does tight barrel lockup matter?

[waktasz]

I have a 6 inch 2011. It is accurate as hell and reliable. The slide rattles on the frame and the barrel locked up not very tight. With the hammer back, the slide moves freely back and forth with no "bank vault" type barrel lockup.  Is it true a tight barrel fit softens felt recoil? I don't have an issue with recoil but any improvement would be welcome. 

[tmz]

 I never heard of a "tight  barrel fit" softening felt recoil.   This will be interesting to see what others have to say.

[rustybayonet]

The best firearm is the one you can hit the target with. On a firearm what matters is how it sits when the primer goes.

[Shmella]

From what I've gathered, (not saying much) easy unlocking isn't an issue at all, some would say it is preferred. When it is "locked up" the barrel shouldn't move in the slide.

Watch atlas gunworks YouTube videos, he talks about easy unlocking of the barrel.

I think if it is hard to rack the slide whether the hammer is cocked or not the barrel isn't fitted correctly and will wear into place by firing the gun which kind of batters it into the final fitting. This will result in a looser fitting gun in The long run compared to a gun fitted corectly from the start. When I read locks up like a vault I don't correlate that to being hard to Unlock the barrel from the slide. That's my take on it. I'm also curious to what others have to say. 

Edited October 4, 2016 by Shmella

[BeerBaron]

does it matter? theoretically yes. the fit of the barrel to the slide is generally considered the most important part of 'fit' in the pistol (especially for guns where the sights mount to the slide). However there is most definitely a range of what is acceptable. what exactly that level of tolerance is (in thousands of an inch) I'm sure there is plenty of debate over.

I have seen guns that were less than 'tight' that still functioned well and still shot accurately. 

[johniac7078]

You can probably fix your gun with a good bench grinder and a hammer.   Or maybe take a dremel to it after you drink a bottle of whiskey.  

[MHitchcock]

Lock up matters to a degree. From what I can gather from conversations with a builder, super tight tolerances (I.e. Zero slide play) are not as important as people believe. Pick up a limcat, they are not insanely tight like an Svi but they are still accurate and still win championships. 

[zzt]

I think what BB meant to say was it is more important if the sights are mounted to the frame, not the slide.

Here is my take.  On 1911s that I intend to use for bullseye shooting, I fit the barrel tight, but not insanely so.  When I take the slide off and remove the guide rod and spring the barrel will not fall out of battery.  Even if I remove the bushing it will not fall.  I have to push on the top of the hood to get it to release.  It doesn't take much pressure, and it makes a snick sound when it releases.  Accuracy is superb.

For pistols to be used in action shooting, I want the lugs locked up tight, but leave a tiny bit of clearance on the rear of the hood.  Something on the order of.0005" to .001" is fine.

If your barrel is properly fit and the sight is mounted on the slide, there can be an amazing amount of play in the side to frame fit and the gun will still shoot accurately.  My TS have a tight slide to frame fit.  I bought another upper for it so I could switch back and forth from Open and Limited.  Fit is really loose, but the barrel and bushing are fit perfectly.  Accuracy is same hole at 15 yards.

About conventional wisdom: I had always been told that fitting the hood on a 1911 was important, because it was one of the three points of lockup.  I'm not so sure anymore.  I have a Kart NM barrel with a hood that had been buggered up trying to fit it to a slide that was waaay out of spec.  I decided to try it in my bullseye gun to see what would happen.  I fit the bushing and the bottom lugs.  The barrel went into battery perfectly with absolutely no movement at all.  The hood was .012" too short.  It had .005" clearance on one side and .007 on the other.  Amazingly, it shot fine and accurately.  I was quite surprised.  I'd never use that barrel for anything, but the exercise was eye opening.  It proves to me that top and bottom lug fitting and bushing fit are more important that the hood.

[jon49erfan]

Someone just did an article about barrel lockup (brownells, maybe?). They had a loose fitting barrel in a factory gun and wanted to see if it was a factor. Put gun in a Ransom rest and shot groups. It shot very well. Next the tester pushed on the barrel horizontally, moving it to the end of the "wiggle". Rounds flew a few inches off to the side. Pushed on it again before firing, same spot off to the side. Next he pushed on it in the opposite direction, same size group, but in the other direction. He concluded that the lockup was not as important as the barrel returning to the same spot after each shot.

Keep in mind, this was with a rest. When you introduce running and quick movement, I imagine that it's possible the barrel can move out of it's "resting" position.