1911 Trigger Adjustment

[45Gunner]

I have an extensive collection of 1911's from different manufacturers. Needless to say, I have learned as much about the guns as I could. I have a personal friend that is a Master Gunsmith who has made many a modification for me by changing out parts, doing trigger jobs, etc. Recently, my friend notified me that he is moving out of state by the end of the Summer.

He is teaching me some of the tricks of his trade that I can do with just a minimal amount of tools. I have no desire to purchase heavy duty machinery such as he has in his shop. I plan on doing what I can to keep my guns functioning in tip top condition. I have 4 1911's that I use during my 4 weekly range outings. Each gun gets about 1000 rounds thru it monthly which means the Seer Spring needs adjustment from time to time to maintain the trigger the way I like it.

Just curious as to how many do their own 1911 work as I plan to do, and did it take "forever" before you got it right?

[Dixie Gunsmithing]

The 1911 is probably the most documented gun on earth, as far as working on one goes. The main thing to understand is doing trigger jobs correctly, and how to make sure the gun is safe. This can be done with minor hand tools and a few stones.

If you're working on one for target/high accuracy, as when you get into fitting slides to the rails, etc., you really ought to seek out a competent gunsmith. Here, precise measurements, and machining may be required.

[Hunter Customs]

Just curious as to how many do their own 1911 work as I plan to do, and did it take "forever" before you got it right?

I do all my own, no it did not take me a long time to get it right.
That being said I had a good Mentor that taught me well the basics of the 1911 pistol.

As for building the raceguns , machine work, silver soldering and other things pertaining to gunsmtihing, I'm self taught.

As for trigger work, I was taught to not cut hammer hooks shorter then .020, cut the proper catch and escape angle on the sear, match the sear and hooks to each other and you can set a trigger up with a 1 pound pull weight that breaks like a glass rod and not have hammer follow.

I wish you the best in your endeavors.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter
www.huntercustoms.com

[g.willikers]

Gotta' ask.
What kind of shooting are you doing that burns up 1,000 rds per gun, times 4 guns?
Do you have to buy all that ammo, or do you reload all 4,000 rounds every month?
I have always done my own maintenance and repairs, too.

[tangolima]

1911 is well documented. But unfortunately misinformation is also abundant. It is a primitive, although proven, design. It has its own issues that are not found in other pistols. I suggest do your own research before takimg up the tools. Just like reloading, you don't want to just listen to some total strangers playing experts on internet.

I'm one of those strangers, mind you.

-TL

[mete]

Fine books about gunsmithing the 1911 are available such as those by Kuhnhausen. Get them ,well worth the money !

[RickB]

Gotta' ask.
What kind of shooting are you doing that burns up 1,000 rds per gun, times 4 guns?

LOL. Yeah, if you have $2000/mo to spend on ammo, you can buy a new gun every time yours needs some work.
Seriously, buy by the Kuhnhausen shop manuals, some files and stones, and go for it. I never had even a high school shop class, but I do all my gunsmithing that doesn't really require a mill or lathe.

[45Gunner]

Gotta' ask.
What kind of shooting are you doing that burns up 1,000 rds per gun, times 4 guns?

I belong to a Gun Club that shoots once per week and another Gun Club where I shoot three times per week. I am also the Club Instructor. At the second Club, we do competitive marksmanship one day per week and tactical shooting the other two times. I have three other guys with me that comprise my team. We are members of the PBA and shoot competitively for them. And then every once in awhile we do an IDPA match.

At the first club, we shoot at a Public Range and have to shoot factory new ammo. At the second club, it is a Private Range and we are able to shoot reloads. We don't have the time to do our own reloading but do have a source where we buy factory remanufactured ammo in bulk. We pool our financial resources to do so.

Yes, it is costly but we are all retired and has become our passion...after giving up all the expensive boats and country club memberships. Needless to say, I enjoy the heck out of all of this. Hadn't have this much fun with guns since I was in Vietnam.

Oh, and as i originally posted, I regularly change out recoil and firing pin springs but of late I have had to have the seer spring tuned more often than I am used to. I want to be able to change out the spring myself and tune it instead of having my gunsmith friend do it for me all the time. I really have no desire to get into machining parts to fit, etc. Just want to keep it simple. Anything more than simple and it goes to someone that knows what they are doing.

While I'm on a roll here, I shoot perhaps three times a month at the second club with three other friends that are still active LEO. We do a heck of a job of challenging each other. But wait, there's still more. Once a month we get together and go to an outdoor range to give our AR's a workout with each of us expending an average of 500 rounds per outing. Makes for a full and tiring day but so worth the fun.

Anyone do a trigger job on an AR-15/M4 ?

[45_auto]

but of late I have had to have the seer spring tuned more often than I am used to. I want to be able to change out the spring myself and tune it instead of having my gunsmith friend do it for me all the time.

Changing or tuning a 1911 sear (it's "sear", NOT "seer") spring is pretty simple, and doesn't require any type of special tools.

As others have stated, get yourself some real documentation (Kuhnhausen) and be done with it.

[Sarge]

I have been rebuilding my own since the late 70's. What I learned was by trial and error.. I kept hearing about some Coon Housing guy who was supposedly a whiz gunsmith and veritable guru of the 1911. I finally bought one of his books and discovered that most of what I'd learned the 'hard way' was parallel to the shop manual. I could have saved myself the price of that book, several times over, if I had only purchased it 25 years sooner LOL. This is the best 35 bucks a 1911 owner can spend.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/199...rry-kuhnhausen

Trigger work should not be attempted w/o a reliable trigger pull gauge or a set of check weights. If you use a quality sear spring and related fire control parts, polished and mated properly at the outset, your trigger pull will not change significantly over tens of thousands of cycles.

[45Gunner]

I stand corrected: Seer not Sear. Just force of habit. Thanks for the correction.

(I knew that.)

[Hunter Customs]

If you use a quality sear spring and related fire control parts, polished and mated properly at the outset, your trigger pull will not change significantly over tens of thousands of cycles.

The above is true, the pull weight may lighten a little but it won't be much.
If your sear spring needs constant tuning to keep the pull weight in adjustment you have bad sear springs.

At one time I used sear springs that had four legs instead of three.
However the thinner legs of the four legged spring were not as durable and would fatigue and break at the most inopportune time, switched back to the Colt three legged spring and had no more problems.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter
www.huntercustoms.com

[45Gunner]

At one time I used sear springs that had four legs instead of three.
However the thinner legs of the four legged spring were not as durable and would fatigue and break at the most inopportune time, switched back to the Colt three legged spring and had no more problems.

Had coffee with my gunsmith friend yesterday and he said the exact same thing.

[Jim Watson]

I agree. I don't shoot 1000 rounds at a whack, but I do pile them up in weekly matches plus practice. I have never "tuned" a sear spring, not in 40 years.
FLG says Colt sear springs are best and Nowlin is good.
Others are not equal, Springfield factory springs are pretty sad.
The Clark 4-fingered sear spring looked good to start with but was a dead end and is seldom seen now.

[Sarge]

FLG says Colt sear springs are best and Nowlin is good.
Others are not equal, Springfield factory springs are pretty sad.

Agreed, Jim; and their small parts aren't much count either. I had several friends buy them over the last few years and I learned to wait for the emails... generally the Springfield Rubber Extractor would go soft in 600-1500 rounds.

[Jim Watson]

I am doing a lot of my IDPA ESP with a SA 9mm.
It is all SA except for the sear spring and extractor/firing pin stop.
The MIMware is holding up well at a 3.5 lb trigger pull.

[oldcspsarge]

for all of your pistol spring needs...get the BEST from Wolff

www.gunsprings.com

[g.willikers]

Has there been some kind of change in quality at Springfield lately?
My twenty year old Springfield 1911 has had many thousands of rounds through it and has yet to need any parts, other than a few recoil spring changes.
And it really didn't need those.

[Sarge]

Originally Posted by g.willikers

Has there been some kind of change in quality at Springfield lately?

I can't give an authoritative answer to that question. I can tell you that my youngest son has an '88 Springfield 1911A1 that has been in one side of the family or another since it was new. It has been utterly trouble free.