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Posted: 7/29/2010 6:08:46 AM EDT
| I had some slop in the slide with a new Colt Combat Elite (carbon slide, stainless receiver) that was not to my liking. Had the slide fitted to the frame. Gunsmith stated that there was galling noted when picked up. I noted that the slide is not "tight". There is a slight horizontal play. Enough to notice a side to side rock. The question that I have is there only so much a gunsmith can do when it comes to this process? I would guess that you can tighten up the slide a little bit more in the vise but I am no expert. What would be the norm to expect (expensive process). |
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My Combat Elite XSE rattles like a MF'er. Used to bug the crap out of me. Looked into all kinds of ways to tighten it up, but didn't ever find anything even close to affordable that was satisfactory.
It pissed me off so bad I went out and bought a Kimber (kept the Colt too) just so I could have a 1911 that didn't wake the neighbors when I shook it. You know what I found? The Colt, despite being rattley as hell, consistently groups 2' better at 25yd than my Kimber which is tight as hell. Now I don't even notice the rattle (in fact, I kind of like it). |
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A lot of people that dont fully understand the 1911 mechanics are freaked out by a bit of slide rattle. While it can be annoying it really has very little to do with the accuracy potential of the weapon.
What is critical is the lock up of the barrel to the slide when in battery and the relationship of the muzzle bushing to the barrel. This is where your accuracy is. I have an XSE that has a little slop in the slide to frame fit but the barrel locks up tight when in battery and zero movement at the muzzle. It will print 1" groups all day @ 20 yards if I do my my part correctly. A bit of play in the slide/frame fit helps in the reliability factor. As far as the galling issue- Try using a grease such as Tetra or Magnalube for the slide/frame mating surfaces. It is much better in a shear load which is what the slide/frame is and wont "squish" out on you. Squeezing a slide is only a temporary fix and with a carbon steel slide you chance cracking it. OP- There are inserts for the rails that are available that are called AccuRails. I have not used them but they seem to be well recieved. http://www.acc-u-rail.com/ |
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