1911 Off Center Strikes

[Three Man]

I have a 1911 that was worked on in the 1970's.
The rails on the frame were tightened up so I suspect this is the cause of the off center strikes.
The strikes are more than half the firing pin dia off from center.

Kart fit barrel.

Is there anything I could do to re-center the firing pin hit zone (for lack of a better term)?
Or do I have to re-fit a barrel?

Even better is there nothing to worry about?

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[HSMITH]

It LOOKS like the ejector mark is at 9 o'clock, can you confirm that the extractor mark is at 3 o'clock?

If that is the case there isn't much you can do. If it is reliable and accurate keep on keeping on. If the marks are reversed from what I described you have some options.

 

[Three Man]

The ejector marks are at 9 O'clock.

Thanks for the reply. I didn't think I could do much because the strike is low.
The pistol is extreamly accurate and have not had any failures.

 

[HSMITH]

I'll bet it has plenty of radial lug engagement. Make sure the barrel is linking down far enough to clear the radial lugs, and that the corners of the lugs aren't being rounded off. If that all looks good I would keep on shooting it.

Not much you can do in my opinion, other than wear that barrel out and work on the next one.

 

[Three Man]

Yep it has plenty of radial lug engagement. Probably can handle rifle loads (being sarcastic).

The lugs are not being rounded off and the barrel does link down enouph to clear the frame lugs.

Thanks for the info.

 

[becks]

i have a book called the "gunsmith machinist" that shows you how to center the strike. check it out.

 

[Old Fuff]

Back during the middle 1960's Springfield Armory (the U.S. one, not the gun company using its name) experimented with off-center hits and found that as a practical matter it didn't make any difference.

I don't think you have anything too worry about.

 

[1911Tuner]

Off-Center

Since it's a Kart hard-fit...likely that the barrel is too high in the slide.

Used to be that you could get barrels with different bore axis to lug slot heights that retained the full lug height relative to the bottom of the slot.
These barrels allowed for different slide to frame vertical dimensions. Schuemann may still offer these barrels...been a while since I bought one,
and they were expensive then...Probably about 200 bucks or more now.

The other cure...if desired...is to either weld up the slots and re-cut to fit the barrel down from the top, or buy a Kart Easy-Fit, which has pads in the slot for the same purpose. The only issue is that it doesn't allow for full lug
vertical depth engagement...depending on the amount of pad remaining in the slot after fitting.

The third approach is to weld the slots AND the lugs...but that requires a good welder who knows his steel, or you risk altering the hardness of the steel. Soft lugs will deform quickly...Brittle ones will crack or shear.

The strike isn't that far off, and by now you're probably gettin' the feelin' that it's probably more trouble and expense to bother with. As long as it doesn't misfire with any reasonably decent ammo, it won't make a whit of difference, except possibly in a precisely-built bullseye/match grade pistol
chasing 1-inch 50 yard groups.