racer x Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 i had a steel gun accu-railed 10 months ago and put maybe 25-25k rounds thru it with light powder puff loads...the frame to slide fit is noticeably loose side to side and up and down...is this normal?...i thought the accu-rail selling point was that the gun would never shoot loose?... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L9X25 Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 X, That is NOT normal. The gun should still be very tight with almost no perceptible movement. I had my gun railed many years ago and also ordered an extra set of slightly oversized rails for when it shot loose. I still have those oversized rails and have never been able to use them. Not all Accu-Rail jobs are equal and you must have gotten a bad job. You should check with the person that did the work for a solution. Sounds like too much slop to fix with simply larger diameter rails. Good Luck, Leo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulW Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 L9x25 is right, that is not normal. I have had several guns accu-railed, most lasted 25-30K before any noticiable slide-to-frame slop. What I did was change out one rail with the spare rails I had originally ordered. Tightened the gun right up. Now I will tell you not all accu-rail jobs are equal quality. There is only one guy I would let accu-rail my gun and thats Doug Jones, plus he's a hell of a good gunsmith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard franklin Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 bob krieger is the acc u rail inventor and i think the best at installing them mine are great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulW Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 richard, Are yours the roll pin type (rail held in place with a roll pin)? I would NEVER use that system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard franklin Posted June 13, 2003 Share Posted June 13, 2003 no my rails are not held in by roll pins! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheldon Posted June 18, 2003 Share Posted June 18, 2003 I think I had Doug Jones do my AccuRails job on my stainless Gold Cup. He was in Southern Ca. for a while wasn't he (in Desert Dunes or something like that?)? Does he still do that nowadays? I thought I got a note from him letting me know he was passing off his work to a new guy. Maybe he was just moving to a different area.....I don't remember. On my pistol the top of the frame was lowered a bit and I didn't think that was right. Seems to me there is less surface area to wear the fit loose than if there was full contact with the top of the frame to the bottom of the inside of the slide. Mine is a bit loose right now and I'de love to get a set of the next sized rails to try to tighten it all back up. What do those go for and who handles the Southern Ca. guys now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Sweeney Posted June 18, 2003 Share Posted June 18, 2003 Doug Jones is now in Michigan, Rochester Hills. He advertises in Front Sight. My only objection to railing is that once done there is no going back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L9X25 Posted June 18, 2003 Share Posted June 18, 2003 Pat, No flame intended but what are the REAL alternatives? When I first started shooting, I had 2 guns that were great but soon shot loose. I had gunsmiths tighten the guns back up only to have the guns shoot loose again within a few months. The method they used was to insert the appropriate size frame bar into the frame and then peen the top of the rails with a hammer. This made the frame rail wider and lower and allowed them to re-fit the slide to a tight fitting frame. When my STI open gun (built by Dave Dawson) started to feel loose I decided to take the plunge and have the gun Accu-Railed. The gun has over 60,000 rounds through it and is STILL tight. I currently have an SV gun that is tight but, based on my experience, would have it Accu-railed without a second thought beased on my experience with the first gun. Tom Wallace did my gun and his service was terrible. I was promied a specific turn around time and it took several weeks longer than promised but he did a good job. I agree that it is permanent and a real pain if you should crack a slide but I am still looking for an alternative. Leo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheldon Posted June 18, 2003 Share Posted June 18, 2003 Since the subject has been brought up here, I'll show what mine looks like. I thought the maximum contact between the slide and frame surfaces was desireable as it would take longer to wear out a larger surface area right? On my pistol it seemed to have an aweful lot of places relieved for clearance. I highlighted in red the spots that seem to bear all the contact between the slide and frame. Does this look right? There is noticeable vertical play in the fit of the slide and frame now. Don't know how many rounds have been thru it....but it's been less than some of the numbers mentioned by the other guys. Now is it just me.....or is that an aweful small amount of surface area to bear all that stress? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Sweeney Posted June 19, 2003 Share Posted June 19, 2003 Discussing mechanical problems from anecdotal evidence is difficult. I have several high-mileage 1911s with traditional rail-tightening done to them that are still reasonably tight and wonderfully accurate. The problems with the traditional method are several: You are limited by the alloy of the frame, and a soft frame will never hold its tightness. You are limtied by the thoroughness of the 'smith, and the more thorough he is the longer it takes and the more it costs. Efforts to "improve" function for competition purposes increase wear: lighter springs, lighter slides, powders on the fringes of fast or slow burn rates all increase wear. I'm just going to have to find a test gun to have railed, and personally see what large amounts of ammo do to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyaboutguns Posted June 19, 2003 Share Posted June 19, 2003 With the slide fully forward in battery, barrell and slide are forced upward by the slidelock pin in a properly fitted gun. Contact between the slide and top of the frame when the gun is in battery condition is not necessary. Lower surfaces of the frame top rails, and upper surfaces ot the slide bottom rails contact in a properly fitted gun in battery condition, irrespective of rail type. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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