jwrig Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 Any help/advice here for lapping the rails on factory single stacks? They fit fine but aren't "slick" like a good custom fit. What grit compound do you use? What brand? How long or how many strokes (that sounds nasty)? Are you lapping other contact areas as well? I bought a pistol that had accurails from a guy. I asked why he had them installed. He said he lapped the rails until they were almost nubs. Scared me. That's why I'm looking for advice. Thanks - Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HSMITH Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 JB Bore Paste will be a good one for you. It will move .0005" of metal in the tight spots and basically nothing where it isn't tight. In reality you will hard pressed to do any damage, it would take forever and a dedicated effort with a grit as fine as JB. For the glass on glass feel you need to lap, tighten, lap, tighten, lap, and keep going until you have most of the rails tight and smooth. Then clearance for plating and/or lubricant with an appropriate grit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gans Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 Agree with HSMITH. You need to tighten the slide to frame then lap. Repeat until you get the smoothness desired without play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 ...the rails on factory single stacks...aren't "slick" like a good custom fit... My glock is the same way. (sorry, early morning joke) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cking Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 Unless you tighten the fit it really isn't worth the trouble because your just going to make it looser [is that a word] Also from what I've seen hammered rails don't last that long anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gans Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 Unless you tighten the fit it really isn't worth the trouble because your just going to make it looser [is that a word]Also from what I've seen hammered rails don't last that long anyways. Agree with cking. Peened rails will not last long if shooting a lot. Welding the rails would last a bit longer if you don't care about the appearance of the welds, but it costs more. Going to Accu-rails would last even longer if you don't care about dealing with the rails, but that cost more also. Or you could build a custom guns and get that smooth tight fit like jwing wanted in the first place. Son of a gun, sounds like you get what you pay for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 Or you could build a custom guns and get that smooth tight fit like jwing wanted in the first place. Son of a gun, sounds like you get what you pay for. As all the gunsmiths know... building the damn thing right from the get go is the only real way... And, yes, you do tend to get what you pay for... I handled a 1911 built by a very well known smith today at Cabelas that was only $1200. The checkering was nice... otherwise... slide to frame was sloppy, barrel fit was sloppy (play at the front and at the back)... I bet if I took that $1200 to my smith with a frame and another couple hundred bucks I'd get something about 100% better out of it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 jwrig, There are other areas that may needs some attention other than lapping the slide and frame rails. What is your gun doing? Maybe it has some drag in other areas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2alpha Posted May 25, 2006 Share Posted May 25, 2006 Wow the guy that lapped his rails down to nubs must look like the Hulk. The smooth action on a nice custom 45 is the result of more than just slide fit and is achieved with hard work and oh yeh knowing what your doing. Lapping slides is one of the worst things an amature should do, it often results in taper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cking Posted May 25, 2006 Share Posted May 25, 2006 There are kinda two types of 45's. Tight.... slide/frame, barrel lockup, bull or tite bushing. Loose, everything is loose! I've seen both types run and run, at 25 yards Tight is better, but how much 25 yard do we shoot with our slabside. I've seen several loose guns that were darn good at 25! I don't think it is worth remaking a loose into a tight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwrig Posted May 27, 2006 Author Share Posted May 27, 2006 jwrig,There are other areas that may needs some attention other than lapping the slide and frame rails. What is your gun doing? Maybe it has some drag in other areas? It functions very well and, pardon my plebian thoughts, is a "truck gun". Yes, I know custom is better. I have 3 of them. Really, I'm just looking to smooth the function for cheap. The other components are probably contributors to the feel as well. It's not a big deal, just looking for something better for minimal money. Any more ideas? Thanks, Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted May 28, 2006 Share Posted May 28, 2006 Maybe one of the regular smiths will chime in, I don't do enough with the 1911 to have much input. I would look to tear the gun down and isolate components so that I could see where and when they might be dragging on each other. For example, you can take all the springs, trigger parts, barrel, etc. out. Get down to just the slide and frame. Then you can see if there is clearance for the the ejector...no overhanging firing pin stop to drag... When you put the disconnector in, you can tell how much drag that adds. Adding the recoil spring and assembly will let you know how much dragging of the rough spring tunnel adds...etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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