1911 Maintenance

[kccumm]

I just got into shooting a month ago and love it. I have two 1911's a Springfield 1911-A GI 45 and a Kimber Pro Carry II. I clean my guns after every shoot taking off the slide and cleaning the barrel and the like. Is there any other maintenace I should do and if so what is it and how often should I perform the tasks?

Thanks

 

[bhhacker]

I break down the gun a little further than the average field strip like, every 10 times i go shooting with it to clean the firing pin and such.

 

[1911 guy]

It depends on how much you shoot or carry your pistols. Here's what I do.

Guns I shoot a lot (more than 5k a year) or get carried often (I rotate between two pistols, both 1911's), get detail stripped twice a year. Take them down to pieces parts. Clean and lube them well.

Everything else gets it once a year.

All guns get bores swabbed after shooting and re-lubed.

 

[Conqueror]

I scrub my 1911 bores clean after every range session, and also scrub the slide and inside of frame around the feedramp.

Like 1911guy, I break them down completely 1-2x per year, degrease and clean all the parts, relube/grease and reassemble.

 

[Pat-inCO]

What does the manual say?

 

[Ske1etor]

Here is my cleaning regimen. After every range trip the 1911 gets field stripped, wiped off, (May use bore solvent if there is anything caked on) lubed up a bit, clean bore... (you know the usual) and put back together. Every 500 rounds or so I pull the extractor out and wipe off any buildup. Every 2500 rounds or so I change out the recoil spring and the gun gets a full detail strip. (Did this for the first time on my Kimber Custom II last night actually).

 

[kccumm]

So is there a description on how to take a 1911 apart and put it back together. My kimber and springfield manuals show me how to field strip but not how to take the gun apart as you all describe and put it back together and what kind of tools would I need.

 

[CWL]

How often you need to clean, either basic field strip or full detail strip depends on the frequency you shoot & carry the firearm. Really.

A SD carry gun that gets weekly practice will need more than something sitting in the back of the safe & only getting 200 rounds a year.

Think it through.

Do a search here, there are plenty of postings on how to detail strip a M1911. Also visit www.m1911.org for everything you wanted to know about M1911s. Lastly, look for the 2 books written by Jerry Kuhnhausen about M1911 smithing & maintainence, The Colt Automatic a Shop Manual. Search Amazon under his name.

 

[Canuck-IL]

There are dozens of guides out there, including YouTube videos ... this is as good or better than most...
http://www.surplusrifle.com/pistol1911/disassemble/index.asp

Only issue I have with it is that you should not have the gun all the way in battery when twisting the bushing - no value in adding to that wear point when it's not required.

I don't have a Kimber but we aware that if it's got a firing pin safety, reassembly requires that you follow the manual exactly - vague memory about cocked or not cocked makes a difference. No issues with the SA.
/B

 

[Ske1etor]

So is there a description on how to take a 1911 apart and put it back together. My kimber and springfield manuals show me how to field strip but not how to take the gun apart as you all describe and put it back together and what kind of tools would I need.

http://www.coolgunsite.com/disassembly/disassembly.htm

Check that out... The Kimber is going to be a bit different but not so different that you will need separate instructions.

You can also search for disassembly threads on Youtube.com.

 

[sm]

We are supposed to do this? *uh-oh*

Humm...

First off, I agree with Will Shuemann, so me and mine do not clean barrels, we just make sure the chamber is fine.
Pipe Clean extractor, and breech face and call it good to go.

Actually I just shoot the darn things, add some lube from time to time as I / we have shot these guns I/we enough to know when they need some.

Dirty guns will run lubed, a clean dry gun won't run for long.
I and mine carry dirty guns, that way we know they run.

I asked one of the gun folks and she said best guess 1700 rds since the bone stock 1911 I prefer had been taken apart.
The other day since I shot it in the rain, I just let her mess with it.

She just removed stocks, tossed the thing in gasoline, hit it with a air hose, and lubed with Hoppe's lubricating oil in a orange bottle, ran the mags , and good to go now.

WE never carry a gun, that we have not fired after being taken apart.
We always shoot the gun with carry mags.

So that gun is Cocked & Locked with 7 rounds total, as I and mine only use USGI or Colt 7 round mags, with dimple follower, and sealed base plates.

This seems to have always worked for me and mine...

 

[Walkalong]

The Kimber is going to be a bit different

On a Kimber be sure to not push in the grip safety while removing, and especially when reassembling, the slide. It will push up the FPS activator thingy and lock stuff up. You can damage it easily that way. It covers this in the manual, but is easy to forget, especially for those of us who took em apart for so many years before they invented those silly contraptions.

I agree with sm. No need to scrub your handgun barrels to death, just keep any buildup and crud wiped out, especially the chamber.

 

[sm]

Forgot,
Lady said a good song to listen to is very important while doing this.
She said that 1911 she was done with AC/DC on the radio cranked up.

Done dirt cheap
Dirty deeds, dirty deeds, dirty deeds,
Done dirt cheap, ahhhhh


She listened to Joe Cocker's You Can Leave Your Hat On when she checked out the pistol I use...I would have to have been there to see that...

We are eclectic bunch and we do stuff different in da South...just a wittle bit.

 

[glockman19]

After every renge session I bore snake it once or twice before leaving the range. When I get home I field strip it, clean with Hopps #9 and coat with oil.

Guns that don't make it out to shoot get cleaned every 6 months.

 

[BigO01]

Kccumm with todays modern spray cleaners I really don't think a detail strip is needed , as a matter of fact 20 years ago I had a Colt Commander I never detail stripped as it never crossed my mind and no one ever suggested it and it ran perfect .

I would suggest that you stick to simply removing the grips and hosing down inside the frame area with something like Gun Scrubber and then some Break Free , or perhaps using a Dunk it Kit and then Break Free or other fine grade of spray oil like say Remoil .

I can and have detail stripped my current guns but honestly unless you shove filthy magazines in the well that inside part of the gun doesn't get dirty so it isn't necessary .

Detail stripping is a pain especially if you don't do it on a regular basis and if you don't get everything correctly back together you can now have an inoperable or unsafe gun till you get it right .

 

[Walkalong]

Detail stripping is a pain especially if you don't do it on a regular basis

Nah, detail stripping ones 1911 is a labor of love. Just go slow and easy and enjoy yourself.

 

[Ske1etor]

Detail stripping a firearm isn't just about cleaning. How are you going to catch the hairline crack on your extractor or the unusual wear on your sear before it fails if all you do is "Spray and Pray"?

I detail strip to clean and to check all parts for unusual wear or breakage. Sometimes parts can break without hesitation but most times problems can be caught before hand with a simple visual check.

 

[BigO01]

Ske1etor
Detail stripping a firearm isn't just about cleaning. How are you going to catch the hairline crack on your extractor or the unusual wear on your sear before it fails if all you do is "Spray and Pray"?

I detail strip to clean and to check all parts for unusual wear or breakage. Sometimes parts can break without hesitation but most times problems can be caught before hand with a simple visual check.

While you have a valid point Ske1etor tell me one thing .

Just how many parts have you had break and how many rounds had you fired through the gun with them Before they broke ?

I had perhaps 4-5,000 round through my Commander and not a single breakage , my Daly's one has 2-,3000 rounds now and the other 4-500 with 1 parts breakage which was the recoil spring plug due to a Bushing that never should have left the factory and put uneven pressure on the plug and I didn't find it till I cleaned the gun as it didn't cause any malfunctions .

Considering the Daly's/Armscor's are the bottom rung of price and factory QC
I doubt any1 with better quality guns has to be concerned with breaks in less than many thousands of rounds fired through the gun .

Like I was advised by Tuner if it is a cheap defective part it's going to break fairly soon , within a few hundred rounds as my recoil plug did if it is quality it will last a very long time .

O and by the way spraying the innards with Break Free will protect from breakage as is reported to bond with the metal and over time leave them with a slick surface , lubrication equals less stress and wear on parts .

 

[possum]

i never detail strip any of my guns as i am not that good with things such as that. i clean my guns after each range trip. i have different levels of cleanning for my ar and ak, but the handguns get cleaned to the highest standard without detail strip everytime i go to the range as they are the guns that i would use to defed the home and family.

the ar's an ak's get a level 1 cleanning when i shoot 300rds or less. level 2 for 300rds to 500rds and a level 3 when i get to about 750 to 1000rd.

for examle level one cleaning on the ar consists of the barrel, inside the reciever, the bolt, bolt carrier etc. swabbing out the chamber. and pretty much just a wipe down with g 96 on everything

level 2 consists of the above with the addition of the relubing the trigger assembly, buffer tube, spring and buffer. mag well etc.

level 3 is all the steps in level 1 and 2 as well as clening the muzzle devise, spraying out the trigger housing. cleanning the buffer tube, buffer and spring, gettig down and dirty inside the firig pin channel and all the nooks and crannies on the bolt carrier. cleaning out the carrier key etc. and hitting all the non essential parts that make the outside "look good"

 

[Ske1etor]

While you have a valid point Ske1etor tell me one thing .

Just how many parts have you had break and how many rounds had you fired through the gun with them Before they broke ?

One so far. I had the cheap plastic MSH crack on the top of the mainspring cap pin hole on my Kimber. I changed it out. That is the only part. My thing is this though, assuming that no part is broken is a bad thing in my opinion. Murhpy's Law. Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. I rather not trust my life to a firearm relying on parts that I haven't personally inspected. Sure, sometimes parts are just going to break and that happens but if I can avert a breakage by catching some unusual wear before hand I would be happy.

If we gun owners and proponents of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms waited for things to get bad (See; Broken) before we responded... our 2nd amendment would be gone by now. Why should I take my own personal firearms care and maintenance any differently?

 

[BigG]

If you shoot a lot, the firing pin tunnel gets awfully dirty. Pull the FP and extractor once in a while and you'll find you could grow potatoes in there.