Even more 1911 fun
I spent about 3 hours more quality time with my 1911 today. Should've been a 10 minute job, but a combination of things made it stretch out into the super frustration zone.
See, the real problem was me being stupid. I was accidentally installing the sear spring wrong (again, but in a different way), but I thought I was putting the hammer in wrong, so I kept fiddling with the hammer for about six complete detail strips and assemblies. This time I was letting the center part of the sear spring go into the mag-well area instead of bracing it on the sear assembly. I'm actually kind of surprised I didn't make that mistake the first time.
Well, the good news is I got to try out the new Lyman hammer & punch set I ordered from MidwayUSA. It's really nice, and it's a hell of a lot easier on my pistol and me than a 16 ounce claw hammer and nail sets. The pins are starting to loosen up in general as well, which makes it nice and easy to take apart and put back together, and I've become pretty damn good at the little tricks required for a quick reassembly. Now that I have a firm grasp of the mechanics of the 1911 I won't have to fumble around trying to figure out what's wrong with my blaster.
I finished bending the legs of the magwell, so they're about as close to flush as I can get; I was waiting for the nylon face hammer to do it. Now all I have to do is order some more files and some way to polish the file marks and I can finish blending it. One of my problems with the magwell is it doesn't really match the other 'stainless' accents on the pistol, which I suspect are electroless nickel plated. Maybe some day I'll have someone nickel plate my magwell. Oh, I don't know if I mentioned this in my other post or if I actually have a different opinion today, but I think the stainless magwell looks pretty sweet on my pistol.
Click on the picture for a very large 1600x1200 version. As you can see, the stock accents are gold tinted, just like electroless nickel. Maybe I should order some nickel Alumagrips... probably too gaudy, though. Anyway I love the grips I have on now; I didn't really notice until in a fit of boredom I swapped the stock grips back on, but they're cut a little fuller across the grip, which fills my hand noticeably better. You might have noticed the shiny specks on the magwell and the top left part of the frame by the slide; yep, that was Mr Stupid again. I dropped my frame on accident in the basement when I was first fitting the magwell, where it luckily landed on a cardboard box 10 inches AGL before skidding across the concrete. There's no telling what kind of damage it might have endured if I dropped it from 40 inches or so directly onto concrete. Shudder.
Along with the hammer and punch set I ordered a Wilson Combat extended mag release with a checkered button. Sigh. A magazine release is one of the very few parts on the 1911 that should be entirely drop in; alas, this one does not fit. The cylinderish part is the right width and all that, but the side that's on the right when it's installed is slightly too big for the hole in my frame. I've been working at filing it down, but it's slow work because the piece is so small and I have to pretty much hold it down on my knee with two fingers and file at an awkward angle. Good practice and earned appreciation of a proper workbench, I suppose. I'm sure I'll get it eventually.
That ends my 1911 adventure of the day. I still love it. I can't wait to get the Para Ordnance LTC to compliment my SSP in... a few years, sadly. Sigh.
