1911 - Hammer & Sear Stuck

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doctorj77

doctorj77

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Hello everyone, have a problem with my Taurus 1911. I installed a new Hammer from STI, also a new sear from STI. It was near drop in. The sides of the hammer were a little gritty fitting in, but still moved with relative ease.

So I got everything assembled, and when I went to cock the hammer to test function, the hammer felt a little tougher to cock back, but it clicked into place just fine. Problem is now it will not disengage. The safety is off. I removed the MSH, sear spring, but I cannot get the hammer into position to get the thumb safety out, and obviously cannot get the grip safety out either.

The gun is basically locked, with the hammer fully pulled back. Its hung up on the sear and I cannot get the sear to move at all. I've tried inserting a long thin screwdriver into the sear/disconnect area to try and relieve it so the hammer would drop forward.

I'm certainly not a gunsmith "obviously" but have many years working on 1911's and changing sears, hammers, triggers, springs and such, I've never encountered this before.

Does anyone have a suggestion or two as why this might have gotten locked up?

Thanks
 
Sounds like the disconnector might be installed backwards, or is jammed behind the sear somehow.

Can you move it with your screwdriver?

rc
 
Oh. Sorry. NOW I read the second paragraph...with the hammer back you can't jiggle the thumb safety out? Can you drive it a little with a punch from the right side?
 
Can you force the hammer back just a hair? Then use something to trip the sear? I kind of think the hammer was fitting tighter than you thought and when everything was installed it ran out of room.
 
It sounds like the sear is overlong or the hammer notches are wrong. Either way, the hammer is back as far as it can go and the sear can't move because the hammer notch is (correctly) at a postive angle. Try removing the grips and pushing out the sear pin, right to left. That should free up the sear and let the hammer move, then you can finish the disassebly.

The ultimate fit? I don't know, it sounds like defective parts, but I would have to see the setup to determine that.

Jim
 
Thanks for the tips everyone. I got it unlocked. I inserted a long screwdriver under the sear, and was able to trip it.

I just put the stock sear back in, works fine now. Well, almost fine. The thumb safety wont engage fully now.

Any thoughts on that one?
 
Thumb & grip safetys are not drop-in parts.

You must have fit the hammer & sear and have them working properly.

Then, you can fit the grip safety, and the thumb safety, by taking off a small amount of metal in the proper places.

You can never expect a group of new parts to fit & work right by just putting them in a frame and going for it!

rc
 
I just read what I wrote last night. I have proven three things:

1) Don't get into complex issues when sleepy

2) Read the whole original post

3) Don't try to give advice about a 1911 just after working on an S&W Model 39.

Jim
 
Haha, thanks Jim. As for the parts, the grip safety & sear are stock. The thumb safety I replaced with a extended STI thumb safety. Which worked just fine with my stock hammer. That was a drop in part.

Now with the STI hammer in, the thumb safety wont fully engage. The gun fires just fine though.

Is there a contact point between the thumb safety and the bottom of the hammer?
 
I'm not trying to be 'mean' here.
But if someone has not a clue as to how the 1911 fire control components work,
they certainly should not be exchanging critical parts.
This is just basic safety and common sense.
There is a great deal of instructive material on this subject just a few mouse clicks away.
Learn before you burn. Bullets can not be recalled.
 
No, not mean at all, its constructive criticism, and just plain common sense. I agree 100%. Like I mentioned in the first post, I've worked in 1911's for a while now, but I'm certainly not a qualified gunsmith either. I feel safe in assembling the internals. Most anyone that has basic knowledge, especially on the 1911's, can changes triggers, hammers, etc etc etc... But things that need "minor fitting", I'm in the learning phase. We all start somewhere.

But that's why I'm puzzled, I didn't think the thumb safety came into contact with the bottom of the hammer. It worked just fine, up until the point I put the new hammer in. Other than the hammer, nothing changed.

That's why I was drawing a blank. I'll take it apart tonight and see if maybe there's something else, like a detent pin or something causing it.
 
The couple of STI sears I fooled with had a lot of extra "meat". I assume that they are meant to be fitted and not just dropped in.

I am not a gunsmith either, not by a long shot, but I have fooled around with 1911's a good bit for many years, and can fit a grip or thumb safety.
 
I think we can assume the new STI hammer is holding the sear edge further forward then the stock hammer.

That pushes the bottom of the sear further back, and the thumb safety lug is now contacting it too hard.

rc
 
Well I got it fixed tonight. I had to file down a little on thumb safety. I put my old stock thumb safety without the grip safety, watched here it passed the sear when engaged. Filed the new STI thumb safety accordingly, took 8-9 times cause I didn't know how much material to file off, but persistence paid off. Works like a charm now.

While I was at it, I fitted a new trigger from Fusion, that one was pretty easy. Now all that's left is go shootin ;)

Thank you everyone for pointing out the reference material, made it a lot easier in trouble shooting.
 
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