The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Guns, Politics, Gunsmithing & Reloading Gunsmithing Colt 1911 problemGo | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
| Colt 1911 problem | Login/Join |
| one of us |
My friend dropped off a Colt MK IV/SERIES 70 GOVERNMENT MODEL 45 that all of a sudden had a major mechanical problem which is further compounded by not being able to disassemble it to look for the malfunction. The safety is stuck in the fire position and will move slightly but not into the safe position to start the disassembly process. The weapon when cocked will not engage the hammer at full cock,there is still spring pressure to make the hammer operative. The disconector appears to be free from the top side of the frame and from what I can see the sear spring does not appear broken and the trigger still has rear movement. This weapon was worked upon years ago by a competent gunsmith who smoothed the trigger pull and put in a trigger stop and has apparently worked perfectly till now. I suspect the sear or the sear spring but as the weapon will not stay in cocked position I cannot go through the disassembly proceedure to get it apart. I have tried holding the hammer back, but the safety will not budge from the fire position and I cannot wiggle it out and pushing on the pin on the opposite side does not move it. Any ideas from anyone on how to free the safety to get the weapon apart? | ||
|
| One of Us |
I'm missing something here.... HOW is moving a 1911 into the "Safe position" have anything to do with disassembly? Do you use the safety to prevent slide movement while you compress the recoil spring to depress the spring cap? Because locking the pistol is NOT necissary... AD If I provoke you into thinking then I've done my good deed for the day! Those who manage to provoke themselves into other activities have only themselves to blame. *We Band of 45-70er's* 35 year Life Member of the NRA NRA Life Member since 1984 | |||
|
| one of us |
By my disassembly instructions, moving the safety to the upper safe position clears it from the detent and allows you to pull the safety out after cocking the hammer which is one of the first in a sequence of steps to disassemble the pistol. Got info from the AGI video manual. | |||
|
one of us |
I had to take a 1911 apart once where the thumb safety was frozen in the down position. I took the grips off and put the frame in a vise, then I grabbed the thumb safety with a pair of vise grips and wiggled and pulled on it at the same time and got it out. I ruined the looks of the thumb safety but it came out. One of the fingers of the sear spring had broken off and jammed it all up. Frank "I don't know what there is about buffalo that frightens me so.....He looks like he hates you personally. He looks like you owe him money." - Robert Ruark, Horn of the Hunter, 1953 NRA Life, SAF Life, CRPA Life, DRSS lite | |||
|
One of Us |
Grips off. hammer down. knock the mainspring housing(MSH) pin out. take out the MSH take out the sear spring (3 finger spring). can you see the disconnector and sear??? are they OK.  | |||
|
One of Us |
Exactly - Drop the Mainspring Housing. | |||
|
One of Us |
Don't forget you can't engage the safety without the hammer in the cocked position. If the hammer won't stay cocked then hold it back with your thumb. The safety comes out of the frame in the "taint" position. You may have to utilize the tip of a small screwdriver to push the detent clear of the safety if it is the cause of the stuck safety problem. _______________________________________________________________________________ This is my rifle, there are many like it but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend, it is my life. | |||
|
| one of us |
I can see the top of the disconnector on the frame top and it goes up and down with spring pressure, can't see the sear. I had popped the pin out of the mainspring housing and it is really tight, can't move it and can't get above it to tap it out with the grip safety in place, must have been one of those old pistols they fitted up tight. I tried holding the hammer back, but the safety is still frozen in the fire position and won't budge, I thought about trying to pry up after pushing the detent in, but haven't done it yet as I hate to mar someone elses gun. You may be right about the sear or the sear spring, but I can't see the top of the spring or the sear. | |||
|
One of Us |
Just a little curious why you are doing this... I would think a friend would tell his friend I am not the right guy to work on this... Mike Legistine actu quod scripsi? Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
|
| One of Us |
I would recommend putting the tools away and sending the gun to someone who can disassemble it without damaging the frame. _______________________________________________________________________________ This is my rifle, there are many like it but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend, it is my life. | |||
|
| one of us |
I always try to help a friend if I can, when the disassembly difficulty arrived I figured I would check the forum first in case anyone might have seen this before and had a solution as I am not going to damage the gun by forcing parts apart. There is a good gunsmith up the road and will take it to him. Thanks to all. | |||
|
One of Us |
WOW. Chuck Warner Pistolsmith / | |||
|
| Powered by Social Strata |
 | Please Wait. Your request is being processed... |
|
Visit our on-line store for AR Memorabilia