Posted: 3/7/2008 10:23:11 AM EDT
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Also does anyone have any good tips to make sure that all my lapping compound is gone? I scrubbed the slide and frame under a running faucet and then oiled them both but I think there might still be a little in there. I want to get as much of it out as possible...I'm thinking about doing it again just to be safe. <edit> fixed the slide stop issue but still no clue about the hammer <edit 2> I've fixed all my problems....I hate springfield and their stupid ILS system and 3 notch hammers. |
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- hammer bouncing back to half cock after pulling the trigger: - When cocking the hammer to full cock via your thumb (not racking the slide), does it have the same resistance as a 1911 that's working fine? Borrow a factory assembled gun, if you have to. IIRC, there's nothing holding the hammer forward against the firing pin but pressure from a properly assembled hammer strut and mainspring housing. The only possible causes that come to mind are: - unbelievably soft mainspring, - mainspring / mainspring plunger is binding in the housing, - the hammer strut is too short or improperly installed. - Slide stop binding in the frame, hard to install. The slide stop should slide easily past the barrel lugs and through the link. Assemble the slide, barrel and frame, in the closed breech position. Turn the gun upside down, to simulate the barrel is in lockup (no slide stop installed yet). - Do the barrel lugs partially block the pivot hole through the frame? - Use an awl / toothpick / whatever to align the link with the pivot hole. Does it line up, or does it obscure the pivot hole? A small amount of grease will assist in making the link stay where you put it. I'd start with the above, pics would help. Allen |
So you're using Springfield take off internals consisting of......... Trigger Hammer Hammer stirrup Sear Disconnector Mag catch Slide Stop Firing pin Firing pin Stop Frame pins Mainspring housing assembly Grip safety Thumb safety Barrel & Barrel Link. all taken from the same 1911, Correct? Pictures of the problem & problem parts. Did you just assemble these parts as is? |
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Need more info & pics. HOWEVER, I highly suggest that you IMMEDIATELY buy yourself THESE BOOKS: Colt .45 Automatic: A Shop Manual -- By Jerry Kuhnhausen And U.S. M1911/M1911-A1 Pistols & Commercial M1911 Pistols: A Shop Manual -- By Jerry Kuhnhausen Read through them *BOTH* and it will help you diagnose the problems SWIFTLY! The problem I'm guessing that you're encountering with the 'bounce' is that Springfield uses many proprietary parts in their guns. Particularly their ILS Mainspring Housing, Springs (non-spec), Firing Pin (& Spring), and various Metal Injection Molded parts. Typically, Barrels (espeically match ones) need fitting to the slide & bushing. The bushing needs fitting from barrel to slide, and the barrel hood, locking lugs, and barrel link all need fitting to the slide/slide stop/breechface. I'd venture a guess that your Mainspring / Mainspring Housing, or the end cups are likely the culprit for the hammer bounce-back. Something is likely binding that shouldn't. Without being able to inspect the firearm in person, we're unable to diagnose the problem without more information and photos. |
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You pull the trigger, hammer falls, strikes FP, THEN returns back to half cock? Binding slide stop. Too long a link? Plunger tube spring too strong? Detent in slide stop (to prevent it from popping up)? Use some blue permanent pen, or dye-chem to see what's binding. If you haven't read the Barrel fitting and timing info on Schuemanns's web site I suggest you do so prior to test fire. Check the plastic MS housing. If there is no hole in the bottom, you might running into a vacuum. As the main spring cap rises (from spring pressure) air can't get by the cap fast enough to fill the void behind it creating a vacuum. Probably not your cause, but worth checking out. I just had this happen on an STI build. If the hammer is stopping at half cock when you pull the trigger, try it with the thumb safety out. Some safeties will block the hammer from falling all the way (until fitted). |
Yes that is exactly what happens with the hammer The slide stop engages but only just a tiny tiny little bit and only some of the times. I tried swapping out magazines to see if that was the issue since i was using and older Wislon47 that I got used, so I switched to a NIW one and still had the same issue. If I just wiggle the slide back and forth a little bit it does move up into place, the plunger spring may be the culpriate, it was the only part that didn't come with the gun that I had to pickup at a local shop (brand new part) I'm installing my parents camera's software to upload 2 videos I just took. Hopefully that will help. Anymore pics you guys need for closer ispection feel free to ask and I'll get them up. I don't plan on test firing until I get this figured out...not worth the risk to myself or damaging the pistol |
I ordered both of those shop manuals a week and a half ago...unfortunately the idiot vendor didn't' package them well and I got a box with a blow out bottom  . I got my money back and reordered them but the books still haven't come in yet.My smith took a look at it and was dumbfounded by it as well. He didn't have a lot of time to inspect it since I got there near closing and we stayed 45min past. He did say that the barrel to slide lockup was AOK. I didn't notice the slide stop issue till I got home and was playing with some snap caps to test ejection and feeding. |
| It may be your "snap cap". I had one with a spring in it that was way to strong and it would bounce the hammer back to half cock. I think it was able to do so because of the extreme use the guns strut spring had seen. How "well used" are these parts ? From my understanding it is not required to use snap caps on a 1911 ? I have been told that it helps to dry fire a brand new 1911 to break in the trigger and reduce its pull ? My new Dan Wesson had the slide stop issue when I got it as in not wanting to engage on an empty mag. I found it was full of gunk that hadn't been cleaned out and upon cleaning it and re-oiling it functioned perfectly. I am by no means an expert on the 1911, but, just thought I'd add mt 2 as I have had the exact same issue's a time or two. Good luck and hope it works out for you. |
They're just plastic plugs, not the spring loaded type. I only got them to test ejection and feeding since practicing with live rounds sounds like a bad idea. Would have just made my own dud rounds to practice with but I don't have a set of dies for 45 yet. All the parts are brand new/like new. They all came off the same gun that was a donor for a customers custom build. The smith had pulled them out of the gun after test firing them once for me. |
Here are 2 pics of the slide lock back issue I'm having. It does go up when the mag is empty, but not enough to really lock back the slide. You can see it barely catches at all...in the vid I wiggle the slide back and forth and it does go all the way up, but when i slide the slide back on an empty mag it doesn't go all the way up.  Other images will be added to this as i get them uploaded...photobucket is being slow for some reason...the vids will be up in a min. <edit> I can't upload the videos to my photobucket directly so I'm going to try zipping the files for download instead. |
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Sounds like (can't see pics on this computer) the slide stop is hitting the slide. Not enough clearance on the inside "hook" or the outside notch that actually holds the slide open. Mark it up with a blue pen and repeat to see if it's hitting the inside of the slide, or the outside. Add a drop of oil to the plunger that contacts the slide stop too. Sometimes it's just too rough, and dry. If there is no contact with the slide, you may consider a light polishing on the surface of the slide stop that contacts the plunger. |
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I fixed the slide lock problem...I think the spring was to strong and on top of that I noticed a drag mark on the frame in the middle of the slide catch. a few quick passes with my fine stone got rid of the bur and a thin film of oil on the under side of the slide catch solved the issue. I tested it by cycling the slide with an empty mag in to see how well it catched, at first it went half way for a while, about 30 cycles later it engages fully about 95% of the time and the other 5% it is halfway up or almost all the way up. Only 1 time did it not catch at all but that was my fault...had my finger on the slide release
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No it's a Caspian/Foster frame. As per the slide stop, I ended up fixing it, I posted that a second or two after you posted. Turns out it was a bur on the back of the slide stop dragging on the frame and maybe the plunger tube spring needed to be broken in a bit more. Now if i cycle the slide quickly it catches and 95% of the time it is a full engagement, and the other 5% of the time it is halfway up. No longer is it catching like it was in the picture. However, the hammer is still bouncing. I took the MSH apart and attempted to smooth out the opening as well as any burs that might have been on the edges that were drilled. Still no change. Is it possible that the problem lies with the sear or sear-to-hammer engagement? What pics do you need to see that might help diagnose the problem? |
You guys are probably going to laugh at this....I fixed it. I forgot about springfields ILS locking system in the MSH and added an extra pin in the take down hole  . As soon as I engaged the ILS and reinstalled the MSH without the extra pin the hammer dropped against the slide with authority and did NOT bounce back. Hammer pull was also back to normal....albeit a heavy normal, I don't have a nice trigger pull gauge so instead i made one. I used a Rapala fish weighing scale with a loop of 550 cord and it kept coming in around 8 or 9 lbs!!! SOB's got one heavy as hell trigger pull with a good bit of creep and a good bit of over travel. Unless I'm mistaken there's not much I can do about that though until I get rid of at least the Springfield GI trigger, hammer, and sear. All in all I'm happy that the hammer bounce issue has been fixed, now I just need to go through the safety checks and function checks before test firingI must say, it has been a lot of fun building this pistol and fitting the parts...I enjoyed that way to much. My dad is talking about building the other caspian/foster frame we have in 9mm next. I've also got several forgings that I can try to complete and have more potential builds  ....I think I'm addicted to this more than AR's now........Plus how many people can say they built/assembled their first pistol  . Whats funny is I actually have a shit eating grin like that on my face
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| yeah i was going to replace the MSH as well as some of the other parts later...I'm only home for another day before I leave to go back to school. My summer project will be to upgrade all of the internals and maybe even use them in another build since I know they all work. I think I'm probably going to go ahead and buy the needed jigs to do the sear and hammer...I have a feeling I will be building quite a few 1911s in the future. |
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I don't want to hi-jack the thread, but I have a question; I just purchased a SA Loaded 1911 and have been reading up on them. If I want to eliminate the ILS, I need a new MSH and the parts associated with it? I read that the SA mainspring is something like 28# and what I really want is one at 23#. Is that correct? I also would like some expert advice on replacing the guide rod. What is involved in eliminating the full-length guide rod and replacing with the Browning-designed one? (probably should have started my own thread, but this one caught my eye, and I'm just getting into the 1911...) thanks for the advice, and I now return you to your regularly scheduled thread :) |
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Glad to see you got it working. Is this one of the $75 blem frames from Foster? I got the cheaper Marvel jig from Brownells, about $50 but it only does the sear. To do the hammer I have to do in my vise. It works great for sears though. I like the roller for the stone. The other Marvel jig (more expensive) will hold both the sear and the hammer. To do it again, I'd get the Powers Series II jig. It's not as easy as just taking a stone to it though, be prepared to muck up a few. There is a reason 'smiths charge $$$$ to do a full job. For a fun gun, 19 pound main spring will work and can get you down to or below 3 pounds (with a full trigger job). For anything else, stick to 20 or 22. |