1911 break in period for trigger?

[marklbucla]

I've got a 9mm Springfield 1911 and was planning on getting it to a gunsmith to lighten up the trigger pull once it's been fully broken in.

So, for about how many rounds should the break in period last? I've already put ~500 rounds of 9mm and another ~1000 rounds of .22 through it. The trigger pull feels like it's been loosening up a bit over this time.

 

[stans]

Triggers tend to get better the more they are used, whether live fire or dry fired. 500 rounds is considered a good break in for most pistols.

 

[Sean Smith]

What follows is based on my experience with 3 Colts, 1 Kimber and 1 Para-Ordnance.

1911 trigger pulls don't change very much over time from when they are new in the box. If they do, it usually means something is wrong with the trigger system... think premature wear on sub-standard parts.

But they do change a little. Sometimes a new gun's trigger (or even a new trigger job) will have a *small* amout of creep or grit that completely goes away on its own within the first 100 rounds or so as everything settles in. Also, a new trigger may have a very "sharp" break that softens a little bit once all the parts have settled in... it shouldn't start to creep (which is bad), but the subjective feel will change a little so the pull feels lighter than it really is.

Don't expect big changes in a 1911 trigger pull over time, however. A sub-standard 1911 trigger pull will NOT fix itself on its own, though you may get used to it and notice its degree of suckitude less. If your gun had a 7 pound pull when new in the box, it will maybe have a 6.8 at 1,000 rounds and stay that way forever.

 

[HSMITH]

1911 trigger pulls don't change very much over time from when they are new in the box. If they do, it usually means something is wrong with the trigger system... think premature wear on sub-standard parts.

I concur.

 

[cratz2]

Yeah... CZs are known for their trigger pulls cleaning up a bit on their own after 1,000 pulls but I've never really found that to be true of the Colts, the Springfields and the Kimber that I've owned... Maybe a teeny, tiny bit but I've had an EAA that started off so bad I almost didn't buy it. Then 2,000 rounds and more dry fires later, it wasn't bad at all. I've just not seen that with 1911s.

 

[444]

This may be crazy talk, but it seems to me that anytime you have two surfaces rubbing together, over time they are going to wear together and eventually become smoother which results in less friction. I own a number of 1911s but primarily shoot one and occasionally shoot another. The one I shoot ocasionally has had a full accuracy job done by Clarks. It has a four pound trigger (weight specified by me) that obviously was done by a well known and long lived custom gunsmith. The one I primarily shoot is a series 80 Colt that I bought new about 12 years ago. It has seen a fair amount of ammo. The finish is wearing off, it has become loose to the point that you can actually feel the slide shift when you come back to a retention position, and the trigger is very nice. This gun was shot bone stock for about 11 years. Over the last year or so I started getting bit by the slide so I installed a beavertail. Other than that, it is bone stock. The trigger on it is much lighter and smoother than the Springfield I had done by Clarks. The difference is night and day. And I never had it worked on at all. I tend to believe it got that way from use. I have to admit that I never gave the trigger a whole lot of thought over the years. I just shot it as is. But as I aquired more 1911s to compare it with, I have come to appreciate just how good this trigger is.
Isn't a trigger job just accellerated wear ?

 

[bountyhunter]

This may be crazy talk, but it seems to me that anytime you have two surfaces rubbing together, over time they are going to wear together and eventually become smoother which results in less friction.

On a decent sear/hammer set for a 1911, the contact surfaces are small in surface area. Because of that, they are machined to be very smooth and also hardened so they won't wear. If not hardened, the surfaces would wear away quickly and you will get hammer follow. That is a classic result of a home brew trigger job: great for about 500 rounds and then hammer follow from sear wear.

I agree that any significant change in trigger feel indicates junky internal parts. My STI Trojan's original trigger did at least 15k rounds with no change in feel and the faces of the parts showed virtually no wear at all.

 

[Sean Smith]

Isn't a trigger job just accellerated wear

A trigger job not only smooths certain contact surfaces, but also ensures that the engagements between the parts are correct. Two drop-in factory parts in a factory-assembled gun could, eventaully, wear their contact surfaces smooth, but they may not be even. Hence, you may have creep, grit, or other undesireable quaities remain. Trigger jobs also typically replace internal components with lighter parts (in the case of the trigger itself), or far more durable ones (such as sears made of extremely hard tool steels) to ensure a safe and durable pull at lighter weights.

Well-made trigger components like sears are VERY hard. Your frame may be only 25-30 on the Rockwell C scale, but a good sear can easily be 55. So if your trigger components are any good, and they are put together right, they should wear EXTREMELY slowly. Old Colt sears were very hard (50+), and some MIM sears (such as the ones Colt has used for decades) are actually pretty durable too.

Many factory 1911s have good trigger pulls out of the box and don't need trigger jobs at all. I had a recent production Colt 01991 that had a GREAT trigger... something like 4.5 pounds with no creep. Then again, some factory 1911s have trigger pulls pushing 7 pounds. You might get the trigger pull down to something decent if you shot 50,000 rounds out of the gun first...