Quote History Quoted:
There is no real reason to install a shorter link. If the barrel won't contact the slide stop pin as it is, the real issue is that the lower lugs have been overcut. This is the norm for most production guns as it guarantees a more or less drop-in fit.
If you install a shorter link, you can run the risk of link breakage since the barrel's rearward motion may no longer be stopped by the VIS and will now stop on the link. You do lessen the amount of upper lug engagement but not by much, since the link lengths generally only vary by .005" up or down.
A better solution would be to install an oversized match barrel, something like a Kart Exact Fit, which doesn't require a lot of tools and can be installed by someone with a few basic tools and a modicum of mechanical ability.
View Quote
yep
when I was young and poor, I'd pay a local machine shop to weld up the lugs on surplus 1911 barrels and hand fit them.
They shot well, but it took a lot of work.
the KART Easy Kit is a great barrel that really is easy to fit.
also....barrel fitting is an accuracy game, not usually a feeding trouble fix.
Barrel fitting, tuning the extractor, etc, has a learning curve.
Some are better off just sending it to a competent 1911 gunsmith
If you want to learn it, Kuhnhausen , hallock and Wilson have good books
these days, 1911's are a lot better fitted than in years past.