For the last few months I have been tinkering around with a 1911 build - nothing fancy, GI-style, generic parts.
A couple problems that have come up though, so I figured I'd throw them up here to see if the wealth of NES experience could be of some help.
First: The grip safety. I'm using the basic GI style grip safety, nothing fancy and nothing fitted; however when the safety / mainspring housing / etc. is assembled the grip safety has no "spring" to it. Just kind of sits there. I can move it back and forth by hand and it seems to engage the trigger OK, so it seems that the third leaf of the sear spring may not be doing its thing. Is this likely a problem caused by a cheap sear spring?
Second: Grip safety lacklusterness notwithstanding, I can assemble the frame and everything works OK. I'll put a piece of plastic between the hammer and frame and it will cock and the hammer will fall when the trigger is pressed. Thumb safety A-OK. Install the slide and everything comes to a halt. The gun will cock but the hammer will not fall. I'm guessing problem #2 may be disconnector related. Does it seem likely that the half-moon groove in the bottom of the (Essex) slide may not be deep enough for the disconnector to come all the way up, and as a result - well - it's disconnecting? I've heard bad things about trying to file down the top of the disconnector, but after the hours of getting the slide to fit on the frame I'm reluctant to start deepening the slide groove.
Any help greatly appreciated.
A couple problems that have come up though, so I figured I'd throw them up here to see if the wealth of NES experience could be of some help.
First: The grip safety. I'm using the basic GI style grip safety, nothing fancy and nothing fitted; however when the safety / mainspring housing / etc. is assembled the grip safety has no "spring" to it. Just kind of sits there. I can move it back and forth by hand and it seems to engage the trigger OK, so it seems that the third leaf of the sear spring may not be doing its thing. Is this likely a problem caused by a cheap sear spring?
Second: Grip safety lacklusterness notwithstanding, I can assemble the frame and everything works OK. I'll put a piece of plastic between the hammer and frame and it will cock and the hammer will fall when the trigger is pressed. Thumb safety A-OK. Install the slide and everything comes to a halt. The gun will cock but the hammer will not fall. I'm guessing problem #2 may be disconnector related. Does it seem likely that the half-moon groove in the bottom of the (Essex) slide may not be deep enough for the disconnector to come all the way up, and as a result - well - it's disconnecting? I've heard bad things about trying to file down the top of the disconnector, but after the hours of getting the slide to fit on the frame I'm reluctant to start deepening the slide groove.
Any help greatly appreciated.