shadetree Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 After 20,ooo pluss rounds my barrel bushing exploaded on me. Of cource it happened in the middle of a steele match on a day when I had not brought a back up gun. any way enough self pitty What I am wondering is two thing. How hard is ti to properly fit a barrelbushing. Is it something a novice can easilly do. If not should I by a drop in or would I be better off paying a smith to do it? Money is short right now so I am hesitant to spend more money than I need to. The gun is a stock kimber custom classic. Although nothing fancy it is more accurate than I and I really love to shot it. As always andy input would be greatly apriciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reneet Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 The answer to this question would be relative to your gunsmithing ability. This is not something I would personally tackle on my own. You can have a gunsmith do it for you for under $ 50 including the new bushing. That would be my recommendation. There are many on this forum that can take care of this for you quickly. Clark Custom (send to my attention and I'll put a rush on it), Benny @ Triangle, Bob @ Brazos Custom, etc. Renee Clark Custom Guns, Inc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Sweeney Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 Order of choices for those not inclined to experiment: 1) Send it back to Kimber with a note asking if bushings are supposed to "explode" after only 20k. 2) Send it to a decent or better gunsmith for fitting, with instructions to make it "finger takedown without being loose." 3) Measure the inside of the slide, the outside of the barrel, check the Brownells catalog for the bushing that is the best/closest fit. You'll probably be calling the help line at Brownells two or three times before you're done. In any case you'll be without it for two weeks to two months. Why do you think we all have anywhere from two to ten backup guns? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshua Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 I know it's not mentioned much here, but Briley has the spherical bushings and you have option on the outside dimension of the bushing for a nice fit, and the titanium nitride coated ring can also be ordered in different sizes. I have fitted several bushings from Wilson that were suppose to be minimum fitting and with the limited machinery I have I got the outside dimension to fit really nice in my STI slide, of course the barrel came with the bushing as a kit. Some kits have specifications on them, but I wouldn't trust them because they could be off sometimes. josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PistolJim Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 Check the EGW web site. There now making a bushing thats specifically made to fit Kimbers. The fit is tight requiring a bushing wrench to take it off. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadetree Posted April 18, 2004 Author Share Posted April 18, 2004 Thanks for the input. Heere is another relatedquestion. I've not had anything breakk on a gun before and have only owned 1911's for about 5 years. How long does a barrel bushing typically last? I do shoot soome major power loads{ about a 170 pf} but nothing realy abusive. I use an 18lb recoil sring do you think that could have something to do with the failure. As always you all are a great help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PistolJim Posted April 18, 2004 Share Posted April 18, 2004 I don't think the 18# recoil spring had anything to do with it. I run a 12# recoil spring @ 170PF. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshua Posted April 18, 2004 Share Posted April 18, 2004 Some bushings are made beefier than others. If you were using an 18 lb recoil spring, how often did you inspect/change it. One design that I've gotten to like when using a bushing barrel is the Briley spherical bushing design that uses a reverse type recoil spring plug. It looks nice and would definitely outlast a conventional type bushing. I used this set-up on a 38 super open gun when PF was 175. I fired close to 40K rounds until I learned the heavy cone lock up barrel was the way to go in reducing recoil. I still have that bushing and it looks like it still has lots of life ahead of it if I decide to install it on another gun. And no I don't work for Briley. josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBF Posted April 18, 2004 Share Posted April 18, 2004 I like the Briley too. You can order the size of sphere that fits your barrel. ( add .001 to actual measurement ) The oversized bushing can be turned down to fit your slide. ( a mandrel is available which threads into the back of the bushing, you can " turn " it with a half inch drill if you are careful ) How ling they last I cannot say, mine is still tight after at least 5K rounds of pin loads ( 190 - 215 PF ). Travis F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Merricks Posted April 18, 2004 Share Posted April 18, 2004 Number 3 of what Pat said is what I did and had no problems. I'll try to find which one I ordered but I'm not sure if that would fit your Kimber or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wide45 Posted April 19, 2004 Share Posted April 19, 2004 A spring that is too long can wreck the bushing. A good quality solid bushing, properly fitted should last a long, long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhg Posted April 19, 2004 Share Posted April 19, 2004 shadetree wide45 has a good point. Did you add a shock buff? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoNsTeR Posted April 19, 2004 Share Posted April 19, 2004 Y'know, I'm thinking a heavy recoil spring might shorten a bushing's life, since the bushing gets impacted when the slide closes... Probably not a large factor though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reneet Posted April 19, 2004 Share Posted April 19, 2004 Thanks for the input. Heere is another relatedquestion. I've not had anything breakk on a gun before and have only owned 1911's for about 5 years. How long does a barrel bushing typically last? I do shoot soome major power loads{ about a 170 pf} but nothing realy abusive. I use an 18lb recoil sring do you think that could have something to do with the failure.As always you all are a great help. I've got 30,000 plus on my original bushing. Assuming there is nothing exerting unnecessary pressure, bushing should last almost indefinitely. We get bullseye guns in the shop all the time with their original bushings... 30 + years old and who knows how many rounds. Recoil spring weight irrelevant although as someone else mentioned, if the spring is too long, that will cause a bushing failure. Another type of failure I've seen is from an ill fitting full length guide rod getting cockeyed and causing the bushing to break. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadetree Posted April 20, 2004 Author Share Posted April 20, 2004 I have been using wolf springs and a single shock buff since I bought the gun. How can I tell ip the shockbuff spring combo is too long? If some stock bushing are lasting for over 300000 rounds I would have to assume that the quality of the kimber bushing is not ass good as it could be. What other bushings are you all using that your are happy with? obviously I don't want to be stuck again with this type of problem. I f therre is a better quality part I would prefer to spend a little more money than to have another failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBF Posted April 20, 2004 Share Posted April 20, 2004 Shade tree, Just my .o2, your combo is likely not too long. You can verify this by assembling without, make a mark on the slide and berrel. Assemble with, see if the mark still ligns up. The shock buff on it's own will take up some space, no problem. I say this about your combo cuz it's what I use. Travis F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadetree Posted April 23, 2004 Author Share Posted April 23, 2004 once again thank you for all the great info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadetree Posted December 18, 2005 Author Share Posted December 18, 2005 Here I am almost 2 years later and I finally got around the replacing my bushing on this gun. I bought a Wilson semi drop in busing .580. It fit realy nicely to the barrel. Fitting it to the slide was a different matter. I started off with 600grit sand paper. It took for ever and just didn't remove enough material. Next I got out my old dremle and a pollishing wheel. SAme thing. Finally I too a find sanding wheel and sanded away until ti almost fit. I then finished up with the pollishing wheel whith some polishig compound. I ended up with a very tight fit to the slide, bushing wrench only removal. Can a bushing to slide fit be too tight? I am assuming that as long as I can remove it it is ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wide45 Posted December 18, 2005 Share Posted December 18, 2005 Can a bushing to slide fit be too tight? Only if you need a hammer to install it. Check that the barrel locks up into the slide without excessive tension. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadetree Posted December 19, 2005 Author Share Posted December 19, 2005 I was able to get down to the range about 10 minutes before It closed. I know the RO who was kind enough to let me poast a target and put about 50 rounds down range before he closed up for the day. The gun seems to be working fine and as accurately as always. I was a little worried because at first the gun seemed to be shooting about an inch to the left. That seemed to clear up after a few rounds. Maybe I was fliching a little I have not had a chance too shoot for a little over a year. I will have to make a few more trips down to the range to be sure. Next time I will bring a second gun that I know shoot to point of aim. That should tell me if the gun is to blame or me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Sweeney Posted December 20, 2005 Share Posted December 20, 2005 You can lap the bushing to make it a bit easier to remove. Take the slide off and remove the bushing and barrel. Scrub the bushign and slide. Use Dykem or some other markign compound, and coat the bushing completely. Apply a bit of lapping compound (320 if you want to work quickly, 600 if you don't) and with a bushing wrench work the bushing back and forth. After a few turns, pull the bushing out and scrub it clean. Inspect to see where the Dykem has been worked off. Re-apply lapping compound on the bright spots, and repeat the process. After two or three trials, you should find the bushing a lot easier to move. Avoid getting lapping compound into the gap between the front face of the sldie, and the bushing, and on the locking lug of the bushing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadetree Posted December 24, 2005 Author Share Posted December 24, 2005 Thank you for the info. I will do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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