1911 build question

[OnTheRoad]

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.

 

[Supermoto]

Bend the leaf spring.

make sure that the diconnect move freely and actually has spring tension on it. Is the disconnect binding on the trigger bow or sear

Both cheap parts to replace if you F up

 

[OnTheRoad]

Thanks for the reply. I'll give the spring a bend; it almost seems that the bend that's in it gets flattened out when the mainspring housing is slid into place.

With the slide off, the disconnect (sorry for using the term disconnector; still refining my terminology) moves freely and has noticeable tension when pushing it down from the top of the frame. The trigger and safeties appear to be working normally with no binding or sticking. If I depress the disconnect slightly with my finger the hammer will not fall. When it's at its full extension the hammer falls. Once the slide is mounted, the trigger behaves as if the disconnect was being pushed down.

I suppose I can order up another one as well as a replacement spring, probably a good idea to have extras on hand anyhow - unless someone here has extras they're willing to trade for some ammo or something. Hate paying $8 shipping on $5 worth of parts!

 

[Supermoto]

If you hold the trigger down and rack the slide and close it, keeping the trigger pinned, do you hear a click when you release the trigger? If you remove the grip safety with the mainspring housing still on. rack the slide, do you see the disconnect move and reset?

 

[OnTheRoad]

Appreciating the replies. I bent the grip safety spring back and the movement improved 100%.

As far as the disconnect - I can see it moving and resetting with the grip safety off. Just to see if the slide groove was cut deep enough, I removed the slide stop pin and slowly worked the slide forwards & back while trying the trigger. If the slide is forward about 1/16" it seems like the disconnect is moving fully "up" and the hammer will fall. In this position however the slide is forward in the frame and the lower lugs are in front of the slide stop hole:

Inserting the slide stop will move the slide back so it is just a hair behind the frame, but the disconnect is depressed and the hammer won't fall:

If I move the slide so the back end is flush with the frame, the disconnect will not allow the hammer to fall. The position in the first picture is the only way I have gotten the disconnect to be in position for the hammer to move.

 

[Greg Derr]

What slide? You may need to scrape the disconnector channel in the slide- it is done by hand. Try painting the channel with dichem blue to see the spot it is rubbing against.

 

[OnTheRoad]

What slide? You may need to scrape the disconnector channel in the slide- it is done by hand. Try painting the channel with dichem blue to see the spot it is rubbing against.

Update: Greg had it. I wound up actually having to slightly lengthen and scrape the disconnect notch. Scrape, check, scrape, check and the problem is now gone. Thanks for the help.

So now the next issue. I did the first test-fire today. Nice solid primer hit, went "BANG!", casing ejected and...the slide never came back forward. It had become stuck back at its rearmost travel limit, just past the slide lock notch. A few taps with a rubber mallet and it came loose. Loose-loose; I could tell the recoil spring hadn't "sprung". Apparently what happened is that the recoil spring guide / spring / plug remained compressed and stuck in the tube at the bottom of the frame. I removed the slide assembly and popped the guide loose from the slide tube with a screwdriver. I can reproduce this malfunction by manually racking the slide with some vigor. Don't think the plug is to blame, once the bushing is turned it blasts right out. It seems that either the spring is binding somewhere or the guide is getting stuck when everything is compressed.

Anyone seen this before?

 

[Supermoto]

Are you getting coil bind? did you check the length of the recoil spring to make sure the recoil spring plug would touch the guide rod head with the spring on the guide rod?

Are there any scrapes or marks on the inside of the dust cover or on the guide rod or spring plug? Is the plug binding inside the dustcover?

I had a recoil spring push thru the front of the recoil spring plug and the guide rod, this jammed up the gun at full recoil.

 

[OnTheRoad]

Are there any scrapes or marks on the inside of the dust cover or on the guide rod or spring plug? Is the plug binding inside the dustcover?

No, but after spending way too much time manipulating things back and forth last night when I should have been working it seems that the flange on the guide rod is binding as it travels to the front of the slide, getting itself wedged between the slide rails up next to the dustcover..

I'm guessing the rails may need to be ever so slightly relieved (maybe with some lapping compound and working the slide back and forth?) and/or the guide rod flange narrowed so as to travel freely?

EDIT 8/20

The recoil guide and spring I had looked kind of beat so I wound up ordering a new guide rod and spring from Brownells. While waiting for them to arrive I used some compound in the very front of the slide/frame rails and worked it a bit. The parts came in, dropped right into place with no extra fitting required and everything looked good - no binding and the slide moved freely. Headed off to the range, 50 rounds without a problem.

So I am going to go out on a limb here and consider the 1911 to be up and running. Time from start to finish is less than 2 months and this was my first build. So for anyone from the group buy thread who happens to check in here, don't let the idea of having to do some work and fitting scare you off from trying a 1911; take your time, ask questions and you can wind up with a gun that is truly yours.