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advice on barrel and slide marks - normal or not?


jimbullet

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Just had over 1500 rounds through my STI DVC Limited and noticeably new markings can be seen and just wanted to check if this is all normal? I can see right in the middle of the first lug a scratching in the middle. When I try to feel the lug, its smooth but the wear marks (or friction marks) are noticeably different?

 

Is this normal?

 

dvc slide lugs.jpg

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Noticeably I have seen some more marks on the side too. But I can see the original barrel when hand cycling the gun, the barrel hood appears to have good clearance and it closes up smoothly. (when I was shooting the first 1000 rounds, I have not had this sort of markings on the slide but just noticed it now that I am up to 1500 rounds through it.

Thoughts?

dvc slide side.jpg

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Is this a new barrel that you just installed?  What do you mean " But I can see the original barrel when hand cycling the gun"?  See the original barrel???  Also, when you say  'the barrel hood appears to have good clearance" what do you mean?  It should fit with close tolerance both side to side and it should fit flat and snug against the rear of the slide when the barrel is in full lock-up.   Can you take some clearer, close up pics. I can't tell what you are seeing in the second pic.   Adding light may help.  

 

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The DVC is still with the original barrel and nothing has been changed.

 

What I meant by hand cycling the gun, the lock up and the fit of the barrel appear to be all good but I noticed the "polished" area on the slide near the left side of the barrel hood which suggest that the side of the barrel hood may be scraping on the slide (?) Is this normal?

Also the lug (first photo) appears to have some strange scratching in the middle of the first lug on the slide - again is this normal?

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 I don't believe that is normal at all.

Appears as though the barrel is not dropping correctly

Send that photo to STI and see what they say, I figure they'll want the gun back to properly fit that barrel and maybe put a new slide on it.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 1/3/2017 at 3:15 AM, jimbullet said:

My other 1911 pistol does not do them though... So I figure the rubbing on the slide could mean wrong fitting?

Your other 1911 may not have the hood fit as tightly as this one. It's not a problem it is an indication of a tightly fit barrel, keep it lubed and shoot it.

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Marks on the side of the breech face aren't due to the hood being fit "tightly."  It's because the corners of the hood and slide aren't beveled.  So when barrel comes back into battery, you have two sharp corners impacting each other and the peening you see is the result.  Beveling those surfaces is pretty much SOP for custom gun.  Apparently not so on STI.  Marks on the locking lugs are most likely due to improper barrel fit and insufficient link down clearance.

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Your monitor and eyesight are better than mine, I didn't see any peening. You are absolutely correct about beveling the hood, not just to prevent the corner crashing into the slide but also to make sure the corners of the hood clear the corner of the slide which may have a little radius to it. Been breaking those corners for at least 40 years so obviously I need to use a real computer monitor and pay more attention before posting. 

Edited by Ross Carter
grammer
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You can bevel both contact surfaces on the barrel and slide with a flat needle file, then polish with some sandpaper wrapped around the file.  It doesn't have to be a lot.  Maybe .050" or so.  You'll be filing through the chrome to do this, but that's already messed up due to the parts impacting each other.  As for the top of the barrel and bottom of the slide, that's a much more complicated problem and could involve a number of issues related to barrel fit.  You can't just change to a shorter link.  That would most likely cause binding on the bottom lugs (unless those are recut), prevent solid barrel lock up, and also reduce or eliminate frame contact on link down, which would lead to broken links and other problems.  Best bet is to take it to a competent gunsmith to get it checked out.  

Edited by ltdmstr
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