grip laser,many magazines and a few keel leather holsters…
but, … my range hot rod… a Weihrauch HW100 has got a super sweet scope and lead bags…
nah, that’s not it…
well… I do dream of matching one of Wilson Combat’s 300 HAM’R complete bolt/upper assembly to my S&W MP-15 PC lower. (problem is that’s a seriously fine hunting rig and I barely walk a couple of miles in a day needing two days recovery afterward, so…)
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“Hot Rod” my EDC: Yuuuup!
I purchased it on my 21st Birthday, had it in layaway bought and paid for 6 months earlier. SS Colt Officer’s Model in .45 ACP.
30 days (roughly) after I bought it I took a hack saw and files to the frame to install an Ed Brown High Ride Beaver Tail so that it would sit lower in my hand to help manage recoil because she did kick a bit.
Tried multiple iterations of mainspring housings and mag well’s, even cut down a full sized Pachmyer to fit, finally ended up with a Smith & Alexander mainspring / magwell combo. They made one for a full size 1911 and I wrote them several LETTERS begging them to make one in the Officer’s format and sent them actual pictures of what I did to the Pachmyer to make it fit. They sent me one with a bill, which I happily paid, it showed up in the Brownell’s catalog 6 moths later.
Hammer & Sear:
Replaced the original with an oval which was nice but wouldn’t fit inside the beaver tail notch. Ended up “stepping” both sides of the hammer so as not to hit the slide sides. Ground off most of the back serrations and contoured it to fit in the Beaver Tail hammer well. Re contoured the “hooks” and mated it to the sear. The Sear of course had to be fitted to the hammer to maintain that lovely 3 lb glass brake trigger pull.
Barrel Locking Lug’s:
Chamfered them for a more positive barrel seat and less drag when cycling the slide.
Barrel Hood & Link:
After changing the link to get a better lock up I had to cut back the barrel hood.
Barrel Ramp & Frame Ramp:
After getting the lock up tightened up I re contoured and ground out the frame ramp and mated it to the barrel ramp. The gun will now effortlessly feed empty cases from the magazine.
Safety & Slide release:
I think I ended up with a King’s Slide Release and a Wilson Safety after multiple iterations and several failures and breakages.
Guide Rod:
Installed the first full length Guide Rod I could get my hands on. Again King’s, it required me to cut a bit of the slide dust cover off. Somewhere in the process of cutting I lost track and ended up with a shallow cut on the bottom of my slide 
Frame and rails:
After about 100K rounds she was getting a bit slide sloppy and I peened the rails and squeezed the slide via a kit from Brownell’s then spent HOURS/DAYS fitting them back together with cutting compound.
Sight’s:
Replaced them with Novak’s that overhung the back of the slide to give 3/4" more sight radius.
Extractor/Ejector: Tuned it so that if I do my job on a static target, all of my brass will land in a 12" bowl, 3’ right and 5’ back.
Grips:
Probably a dozen different ones when they became available.
Inside bits:
Every piece and bearing surface inside the pistol has been polished to a mirror finish including all the Series 80 bit’s which gave me fit’s.
It is a highly customized tool to fit ME. It is 100% reliable and safe. It has served me well in dispatching suicidal deer that have attacked my truck for no good reason while driving down the road, rabid foxes, raccoons & possums, feral dog’s & cat’s and more than it’s fair share of cottonmouth’s and copperheads. It has yet to jump up and randomly commit murder or discharge itself without human interaction, so I would say due to the modifications it is now a domesticated well heeled firearm.
Cheers,
Craig6
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No. I’m a “Street Sleeper” kinda guy. I want it to look mostly stock, but have a lot under the hood.
“Is that a 9 mm?”
“Nope. .45 with 230 grain +p flying ashtrays!”
I will change grips and sights as needed for improvement of use for me.
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I have some extremely “tricked out” firearms but none of my carry guns is or ever will be significantly modified.
I put aftermarket triggers in my XDM’s expressly for better trigger control which can easily be demonstrated as to make them safer for use as defensive firearms to a jury should it become necessary.
Adding lasers, lights/combo’s are mod’s you can make that you can demonstrate reduce risk to the public/bystanders etc.
I tell my students however to be very careful bout any other mod’s because there’s a good chance they will be used against you by a prosecutor should you end up in court if there’s any way at all they can argue such mods make the weapon deadlier or in any way more dangerous.
Even things like artwork such as “Punisher”/Skull emblems, “Kill’m All and Let God Sort’m Out” and similar such things can be used to show you as a reckless person or someone looking for an excuse to shoot someone legally.
Think carefully about any sorts of modifications before you make them and ask yourself, and/or your atty if there’s any way they could be used against you in the future.
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My edc has night sights and pmags. My rifle has a sling and quick connect grip with light/laser combo and red dot.
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