1911 Hammer/Sear Honing Tools?

Unless you are going to do several guns it is usually cheaper to pay a gunsmith to do it. He will do a better job overall anyways. It's a good option if you are someone who is constantly turning over guns, but if you buy them and keep them like I do then it isn't worth the trouble.

You need jigs, stones, a trigger pull gauge, and a copy of Kuhnhausen. Odds are the jig will be sloppy and off and the pin holes in the frame won't be parallel unless we are talking about an STI/SVI frame. Easily over the cost of two trigger jobs.

You might be pleasantly surprised with what you can buy nowdays.

The better quality hammers & sears being made on new CNC tooling often come really good right out of the package.

Depending on your frame quality, you may be able to drop in a set of parts and have a very good 4 - 4 1/2 pound duty-gun trigger without doing anything to them but burnish the mating surfaces with hammer pressure and snapping a few times.

It would be worth a try at least, before buying a bunch of tools you didn't need anyway.


rcmodel

JIGS and stones

Assuming (yeah, I know) you start with factory unmolested hammers and sears, you can do it with a sear jig, stones and good literature and specs. I recommend a hammer jig also. A jeweler's loupe and check pins so you can see the engagement surfaces interface would help. All this would cost you less than $125. Shipping your first pistol, paying the trigger work and return shipping would be this much.

The sear jig I use is the one formally produced by Wilson (not of Wilson Combat fame). I forget who makes it now, but Ed Brown sells a similar tool.

If you can, you can also get a separate hammer jig, or follow the instructions on the Wilson type jig and you can do the hammer hook height. I use a separate hammer jig for the hammers on my action jobs. I use a sound method of getting the hammer hook engagement surfaces smooth and square in addition to my desired hook height.

Brownell's and Marvel make a combination sear/hammer jig also. These jigs are relatively inexpensive, going for about $125 new. These are not the bigger Power type jigs. The total cost for both of the separate hammer and sear jigs will run you about $75 new. Used, there are bargains, if undamaged.

You'll need stones, good ones. I use Norton's India 6"x3/4" square for rough cutting and then the white Arkansas stones for final cutting. If you want a really slick surface, also get a black Arkansas stone (to die for!).

For the trigger track AND the hammer hooks, the Brownell's ceramic 1911 trigger track stone is a good one to use. That stone is the best I have used on the hammer hook surfaces. But to be honest, those hook surfaces are tricky, so if you do this yourself, just touch them at first and concentrate on the sear surfaces. All my hammer hook stones generally don't get used for anything else, since a really sharp corner is needed to do the hook surfaces well.

Bill Wilson's book and the Kuhnhausen manuals are a must. Wilson will get you started and Kuhnhausen will get you through the "it's too short when it is how long" times.

Magnumite said:

...The sear jig I use is the one formally produced by Wilson (not of Wilson Combat fame). I forget who makes it now, but Ed Brown sells a similar tool...

Click to expand...

That is the old Tom Wilson 1911 sear jig. I've been using one for many years. He made a matching hammer jig, too. I like the Ron Power series 1 (great tool) for many things, but I go back to the Wilson 1911 sear jig for 1911 work mostly because I'me very comfortable with it. The hammer jig is a little bit of a pain to work with though I've seen a couple modifications to it in the past that were supposed to make it easier to use. Wish I could find that info again.

+1 for the Ron Power jigs... the Series I and Series II are both fantastic at repeatable setups for angles - it does take a good bit of practice though, but well worth it.

Yup!
I use an old Tom Wilson sear jig too!

hammer sear preped

you can buy hammer $18 and sear $10 all prepped. I think there chip McCormick-------

Gee, I feel even better in company of you guys on the old Tom Wilson jig. I do have his hammer jig, and use the bar over the filing surface and proper feeler gauges, I can get precise angles on the hammer hooks. Good jigs.

Sorely, I can't comment on the Power jig since I don't own one.

Kuhnhausen book photo of hammer jig

Can anyone tell me what jig is in the photo on stoning the hammer? I haven't seen this jig anywhere and the book does not state which jig.

Thanks

Roy Allain

You may find this article from Real Guns helpfull: http://www.realguns.com/archives/151.htm

Joe