[BCRider]

I've had my first 1911 since roughly Christmas and I've done a field strip and cleaning when it first came in and one other time. Tonight was my first detail strip and all went well. But I also found a couple of "warts" that are worrying me that I don't think should be there.

Number 1 in the picture attached is a case of some peening of the edge of the forward lip. It's raised a bump in the upper hollow where the barrel rests when the slide is back. I'd have to put the parts together again to see what is hitting this and it's late at this moment but I'm guessing that some of you 1911 experts will know what is causing this right away. Filing this bump away isn't going to be a problem, I've done my fair share of metal work over the years, but I'm worried about why it is there and how to correct it so whatever is hitting it hard enough to peen up a sizable lump can be stopped.

Number 2 is a case of a smaller raised peening that I'm assuming at this point is caused by the hammer hitting this back lip a bit. Again I'll double check this tomorrow when I carry on working on the gun. If it is just a case of insufficient clearance for the hammer then that'll be easy to fix.

It's that ugly pushed up ridge at the Number 1 spot that has me worried. It looks like someone's been beating on it with a big ballpeen hammer and a drift punch. I'm not sure what the recoil spring is rated at but it's stiff.

[rcmodel]

#2 looks like someone has been dry-firing it without the slide on.
Normally the hammer can't hit the frame there because the firing pin retainer plate stops it before it can fly that far forward.
(Never dry-fire a gun with the slide off)

#1 looks like a case of improper bottom barrel lug fitting on the back, or a too long link.
It is hitting the back of the frame after link-down too soon. It should link-down and come to a stop on the top of the frame barrel bed.
Not the back of the lug.

rc

[RogersPrecision]

"It should link-down and come to a stop on the top of the frame barrel bed.
Not the back of the lug."

I will disagree here.
Earlier volumes of the Kuhnhausen books may have promoted this fallacy, but it is incorrect.
Stopping on the top of the barrel bed will break links.
:o

[rcmodel]

Well in any case, it shouldn't be beating a big bur up on the front of the frame cut like that.

Perhaps a little radiusing is in order wherever it needs to be radiused.

rc

[JackOfAllTradesMasterAtNone]

Ok, I get what's happened here, but I'm lookin for what's causing it. Rear of the link lug of the barrel needs to be relieved?

-Steve

[BCRider]

Thanks for the info guys. I took what you had said earlier and looked it over carefully with the barrel linked into the frame and holding it at roughly the angle the slide would hold it. Once I saw how it works I looked at the area where the lugs join the barrel. The front edge of the barrel bed in the frame is/was dead square. But the forging of the lugs on the barrel had a radiused curve that was slapping into this corner. I filed out the bump and radiused it to match the barrel lug base radius and now it hopefully should just see the lower flat area of the lug hitting the flat front face of the frame.... at least I'm guessing that is what is supposed to happen since you're saying that the ramp area of the barrel isn't supposed to come down hard on the bed.

I also checked for that as well. I assembled the gun but without the recoil spring. I shifted it back and while it was still up a bit I poked a layer of both printer paper and aluminium foil down through the port and into the gap between the barrel and the bed. The printer paper (0.004 in thick)bound in the gap when it was forced back fully. A bit of aluminium foil (0.001 thick)slipped out with just a hair of resistance. So there's just over a .001 gap between the barrel and the hollow of the bed in the frame. Good luck or good planning. Not sure which but I'll take it thankyouverymuch... :D

I guess the key now is to watch the front of this block in the frame for any further signs of peening up. But she's back in business for the time being.

Oh, I also looked over the trigger group. Some owner or a rather crude factory worker before me had gotten in there with some rather crude Dremel work by the looks of it. The sear needed serious help. I made up a couple of quicky jigs and manged to fix things up and now the trigger is still fairly stiff but it's at least smooth and has a much nicer release. I'm pretty sure that as it was before only the one side of the sear was holding the trigger. The top of the sear had a very visible side to side angle to it due to the sloppy work. At first I didn't think I'd helped anything but after a few dry firings it got better. I did the pressure loading of the hammer while pulling the trigger a few times it it perked up some more. I'll need to check the pull but I think it's down to around 6 to 7 lbs now. A far cry from the probably 10 to 12 it was before. I'd still like to go lighter but I'll need to read up on 1911 trigger jobs.

[1911Tuner]

Stopping on the top of the barrel bed will break links.

And it'll yank lower lugs off of barrels, too. Sometimes it'll pull clean through to the chamber. Bad scene if it's not caught in time.

It's not really good for the barrel to hit the frame bed at the same time that it hits the vertical impact surface. I like to see it stop on the VIS with a little clearance between the barrel and bed...and drop the final few thousandths. About .003 should do.

The peening in the photo looks like maybe the barrel isn't clearing the slide in time. Check for any damage in the form of peening or radiusing on the upper barrel lugs, at the front corners. If it's there...you've got a linkdown timing problem.