Bushing
Hey Slabslinger...Sorry for the delay. Many beans on the plate these days.
I've never tried the spherical bushing or the angle-bored bushing, but as reflected here, I've heard good things about'em both. As with any drop-in part...Hope that it does, but don't count on it.
For a standard design bushing that is as near drop-in as you can get and still get a tighter fit, I've had very good results with MGW's Drop-in number. All that I've seen or used have been held to very close tolerances and run from
.799-.800 inch OD....580-.581 ID, which is at the high and low end of print-spec tolerance. This means that you'll likely have to lap it to fit most slides.
The amount of fitting required will vary according to the bore diameter. Some will slip right in with very little play...1-2 thousandths...and some will have a light interferance fit that will require some lapping. Most of the time, some straight J&B Bore Cleaner will do the trick. Use a bushing wrench to turn it back and forth. Be careful not to let it ooze out onto the front of the slide, or you'll remove the bluing with the lap. Just a light smear in the slide bore will do. The barrel clearance should be around .001-.002 inch on most barrels. If it's closer, you may want to lap the bushing ID to the barrel OD at the same time. It's a good idea to lap with the barrel in place anyway, since the busshing may be a little tough to remove so you can add a litle more compound, and the barrel can be used as a makeshift slide hammer to bump it out. Bump lightly many times rather than trying to ram it out.
As the bushing starts to turn easier, add a little light oil to the J&B and keep lapping until the bushing is just finger-tight. Takes a little effort to turn it, but not so much that you need a wrench. If you want a slightly tighter fit,
you can back the slide up a quarter-inch before trying to turn the bushing.
That may loosen it up a little.
Check for barrel springing in the slide when you're through...and check for
complete linkdown when the gun is assembled. Some will hold just tight enough to keep the barrel off the frame bed if there's not enough clearance
behind the muzzle. The barrel touches the lower radius of the non-fitted portion of the bushing, and if it happens, the barrel won't unlock completely from the slide. Ruined lugs are usually the result. Rare, but I've run into it with some barrels. Scrape the rear lip at an angle to get clearance. Never seen one spring back with an MGW Drop-in...but check anyway. Most don't with as little as .001 clearance at the muzzle...but it's a possibility.
If you have a lathe and a bushing mandrel, you can spin it at aboput 1.000 rpms and dress it lightly with a smooth mill file...LIGHTLY...a 6-inch file is best. File only the rear fitting area of the bushing, and be careful not to let the file hit the bushing's lug. Might be a good idea to use a file with a safe side or knock the cutting teeth off the edge on a belt sander to prevent lug damage if you're not used to filing in a lathe. I generally use a lathe and mandrel with hard-fit bushings only, and have never had the need with the MGW Drop-in, but it's still an option. Lapping them in works well, albeit a little time-consuming with some gun/bushing combinations.
Luck!
