noob question

[t1nm4n]

I have always been a CAS shooter, and I don't think I had the best training when it came to proper stance, but I'm getting into 3Gun and I have a 1911 at my disposal, not the best to start with, but it's better than trying to shoot a 3Gun match with .45 Colt SAA.

So I noticed something when I was shooting a CCW course, I don't lock my elbows when I shoot, not something I ever noticed when I would shoot a SAA. Would this have adverse affects on a SA weapon, I have to ask cause I had all kinds of feeding issues with the 1911 I used Sunday. Not sure if it was the fact the 1911 is a parts gun, looser than (insert something really loose here), you get the picture. New mags, don't think they have been used until then. The ammo was nice weak loads my father loaded for CAS Wild Bunch matches, they make a PF of 160+ 230gr lead Round Flat Nose.

I noticed on the FF they were getting wedged between the slide and the mag, could my non-locked elbows be the cause, too strong of a slide spring, the new mags, or just some many possibilities that there isn't enough time or space to answer all of the causes?

I did noticed that the slide stop that is part of the seer set would not return to it's upright position. If you took the slide off and pressed down on the slide stop it would remain down until the trigger was slightly pulled and it would then reset itself, checked another 1911 for reference and slide stop would pop back in place when you removed your finger. Not sure what that little piece of metal is actually supposed to do, but I imagine if it's not working properly it might cause issues, how to fix that, the 3 prong spring is set correctly when compared to the other 1911, everything looks nicely polished so nothing should be dragging.

I just want to hear it's not my stance, my stance suits me and I like the recoil I absorb through my arms rather than having it come from the barrel, makes it easier for me to stay focused on my sight picture. I can change however as this is a new discipline and I wish to not make such a fool of myself with 150+ sec. stages. Jams don't help.

I would just go and buy another gun, but hey, what fun is it if you can't have every gun you own working flawlessly, that and I can't afford another gun after the gear, ammo and IRS payments, I hate the IRS.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Oh the pistol is a Remington Slide, Interarms Frame, Unknown barrel and unknown internals. Mags are either Colt or some of brand that were cheap at the time. It's a 5" Govt. model with lanyard loop and no magwell insert or baseplates for the mags. not sure what other info I can give.

[GuildSF4]

I did noticed that the slide stop that is part of the seer set would not return to it's upright position. If you took the slide off and pressed down on the slide stop it would remain down until the trigger was slightly pulled and it would then reset itself, checked another 1911 for reference and slide stop would pop back in place when you removed your finger. Not sure what that little piece of metal is actually supposed to do, but I imagine if it's not working properly it might cause issues, how to fix that, the 3 prong spring is set correctly when compared to the other 1911, everything looks nicely polished so nothing should be dragging.

That part is called the dis-connector, it should come back up by itself, if not the sear spring is set wrong, the middle leg on the sear spring could be a little short, or have burrs, or the dis-connector could have burrs, or the hole that it rides in could have burrs. (By burr I mean something is causing friction and preventing it from working properly, it can be very small.)

Or the hole could be at the wrong angle.

At any rate this needs to be fixed as it can cause doubling or full auto fire.

Edited April 9, 2013 by GuildSF4

[GuildSF4]

Feed failures can have many causes. Feed ramp not polished and throated, magazines, wrong springs (Recoil and Main spring), to name a few. Stance not likely, grip strength possible (limp wristing).

[Koppi]

What pound recoil spring is in it? i.e. 22lbs? that is to strong for a 160 PF if your taking the recoil in your bent arms. Try a 14 or 16lbs. Check your crimp, If your bullets are pushed in, that can case it to stop also.

good luck

[Mike21STI]

I would venture to guess it is a spring or mag problem

[t1nm4n]

After taking a closer look with a magnifying glass, it does appear that the Dis-connector is quite badly roughed up, so is the seer, I will replace those. I read that there are two different sized hole for the hammer and seer pin, which size is large and which is small, I can measure mine to se which I need, but on all the descriptions I read I didn't see actual measurements. I wish to replace the seer and hammer pins as well also. I should replace the hammer, if you could see how bad it was, you would probably get me kicked from the forums.

I plan on replacing the mainspring housing with one that has a magwell attached, is this something I should avoid as there are slight spec differences between each frame maker? The barrel is not as polished as it should be, and the ramp looks pretty steep, I'd say it's closer to a wall than a nice ramp, but not sure how much to take off, I'll just polish it up. The problem wasn't so much they wouldn't feed, it was they were getting stuck between the forward lip of the mag and the slide. someone had said it could be my mags, I'm kinda more along the line of it's the slide spring and my slightly bent arms, I don't limp wrist the gun, I do know I have a good firm grip and have my wrists locked, limp wristing I feel is unsafe gun handling.

Appreciate the help and advise, I will try and get the pictures of the Thumb safety, you just won't believe how bad that looks, maybe the ramp also, it just doesn't look right to me, not sure who did it, but it had been polished, maybe my dad gave it a shot, lol.

[t1nm4n]

This just looks nasty and time to replace, Like I originally said these were parts my dad had in a his cleaning box since he left the Navy in '71, he says he got them when he started on the Ships Shooting team in '69 or so.

These don't look as bad, but I can see how any rough surface on these might be a bad thing, not sure they are what is causing my issues, but they will get replaced before I shoot the gun again.

Just looks like it was once a bolt or something with threads, not good, gonna get replaced also.

I think I could do better, but this just looks too steep to me, but I won't do anything until I do some more research on a good ramp angle for reliability.

[Koppi]

Hi,

Please be careful with what you do next. It could cost you many $$$$ to fix. I would suggest you get a video from AGI or some other gunsmith training company. There is also a lot of information on u-tube.

This advise is coming from an old man who was once young and tried to "fix" his first 1911. I could have bought a Wilson for the money I waisted.

Good luck!

[t1nm4n]

I won't be doing anything drastic, but I will do my due diligence in researching how-to on a number of things, thank you for your insight, I have made many a mistake on past projects, as my dad says, measure 20times and cut once.

[GuildSF4]

The ramp on the barrel looks about right, hard to judge for sure in a photo. More important are the top edge of that ramp (which should be rounded to ease feeding), and that the point where the barrel ramp contacts the frame ramp. The barrel must not be over the frame ramp, there should be a small space between the top of the frame ramp and the bottom of the barrel ramp when the barrel is all the way to the rear. The AGI videos cover this better, just describing it a little bit.

[t1nm4n]

Much thanks, will be checking those AGI videos out right now.

Something I noticed, not sure if this is part of the problem or just a problem in general, The Dis-connector seems to be sticking in the hole it slides through, on the other 1911 I have here for reference, the Dis-connector is semi supported by the trigger bow, this is not the case with my problematic 1911, it appears there is close a 1/8" of space between the trigger bow and dis-connector, does this mean I might have the wrong trigger in the gun, it is some offbrand adjustable, not sure what that little allen screw actually adjusts but it's in there. appreciate the help everyone.

Edited April 10, 2013 by t1nm4n

[GuildSF4]

Forgot to mention this one earlier:

Possibly a short disconnector, I recommend an Ed Brown long disconnector. Polish all surfaces that contact i.e. where it contacts the sear spring, where it contacts the trigger bow, and the top (do not make it shorter, only polish).

If the allen screw is in the trigger shoe it is the over-travel adjustment.

Edited April 10, 2013 by GuildSF4

[t1nm4n]

I looked for the Ed Brown long Dis-connector to no avail, It seems to fit in there alright. I noticed however on the other 1911 that the trigger is flush with the sits in the frame, this is not the case with this parts gun. I had seen on a video for trigger jobs that some triggers have tabs that can be bent out so fit the trigger so that it does not travel to far forward. Could this be part of the problem, I will take some pictures to more precisely explain this.

[t1nm4n]

This is the 1911 I use for reference, nothing is holding the trigger in place that I know of, I have yet to take this one apart, don't think I will seeing how my father told me to only mess with his parts gun.

Decent angle and lighting, when you see the shots of the parts gun you will understand what I am talking about the gap between the trigger bow and dis-connector.

The trigger looks like it is pushed to far forward in the trigger guard also, but that might just be me, there is a lot more travel forward with that trigger than the reference, not sure if that's how they are supposed to be or not though.

[t1nm4n]

This shot you can see it's a decent amount of space and the trigger bow looks recessed in the frame to me, thought the trigger might be to short for the gun, but have yet to see a trigger with a long or short bow.

This is what I imagine would happen if I got a trigger with the tabs to keep the travel forward limited and that might just solve the issue with the dis-connector from sticking, it takes nearly no pressure from the trigger to allow the dis-connector to freely spring back up, but with the gap it seems the sear spring has it wedged in the hole and therefore it can't travel the way it was meant to.

Again thanks for your help and input.

[t1nm4n]

Well I solved the problem, it was that there was too much forward travel on the trigger, I carefully cut two wings from the trigger bow near the trigger, filed any rough edges so that it would slide smoothly in and out of the trigger slot, adjusted so that it was barely in contact with the dis-connector and wammo, dis-connector pops up after you press it down.

On a side note, after moving the trigger rearward I had an issue with the grip safety catching on something after a lot of inspection I found it was catching on the trigger bow, slowly filed some of the grip safety away until it stopped catching on the trigger bow and everything works the way it should, all safeties work correctly and there is virtually no slop in the trigger anymore. Did as a couple said smoothed the surfaces of all contacting points and wow, silky smooth in comparison to it's previous state, now it's time to go shoot it and see if it really works properly.

Thank you all for the help, and hope I don't bother you when I ask more questions, I like to learn as much as I can.