Colt 1911 - Thumb safety question

[Grumpy]

Now come on Mark - I manage to cope pretty well with the ten year old pistol ban here - the withdrawel symptoms aren`t too bad - but a Gold Cup ? That`s just being mean !

I have a set of tiny diamond files that are ideal for jobs such as these. Ladies diamond nail files can also be very useful except that the backing boards wear very quickly.

[Mark]

Sorry I should have mentioned it, that gun is not mine I just grabbed it off the net!

I have a colt gov't issue, I think it is a 1943 model. This is my favorite picture of that gun:



I also have a Stainless AMT Hardballer, I'll take a pic of that sometime. It was the nicest pistol I could find when I bought it, but I didn't know much about 45's back then!

[mundaire]

As advised I removed the plunger (and spring) - and tried the safety without that - it moves smoothly... I also went ahead and replaced the new plunger and spring with the old one, immediately the older problem of the safety lever not "holding" came right back!

So I examined the new spring and plunger and carefully compared it with the older one... it seems the new one has a 2-3 extra coils and is much stiffer as compared to the older spring. Should I just wait for the new spring to "settle down"? Or would it be advisable to remove one coil of the spring and try again?

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[cottage cheese]

As advised I removed the plunger (and spring) - and tried the safety without that - it moves smoothly... I also went ahead and replaced the new plunger and spring with the old one, immediately the older problem of the safety lever not "holding" came right back!

So I examined the new spring and plunger and carefully compared it with the older one... it seems the new one has a 2-3 extra coils and is much stiffer as compared to the older spring. Should I just wait for the new spring to "settle down"? Or would it be advisable to remove one coil of the spring and try again?

Cheers!
Abhijeet

Well you could try trimming off half a coil at a time. Probably will work. Will be nicer than stoning or filing an operational part.

[Grumpy]

The problem is that the plunger still has to be holding against an inperfection. If the safety was perfectly smooth there`d be no anchor point. Just stone the inside edge of the safety first before you start chopping the plunger tube spring. If that doesn`t work you can then start removing turns half a coil at a time. You don`t want a situation in which the plunger tube spring becomes useless after its initial power has softened.

[Mark]

I'm with Grumpy on this one, polish/smooth the bearing surface first, a stiff spring should make little difference to your effort once the physical smoothing has been done.

Have you tried it with the new plunger & spring and old safety? If that works acceptably you can compare the two profiles to give you a better idea what needs to happen with the new safety.

[mundaire]

Once again thanks for all the responses! They have been most helpful

Have you tried it with the new plunger & spring and old safety? If that works acceptably you can compare the two profiles to give you a better idea what needs to happen with the new safety.

Did that last night and the old safety works nice and smooth with the new plunger/spring combination!

I have (very lightly) stoned the edge of the lever now and have the following situation as of now -

1. Cock & engage the safety, pull the trigger with the safety on, now disengaging the safety to bring the hammer to "half cock" position is possible while using only the thumb of the right hand. There is a slight stiffness though, but not too much.

2. Cock & engage the safety, DO NOT pull the trigger with the safety on, and disengage the safety to bring the gun to a "ready for fire" state. There is much more stiffness than in the above case, but no where nearly as bad as it was earlier. Disengaging the safety does however require the use of both hands to exert force on the safety lever.

What would you guys recommend I do now? Leave it as is, and allow the parts to wear in themselves through several engage/ disengage cycles? OR do some further stoning?

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[marksman]

http://www.e-gunparts.com/forum/forum2.asp?cat=7

Any questions or problems pertaining to gunsmithing or guns, refer to this friendly forum. Zeke is the main guy along with a lot more very knowledgeable people participating. They have advised and cured a lot of gun related problems collectively. Makes a very interesting reading as well.
Marksman