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Sidearms & Scatterguns a little 1911 advice if you would please

AXEMAN

General Nuisance
Full Member
Minuteman
Sep 17, 2009
5,037
4
kansas, topeka
my first 1911 was a AMT Hardballer. I bought a Kimber after that and have a few others I want to buy as well. I have thought about selling the AMT, but I hate to sell my firearms. it shoots good, but needs a trigger job. I bought some Wilson internals for it and wanted to install them myself. I bought a few books on the 1911 and have watched a bunch of vids on youtube. I just don't think I would have everything I need to do it properly and im not sure if I want to invest in all of the tools to do it properly. and honestly I don't know what all id need besides stones and a jig and what else I really don't know. I have a Kuhnhausen book, its very technical.

now tg338 had hers redone with colt internals and loves it, says It made a big difference. so I know it can be improved. i don't have a good 1911 smith i can sit down with and talk to, so i need advice. i found a guy that says he can give it some attention and make it better. he offers these services for $300. "full trigger job, fit and tune extractor, fully throat and Polish barrel to frame, hand lap frame to slide, and cut muzzle to 45 degrees."

is that a lot for that work? do all of those things make a 1911 perform better as a package? i know the muzzle crowning isn't a performance item, but what about the rest? i don't want to polish a turd. not too much at least, lol. but i don't think ill be selling it and i do want it to be as reliable as possible. the trigger job i can get for $70 at triggerwork.net but what about the rest of that stuff?

thanks.
 
If you're just wanting to get a better trigger, I would pick up a Cylinder and Slide kit. It comes with the Hammer, Sear, Disconnector, and Sear Spring which you can pretty much just drop in. You might have to refit the Thumb Safety after changing out those parts.

As for the $300 package, I suppose all those pieces of work would probably add up to that much. The Extractor work and barrel throating are reliability enhancements. If your gun already works reliably, you don't need to mess with these parts. I kinda wonder what he means by hand lap slide to frame. How is the slide to frame fit as it is?

The more important thing on the accuracy side is the barrel and the barrel fit.
 
+1 for the Cylinder & Slide kit. You'll get a good trigger and replace MIM parts
 
do you guys think they are better than the Wilson combat stuff I have already bought? its the value line of stuff, it is MIM, I did not know that. all all the current stuff is original so I don't know if AMT used MIM parts when this was made. its a stainless gun.

as for reliable, after a mag change when I drop the slide, it will on occasionally get the round jammed against the roof of the barrel and not feed. now that could just be my cheap mags too. ill be getting some better mags soon, Wilson or McCormick probably.


the slide to frame fit isn't bad, a little wiggle, not much though.
 
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Did the Wilson parts come as a matched kit? If not, then you may have to stone the Sear. You could probably install the parts you have and see how the trigger feels.

The nice thing about the Cylinder and Slide kit is it's a prepped set of parts. I've installed two and didn't have any trouble. I might have tweaked the Sear Spring a little bit to my liking.

As for your occasional Failure to Feed, that could be the mag. Or it could be the throat of the barrel. Try a known good mag first and see what happens.
 
well I think I got it solved. I sold the Hardballer, lol. the Wilson Value line is MIM. I was looking up a few parts when a guy made me an offer I couldn't refuse.
 
well I think I got it solved. I sold the Hardballer, lol. the Wilson Value line is MIM. I was looking up a few parts when a guy made me an offer I couldn't refuse.

Now have a custom 1911 built by a reputable builder and never look back.
 
Hardballer

well I think I got it solved. I sold the Hardballer, lol. the Wilson Value line is MIM. I was looking up a few parts when a guy made me an offer I couldn't refuse.

IMO, that was the very best thing you could have done!
 
as for reliable, after a mag change when I drop the slide, it will on occasionally get the round jammed against the roof of the barrel and not feed. now that could just be my cheap mags too. ill be getting some better mags soon, Wilson or McCormick probably.

This can also be caused if you are using a thumbs forward grip, and have your support hand contacting the slide release (assuming you're right handed). You don't have to have your thumb placing much pressure on it, as even contacting the side of it can slow the rotation of the catch enough to induce those kind of malfunctions, as it happened (and continues to happen when I haven't shot my 1911 recently) with mine. Mags and ammo are a variable as well, but the problem can carry over to other pistol/mag/ammo combos, and it's good to check that you aren't doing this.

And if you're looking for a good lower-priced 1911 the Springfield Range Officers are quite nice and accurate for simple guns.