If I want to make my SA Loaded my nightstand gun, will internals be damaged by leaving it cocked and locked? Condition 1 I think its called?

EDIT:  ok ladies and gents, rather than make a new thread, i thought i'd pose my newb questions here.

after shooting my Loaded this weekend, I noticed there was a little take up on the trigger. how much take up should one expect from a 1911? looking at other threads i see a lot of suggestions to lighten the pull. what would be a good set up to improve the trigger, or lighten it maybe. I don't feel comfortable trying to fit parts into, i'd be better off with a drop in/plug and play swap. if that's not possible, then i will continue to shoot it the way it is. this is my first 1911. i haven't even shot one before, that i can recall. so if i did it wasn't memorable.

question 2: i know the AR platform lends itself to average guys building pretty nice rifles from parts. is the 1911 the same way, or is that best left to custom shops and professional builders?

No, it will be fine.

never hurt it......

Do it.

GTG

Great! Thanks for the replies.

It is a bit counter intuitive but a spring that is designed correctly doesn't take a set or get weaker just because it is under tension .

A spring that had endured many cycles may get weaker , that is why we replace a recoil spring after many thousands of rounds but just sitting there will
have no bad effects.


Most 1911 type designs run better with a bit of lube in certain areas so it would not be a good idea to just let a gun sit for years on end without use as the oil would dry or get gummy  .  With a home defence weapon one would hope at the very least it gets taken to the range
every couple of months for practice .

It would be better for the operator to get practice more often but any gun that is cleaned and lubed several times a year (or a bit more in very humid areas) will be fine

I'm going to shoot the hell out of it... I've wanted one for years. I'm sticking with my XD for now as I've yet to put the 1911 through its paces. I haven't even broken it down to look inside and lube it, which is quite weird for me. It does smell like it came lubed with rem oil, however.

Bump for newb questions

2nd not really.

pretravel (take up) is adjusted if the trigger has "ears on the front of the trigger bow. these are bent outward forcing the trigger more rearward. I would not worry about it.

you can lighten the trigger by adjusting the sear spring, brownells and other places have write ups on how to do this.

Id leave it be until you get some mileage on it.

Not impossible for the average joe to mess with. But it isn't plug and play. Expect to ruin some parts and invest some money in specific tools if you really wanna mess with them

Ive had a few cocked and locked for years. No problems

I change springs every year though as PM

A little take up is normal, what you don't want is overtravel after it fires, this can be adjusted with the tiny screw through the hole in the front of the trigger. Most are set fine from the factory. There are plenty of mods that you can make yourself, the first that I would suggest would be a GI type guide rod and spring, I like the Wilson flat spring, it's what I put in my loaded model. I also changed to a single side safety, these require a little fitting but with some sandpaper, a very small file, and patience it's not hard to do. Youtube is full of good how to videos.

Is front strap checkering really necessary when your fingers wrap all the way around? LoL

Do you change the safety just to make a thinner profile for carry?

Not necessary but I like it so I put grip tape on mine. I wanted a thinner profile and I just don't care for the ambi safety, just personal preference.

My Commander has been cocked and locked continuously since 1998.
It runs fine.  I replace some of the springs once every two or three years whether they need it or not.

Awesome. Thanks for the replies everyone. Great resources here!