Mushki25 Posted September 19, 2017 Share Posted September 19, 2017 I recently borrowed my 2011 to a friend whom makes holsters to use as a stand in for one someone had ordered as he does not have one. He had asked me to check the trigger pull when I got it back and the pull was noticeably harder than the sub 2 pound pull it had before. I took the gun fully apart (for the first time) and noticed the tab that rest against the sear of the left finger was missing. I have ordered a replacement sear spring and feel fairly confident that I can adjust the new spring to give me a 2 pound pull by bending the fingers as required. Every article I have read states to start by adjusting the hammer and sear. I plan on skipping that part since the trigger was great before. Will I be able to skip this step? Nothing appears to have been damaged. I do not know where the broken tab went, nor do I know how exactly the sear spring tab broke. I was adamantly warned by the previous owner not to drop the slide on an empty cylinder or the trigger job would be damaged. I think this may have happened but do not know, nor care at this point. Any other tips will be appreciated. Thank you, Chad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubajosh77 Posted September 19, 2017 Share Posted September 19, 2017 Take it to a gunsmith. A Colt sear spring is $6 and a fair gunsmith shouldn't charge much to tune it and make sure nothing else is going on. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgj3 Posted September 19, 2017 Share Posted September 19, 2017 5 hours ago, Mushki25 said: I recently borrowed my 2011 to a friend whom makes holsters to use as a stand in for one someone had ordered as he does not have one. He had asked me to check the trigger pull when I got it back and the pull was noticeably harder than the sub 2 pound pull it had before. I took the gun fully apart (for the first time) and noticed the tab that rest against the sear of the left finger was missing. I have ordered a replacement sear spring and feel fairly confident that I can adjust the new spring to give me a 2 pound pull by bending the fingers as required. Every article I have read states to start by adjusting the hammer and sear. I plan on skipping that part since the trigger was great before. Will I be able to skip this step? Nothing appears to have been damaged. I do not know where the broken tab went, nor do I know how exactly the sear spring tab broke. I was adamantly warned by the previous owner not to drop the slide on an empty cylinder or the trigger job would be damaged. I think this may have happened but do not know, nor care at this point. Any other tips will be appreciated. Thank you, Chad Assume that you're saying the guy you got it from said to not dry-fire it...? Most of us dry-fire our 19/2011's a TON. You need to catch up with someone who knows their way around this platform and get all your info sorted out so that you have a better idea of the do's and don'ts of the 19/2011 platform. ***pistols dont have "cylinders", assume you're referring to the "chamber"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missed it by that much Posted September 20, 2017 Share Posted September 20, 2017 Sorry to hear about that and language aside if I had the answer to your question I'd help. You could just attempt it yourself if you're competent in your mechanical ability and your google senses. Worse case scenario you take it to a gunsmith. Best case scenario you gain skills in working on your pistolSent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kk4364 Posted September 20, 2017 Share Posted September 20, 2017 If you were able to take the pistol apart, I would say throw the new sear spring on and test function. If it passes safety and function test win win. Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mushki25 Posted September 20, 2017 Author Share Posted September 20, 2017 Thanks for the help so far. I was able to speak with a few 1911/2011 guys at league tonight. Everyone agrees that the sear spring is its own component and I will not need to address the sear, hammer or trigger bar. I will most likely need to adjust the sear spring but there is a slim chance I will not. Some guys believe I should not adjust it while others have. Google shows me how. I believe I will be able to get it back under 2 pounds and will update with the results. From what I have heard this evening it should be fairly easy to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken6PPC Posted September 20, 2017 Share Posted September 20, 2017 (edited) The OP is saying that he was told not to drop the slide closed with an empty chamber. I try to not make a habit of that myself, but I don't think it would be likely to damage the sear spring. I have seen 1911's with broken sear springs. I'm not sure what causes that, but I do know it happens. It is also a very easy repair... Drop a new spring in, and adjust tension of the three spring "fingers" as necessary. Done! If the OP doesn't understand what the three spring "fingers" are supposed to do, it would be best seek the help of a competent gunsmith... Or, use this as an opportunity to better understand how a 1911 works! In either case, safety and function tests must be passed before loading the pistol! (Google 1911 safety and function testing.) Edited September 20, 2017 by Ken6PPC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mushki25 Posted September 20, 2017 Author Share Posted September 20, 2017 1 hour ago, Ken6PPC said: The OP is saying that he was told not to drop the slide closed with an empty chamber. I try to not make a habit of that myself, but I don't think it would be likely to damage the sear spring. I have seen 1911's with broken sear springs. I'm not sure what causes that, but I do know it happens. It is also a very easy repair... Drop a new spring in, and adjust tension of the three spring "fingers" as necessary. Done! If the OP doesn't understand what the three spring "fingers" are supposed to do, it would be best seek the help of a competent gunsmith... Or, use this as an opportunity to better understand how a 1911 works! In either case, safety and function tests must be passed before loading the pistol! (Google 1911 safety and function testing.) Thank you. I do understand what each of the leafs do. I have a fairly good idea of what I need to do. I was mainly worried if I would have to fuss with the sear/hammer interface. I did not think I would have to and after checking with the local guys, I now know that I will not. I worked a fair amount of years as a process engineer and have a habit of trying to eliminate any potential problems, aka I overthink things. I would still like to know if it's an old wives tail to not drop the slide on an empty chamber. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken6PPC Posted September 20, 2017 Share Posted September 20, 2017 6 hours ago, Mushki25 said: I would still like to know if it's an old wives tail to not drop the slide on an empty chamber. Here is a link: https://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=843425&highlight=dropping+slide+empty+chamber Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunkyTownAggie Posted September 20, 2017 Share Posted September 20, 2017 (edited) I'd say go and try the new spring yourself. Adjust them so they all at least touch (leave the grip safety off for this so you can see it). Then tune the middle spring to at least give you 8oz before the trigger starts to move. This will ensure you don't get hammer follow from trigger bounce. Then after that tune the left spring that's on the sear to get you to your final pull weight. Assuming you're hammer/sear are good, you should have no problem tuning to a reliable 2lb. I recommend dropping the slide via slingshot/slide stop on an empty chamber a couple times to make sure it doesn't hammer follow. Obviously don't do this many times as it may cause damage as mentioned above but if the hammer doesn't fall in this situation, then you can feel good about the hammer not following when you do have a loaded magazine in the gun. Edited September 20, 2017 by FunkyTownAggie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mushki25 Posted September 22, 2017 Author Share Posted September 22, 2017 On 9/20/2017 at 8:19 AM, FunkyTownAggie said: I'd say go and try the new spring yourself. Adjust them so they all at least touch (leave the grip safety off for this so you can see it). Then tune the middle spring to at least give you 8oz before the trigger starts to move. This will ensure you don't get hammer follow from trigger bounce. Then after that tune the left spring that's on the sear to get you to your final pull weight. Assuming you're hammer/sear are good, you should have no problem tuning to a reliable 2lb. I recommend dropping the slide via slingshot/slide stop on an empty chamber a couple times to make sure it doesn't hammer follow. Obviously don't do this many times as it may cause damage as mentioned above but if the hammer doesn't fall in this situation, then you can feel good about the hammer not following when you do have a loaded magazine in the gun. Well it's fixed. Functions perfectly with a crisp 2.4-2.6 trigger pull. Took a few tries to get the disconnector to work as it should. I don't really know why it gave me fits but full take down and reassemble fixed it. I could probably adjust the sear leaf slightly lower but I'm done for the night. I think I will reduce the trigger pull on my 1911 before I come back to this one, 2.5 pounds is fairly good but before it broke I had a sub 2 pound pull. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwhittin Posted September 24, 2017 Share Posted September 24, 2017 Did it pass all the safety tests? Even dropping the slide on an empty chamber? When ever I work on my trigger, I drop the slide about 4 or 5 times just to make sure its stable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mushki25 Posted October 1, 2017 Author Share Posted October 1, 2017 Update Gun is fully fixed now but it was not a direct path to get here. The first sear spring I installed was shorter than the one originally in the gun. I just figured it was a difference in manufacturing tolerances. This created a problem when I was firing the gun the disconnecter leg could get under the disconnecter. Turns out SVI triglide systems have a shorter disconnecter and longer sear spring. I ordered two triglide sear springs. Both needed the tab on the sear side removed to fit the gun, no space in there for the tab. With the tab removed there is only about .020 clearance. This means the original sear spring with the missing tab was not the problem after all. Back to the drawing board. The heavy trigger pull only happened with a mag freshly inserted into the gun. I could replicate the problem by pushing back on the bottom of a mag. The gremlin was a simple fix. Some how my over travel screw went in just a smidge too far. Now that I backed it out a quarter turn everything is fine. On the bright side I now have two new sear springs set for a clean 1.5 lb trigger pull, one in the gun and a spare. I also have the old one as a backup. I understand the gun a lot better. The gun has a few hundred round as setup and I am confident it's fully fixed. I do find it strange that the overtravel screw can be fine without a mag but with one be just a little too far in but that was the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunkyTownAggie Posted October 4, 2017 Share Posted October 4, 2017 (edited) On 9/30/2017 at 11:43 PM, Mushki25 said: Update Gun is fully fixed now but it was not a direct path to get here. The first sear spring I installed was shorter than the one originally in the gun. I just figured it was a difference in manufacturing tolerances. This created a problem when I was firing the gun the disconnecter leg could get under the disconnecter. Turns out SVI triglide systems have a shorter disconnecter and longer sear spring. I ordered two triglide sear springs. Both needed the tab on the sear side removed to fit the gun, no space in there for the tab. With the tab removed there is only about .020 clearance. This means the original sear spring with the missing tab was not the problem after all. Back to the drawing board. The heavy trigger pull only happened with a mag freshly inserted into the gun. I could replicate the problem by pushing back on the bottom of a mag. The gremlin was a simple fix. Some how my over travel screw went in just a smidge too far. Now that I backed it out a quarter turn everything is fine. On the bright side I now have two new sear springs set for a clean 1.5 lb trigger pull, one in the gun and a spare. I also have the old one as a backup. I understand the gun a lot better. The gun has a few hundred round as setup and I am confident it's fully fixed. I do find it strange that the overtravel screw can be fine without a mag but with one be just a little too far in but that was the case. The only thing I can think is the magazine might be pushing magazine release ever so slightly forward which in turn reduces the trigger over travel. Edited October 4, 2017 by FunkyTownAggie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcc7x7 Posted October 4, 2017 Share Posted October 4, 2017 On 9/19/2017 at 11:46 PM, Mushki25 said: I would still like to know if it's an old wives tail to not drop the slide on an empty chamber. I believe it causes a unusual vibration to the hammer and sear interface and can cause chattering on the parts. I "know" that folks who's triggers I've done and don't drop their slides I never get their guns back for trigger work. Those who do, I get them back for trigger "tune up" So my limited conclusion is don't drop your slide at full force. Besides when do you ever do that in a match / shooting situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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