Installing Wilson Extended Magazine Release In 1911

[rgkeller]

Have a Colt 1991 for IPSC Single Stack.

I would like to add a Wilson Extended Magazine Release.

I am a field strip and clean guy.

Can I replace the existing mag release without taking the pistol apart?

If so, how?

Do I need other parts besides the Extended Mag Release?

Thanks.

[PaulW]

Easy as pie....MOST of the time.

To remove the old mag release make sure pistol is unloaded. Depress the mag button about half way and with a small screw driver turn the screw in the mag release counter clockwise. It then should come right out of your frame. Take and turn the same screw clockwise to remove the retaining screw and the spring. Put the spring and retaining screw into your new mag release. Slide it into your frame (this is where the most comes into play. Sometimes they don't just drop in). If it does drop in take and rotate the rataining screw clockwise while hold the mag button out about half way. The retaining screw should fall right into the slot. Check and make sure your mags all fall free. I usually have to grind some off so the button does not pin the magazine into the frame. Hope all this made sense. Harder to explain than do. I could have done it before I finished typing this.

[rgkeller]

Easy as pie....MOST of the time.

To remove the old mag release make sure pistol is unloaded. Depress the mag button about half way and with a small screw driver turn the screw in the mag release counter clockwise. It then should come right out of your frame. Take and turn the same screw clockwise to remove the retaining screw and the spring. Put the spring and retaining screw into your new mag release. Slide it into your frame (this is where the most comes into play. Sometimes they don't just drop in). If it does drop in take and rotate the rataining screw clockwise while hold the mag button out about half way. The retaining screw should fall right into the slot. Check and make sure your mags all fall free. I usually have to grind some off so the button does not pin the magazine into the frame. Hope all this made sense. Harder to explain than do. I could have done it before I finished typing this.

Got the thing in but the button is very very very hard to push in. Do I have to take off metal? Where?

[jtipping]

Easy as pie....MOST of the time.

To remove the old mag release make sure pistol is unloaded. Depress the mag button about half way and with a small screw driver turn the screw in the mag release counter clockwise. It then should come right out of your frame. Take and turn the same screw clockwise to remove the retaining screw and the spring. Put the spring and retaining screw into your new mag release. Slide it into your frame (this is where the most comes into play. Sometimes they don't just drop in). If it does drop in take and rotate the rataining screw clockwise while hold the mag button out about half way. The retaining screw should fall right into the slot. Check and make sure your mags all fall free. I usually have to grind some off so the button does not pin the magazine into the frame. Hope all this made sense. Harder to explain than do. I could have done it before I finished typing this.

Got the thing in but the button is very very very hard to push in. Do I have to take off metal? Where?

Does it feel like it is 'dragging' to push it, or does it feel like the spring pressure? You might want to check that the spring and the retaining cap/screw are inserted properly in the new mag release and not caught somewhere.

If it is dragging, you may need to polish it a bit with some light sandpaper or a dremel or similar. The magazine release 'body' may be a tiny bit oversized. You could try and look at the new one against your old mag release and see if you can see an obvious areas that might need a small amount of metal removed, or you could put a bit of marker on the mag release, insert it and push it a few times, then remove and see where the marker is most removed. Don't remove any drastic amounts of metal straight away, but a bit of a polish might really help.

[boo radley]

My Wilson extended magazine release arrived in today's mail. I've got to say -- it dropped in with ZERO problems, and I'm the kind of person who shouldn't be trusted with a screwdriver, much less a file. Took *maybe* 3 minutes.