[Boats]

One of my older 1911's with about 19,000 rounds on it double-tapped all by itself on the last two rounds on a mag when I only pulled the trigger once. I haven't fired it since. I detail stripped the pistol, and my least used one to compare wear. The culprit seems to be the head of the disconnector having been worn down by the slide traveling over it so many times. Is my "symptom" likely caused by a worn disconnector not being adequately engaged on recoil and rearward slide travel?

[Bob Brown]

That's an excellent diagnosis, Boats. Measure the length of the top part of that disconnector (from the top of the square hole to the crown) and then compare it to another one. I suspect you'll find a big difference and if so, replace that rascal.

[HSMITH]

The disconnector should only prevent out of battery firing. It should not be the cause of a double tap. Hammer or sear or both need to be looked at closely. Look for at least .020" of engagement, and if the gun had a trigger job back in the day that was not done on jigs cutting a single plane on both sear and hammer hooks it would almost certainly be the culprit. The cause of a double tap on a 1911 is almost always a bad trigger job or a worn trigger job. The engagement is a little tight and the slide closing jars the gun enough that the hammer and sear disengage. Stopping shooting it is a great idea, although fun a full auto 1911 is very hard to control and could be dangerous.

Since you will likely replace the disconnector anyway file it down 50 thou, then try to fire the gun. Record results and repeat until the head of the disconnector is gone.

19K rounds is about normal "tune-up" mileage for a 1911, time to look at the springs, disconnector, hammer and sear, and safeties for sure. The more highly tuned the gun is the more closely it needs checked as there is less room for error.

[Jim K]

FWIW, I agree with HSMITH that the problem is probably not the disconnector. If it is too short, the hammer will follow the slide down, but the gun will almost never fire from a follow down. I think you may find that a new sear and/or hammer is needed. What kind of gun is it and has any trigger work been done on it?

Jim

[1911Tuner]

I third the motion that it's not the disconnector. Sounds more like the
hammer is bouncing off the sear when the slide goes home. Due to
fewer rounds in the magazine, drag on the slide is reduced and speed
increased.

Check the hammer hooks to see if they're getting a negative engagement
on the sear. (Hammer tries to push sear away from the bottom of the hooks under mainspring tension) If the hooks aren't worn, it's possible
that a fresh mainspring will cure it as it will resist the hammer's inertial
bounce when the slide goes to battery. Use a 23# mainspring, please.

One other thing that has worked for me when the hooks are worn a bit short is to stone a small escape angle on the backside of the sear by
laying the sear legs on a .020 feeler gauge, and pulling the back of the sear nose backward on the stone to get the sear a little deeper in the hooks. If the hooks are shorter than .020-.021, this is a temporary fix,
and it will probably need a gunsmith's attention sooner or later.

Good luck,
Tuner