SLR15 1911 PISTOL ARMORER COURSE
When: November 15, 2017
Where: Urbana, Illinois
We conducted a 1-day (8-hour) 1911 Pistol Armorer Course at the ILEAS training center. This was our third course that we have taught at this location, and we look forward to many more. The onsite facilities offer plenty of table space, decent lighting, and a large screen and projection system that allowed us to project animated graphics of the weapons system and powerpoint of detailed pics of gun parts, and especially when looking at finer detail things like machining, stress cracks & wear. In this course we cover all variants of the 1911 Pistol system.
This class was all Law Enforcement Officers from different areas around Illinois, Iowa and Missouri.
The 1911 pistols in this class were a mix of Springfield, Para Ordnance, Colt 70 & 80 series, Sig Sauer, Kimber, Smith & Wesson, Remington, Armscor, and Auto Ordnance.
We started the day with going through the course manual that all students are given. Students were supplied with their own set of basic tools that are necessary to do most of the work on their pistols, and we passed out weapon and accessory specific tools as needed. Slip2000 "EWL" Extreme Weapons Lubricant & "EWL30", Slip2000 #725 Cleaner Degreaser, and Kroil was supplied to everyone. A short session of nomenclature was covered, at which time covered every feature and exterior part of the pistol was covered, to include all the hidden design features that most people are not aware of. Everyone was taught the procedures series of function checks, and safety checks that we recommend.
Next we covered the proper way to field strip their pistols, showing two possible procedures that are sometimes specific to the exact configuration of which procedure may fit each particular pistol. Once pistols were field stripped, proper maintenance was shown of where and what to clean, how to clean it, and why some areas need specific attention that a lot of users miss. We also covered issues of using lead ammunition vs jacketed, and showed where and how to deal with lead fouling.
The Frame session started with the stocks or grip panels. We had several types of grip screws present, and everyone was careful upon removal. With the grip screws removed, and bushings were inspected. There were two types of grip bushings present, and everyone was taught repair and replacement procedures, along with inspections and staking. Grip upgrades were shown and discussed.
Note: There was one Sig Sauer that had a stripped grip screw and stripped bushing. The screw was an allen head, that had been thread locked down, and it's previous owner (who was also present in class, sitting next to its current owner), admitted to stripping it and had used Loctite 272 high strength thread locker. It is our recommendation that if you are going to use a thread locker on these screws, that you use something that is soft or something like nail polish that is gummy enough to hold the screw but also soft enough to allow you to remove the screw when needed. I worked on this pistol during the lunch break, and was able to get the bushing removed, then replaced with with a new bushing & screw to get the pistol back into working order.
We had Officers disassemble their frames. During this portion we showed how the pistol was designed to be its own tool kit for the field, but also showed why we like properly fitting tools like punches and screwdriver (to include hex and torx). This class had three types of ambidextrous thumb safeties. We showed how all three types work, and how they are to be properly disassembled and assembled.
The rest of the frame was disassembled, to include all parts (trigger, disconnector, sear, mainspring housing, sear spring, hammer pin, sear pin, trigger, magazine catch, etc. Inspections were done on all parts.
Note: There was an Auto Ordnance, Sig Sauer & Remington pistols that had loose plunger tubes. We showed how to bed these, then properly stake them into the frame and our recommendation on tools to deal with this. Those that had the loose plunger tubes staked them down. One person didn't use the staking tool correctly, so and squished his plunger tube out of round, so I helped him remove the damaged one, and he replaced it with a new one.
The frames were reassembled and disassembled several times until everyone was comfortable. From there we showed differences in the internal parts. This allows us to cover the way parts are made, why and how sometimes parts have to be custom fit and tuned. We also covered several variations of internal safety mechanisms of the 80’s series and Swartz system.
We showed how to fit and perform trigger jobs, how to fixture and stone these for proper fit and function. There were several pistols with adjustable trigger, we showed how this adjustment works, and made sure everyone who had them, locked the adjustment down.
Ejectors were gone through, showing several variations, and where and why some ejectors work better than others. We showed how to do ejector replacements and tuning.
Note: There were two Remington pistols that had loose ejectors. We showed how to tighten these up, which the Officers whom these belonged to made the corrections.
Once done with the frames, we moved into the slides. Slides were inspected and disassembled, including firing pins, firing pin springs, firing pin stops, 80 series type firing pin safety assemblies, extractors, sights, etc. Everyone was shown the differences between 70 and 80 series parts, and shown parts from multiple sources. Sight replacement, upgrades, and staking were covered. Most of the pistols present had internal extractors, except for the Smith & Wesson and Sig Sauer’s which had a external. We showed our preference for internal extractors. We went through inspections on the extractors, and gauging. We also showed how to fit the extractors, and adjust extractor tension using the field method and the extractor tools (which is our preference). Once done with extractors, we showed how we correlate the extraction and ejection,
Note: One Officer found a broken firing pin stop on his Colt 5". He was supplied with a replacement. This is something we see once in awhile.
The last session was spent on springs, spring tensions, ammunition, magazines, and everything that keeps the pistols running properly. We measured the strength of springs, and several pistols present had too light of recoil springs and main springs, we had a few replacements that we gave to those that wanted them. We showed the differences in magazine designs, and correlated this to feeding issues a lot of times can be attributed to having the wrong magazine. At the end of the day all pistol were reassembled, gauged and inspected.
Note: One Officers 5" Colt measured his recoil spring at 10-lbs, where his set up should be running about 18-lbs. He had never replaced any of the springs in the pistol, and estimated it to be about 8K for rounds, which puts him way behind on replacement. It is our recommendation that one of the best and most important thing you can do for any weapons that use spring loaded actions, is to replace the springs on a regular basis, think of it like oil changes on a vehicle. When replacing springs on a 1911 pistol, it is our recommendation that you change the recoil spring, main spring, and firing pin spring together. He was supplied with a new pack of Wolff springs.
This course covered:
History of the Weapon System
Cycles of Function
Complete Disassembly & Assembly
Identification of Common Problems and Parts
Custom Fitting Parts (Beaver Tails, Extractors, Hammers & Triggers, etc)
Identification of Group Components
Extractors (Internal & External)
Cleaning and Maintenance
Barrel, Frame & Slide Inspections
Ballistic Issues
Barrel & Crown Issues
Parts Interchangeability & custom fitting of parts
Trigger & Hammer Removal, Cleaning, and Replacement
Safety Replacement
Accessories and Customizing
Tool Options and Selection
CY6
Greg Sullivan "Sully"
SLR15 Rifles
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