1911 Converting from 80 to 70 series

[DarkRyu]

Hello I'm an owner of a Remington 1911 R1 Enhanced, I was thinking about replacing the plunger lever and the trigger bar lever with a shim and completely removing the firing pin plunger and spring. Other then removing moving parts that are more likely to fail I could use some input from anyone that has done it and is it worth doing thanks.

 

[blindndead]

How will that part effect the performance of the firearm? Are you looking at it as just less parts = less things could go wrong? Interested if anyone has replaced that part and what the outcome is.

 

[Greg Derr]

The series 80 firing pin safety has be around since, well the 80's hundreds of thousand of Colts run fine with them as well as all S&W 1911's and Kimbers(similar system). Most will run flawlessly if properly assembled, properly assembled. That is the cause of most issues, second is changing the trigger without proper knowledge of its relationship to the firing pin safety. Most shooters have no idea that the parts are even in the pistol, kinda like the difference between a car with a carburetor or fuel injection. If it shoots and runs, run it. Messing with it can cause issues, some costly.

 

[blindndead]

Good call! Thanks Greg, DarkRyu take note what it says under his username.

 

[Gammon]

I routinely convert my match guns from Series 80 to the old style. The conversion helps lighten the trigger pull a bit (I set mine at 2.5 to 3lb) and simplifies the pistol's lock work. The operation is not simple as you must replace the hammer (I do the sear also) and do a trigger job. This is a job for a professional or someone with a LOT of experience. I would not perform this operation on a carry gun.

 

[92G]

Remington and Sig Sauer have managed to build Series 80 pistols with fantastic out-of-box triggers. If the trigger breaks cleanly, I wouldn't try to "fix" it.

My R1 enhanced had a great trigger from the beginning. I kept looking for ways to argue the firing block mechanism was negatively impacting it, but I really couldn't. The Sig 1911 has some very minor amount of mush around the break. After some use it's no longer detectable.

OP, if you really want a 1911 lacking firing pin block mechanism, go for a Rock Island (cheap) or a S&W E-series (pricy)....or a Ruger although I favor the RIA.

 

[45collector]

A perfect example of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."