NIB 9mm 1911 won't eat

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Dogmush, it was the left safety. Like I said, I got it mostly back in place, but I think I need more force than I am able to muster by squeezing my thumbs together to get the right and left safeties to link up. I think once I get it back together (if I get it back together) and take it out again if anything happens I'll contact RIA. It's only a range toy, not a life-saving device, so it just needs to function.

Stupid easy for you isn't necessarily so for someone else. Pretty much any time you have to use tools on small parts, I'm not very good at it. If there's filing involved to fit something, I'd rather leave that up to a professional. When I got a drop-in trigger kit for my M&P that I was told "if you can put together a computer, you can do this", I ended up breaking the trigger and had to have a professional fix it and install it for me.

I have many skills, none of which are suitable for gunsmithing.

Pablo, in reference to other 1911s this is cheap, but in reference to most other handguns this is still pretty pricey. I don't expect it to be the best, but I expect it to function and not fall apart if I'm spending this much on it.
 
Did I respond to the thread at all? I may not have seen your question.

How does not knowing the proper terminology call in to question my credibility on the experience?

It doesn't. Sometimes to old timers here get their whites in a wad when people don't follow their advice to a T. LOL :rolleyes:

In these types of threads pics are your friend. If you can post the pics then people here can tell you exactly what happened to the pistol and how to proceed.

Or you can just call RIA and send it in for repair.

Good luck.
 
Dogmush, it was the left safety. Like I said, I got it mostly back in place, but I think I need more force than I am able to muster by squeezing my thumbs together to get the right and left safeties to link up. I think once I get it back together (if I get it back together) and take it out again if anything happens I'll contact RIA. It's only a range toy, not a life-saving device, so it just needs to function.

I guarantee it does not*. There are ambi safeties out there that need some light tapping, but the RIA's ain't one of them. I've had a bunch of these apart. If it's not going back in something isn't lined up. First check: Is the hammer cocked? The hammer has to be cocked. Second check: Is the plunger out of the way? Plunger has to be pressed into the plunger tube with some kind of pick or small screwdriver. Third check: Are the two sides of the safeties lined up (The tongue and groove joint) You can check this by wiggling one side to see if the other side moves. Also the levers should be in approx the same orientation. Fourth Check: the left side safety lug will only go all the way into the frame at one specific spot in it's travel. There's a cut out in the frame the allow it to slip in, then the frame is in a groove on the safety lug at all other times. The groove retains the safety. Often as a final step you need to wiggle the left side up and down a little bit to get the right spot. All while not changing the other three checks.

*Since sweeping statements on the internet can be dangerous If you wanted to check the force needed to install the safety, take the left side back out, then rotate the right side safety counterclockwise until it comes off the sear pin and remove it. (The grip safety will com out at this point, but no big deal, it goes right back in) Then with the two halves of the safety outside the gun put the tongue and groove joint together. That's ow much force you need to install the safety when everything is lined up. It should be *just* tight enough they don't wiggle, but still pretty easy to push together. In reality, most of the RIA's wiggle just a tic.
 
I took them apart, and the tongue and groove aren't going together with any amount of force I can muster. The tongue is a bit bigger than the groove. I'm pretty sure it's not an alignment thing.
 
The tongue is a bit bigger than the groove. I'm pretty sure it's not an alignment thing.

yet they were together at one point.

Is the detent & spring still there? plunger tube loose?
 
I took them apart, and the tongue and groove aren't going together with any amount of force I can muster. The tongue is a bit bigger than the groove. I'm pretty sure it's not an alignment thing.
Send it back to Pahrump.

Something out of the ordinary is happening here. If you posted good pictures of the safety, the joint, and the frame we could probably talk you through it. But you have repeatedly said you don't want to go at it with tools, and that's probably where we are at.

It's possible that the safety groove was bent a bit while you were pushing on it, or that it was never installed quite right. (Which would be why it fell out). If it was installed correctly we still have the issue of it falling out. That's not the kind of thing that happens all that often.

Either way, we've probably exceeded the level of troubleshooting that you seem to be comfortable with.

Armscor Precision International
150 North Smart Way
Pahrump, NV 89060
Email: [email protected]
(775) 537-1444
 
yet they were together at one point.

Is the detent & spring still there? plunger tube loose?

I mean when I just hold the two pieces of the safety in my hand, the tongue will not go into the groove.

It appears as if you have to line them up and then apply force to get them together, and the fact that they don't just slide in is also why they won't just slide out.

They were together at one point, I just don't have a tool on-hand to force them together without damaging them.

They both fit into the appropriate parts of the firearm just fine. The left-side switch can click on and off when I have it set, but it won't stay in place without the right-side switch locked into it.
 
That's not how the safety works.
The left side safety should stay in regardless of the right side. No tools are needed to put them together.

If it's falling out, it's broken.
 
It's only loose where the right side would connect and hold it in.
 
You're not tracking.

The right side safety isn't what holds it in. The left side safety retains itself in the frame. It should hold itself fine without the right side installed at all.
 
IIRC, the RIA ambi safety uses an extended/grooved sear pin to capture a flange on the right side safety. There's no way that the right side safety can fall off, as designed.

The frame cutout holds the left side safety in place when engaged or disengaged, and it can only be removed halfway between the two positions.
 
Two questions
Did you completely disassemble gun ( removing and reinstalling safety) ?
When you say RH side is that RH with barrel pointed down range?
 
I didn't detail strip the gun, but I did field strip it.

Not RH and LH, but right and left side. So the main safety is the left one, the ambi safety is the right one.
 
Yes.

I can get it back in, but it's still loose and easy to take back out because it's not locking with the ambi part.

I have an RMA and will send it back this weekend. Armscor seems to be doing a good job of customer service as soon as I submitted the request.
 
The main safety doesn't lock into the ambi side it's held in by the frame and should only come out with hammer cocked and safety about 1/2 way between on and off?
 
Contact Advanced Tactical in Pahrump, NV. They're the importer and they fully warrantee RIA's, they stand behind them and will make it right. If you don't think it's working right, call them immediately. Don't void the warranty by dinking around on it yourself. Let them fix it.
Wise words.
 
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