1911 Tuner...How to fit 1911 barrel bushing?

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Redhat

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1911 Tuner,

Could you advise on how to fit a wilson bushing to my Colt '70 series?

I had a "guy" at the gunshop many yers ago replace the collet bushing with a solid. The bushing is so tight I cannot disassemble it by hand. I would like hav it loose enough to turn by hand.

Thanks
 
Get a wrench designed for the task from Brownell's. They have them for short money, $5 or less if you don't mind florescent orange.
 
Well, I'm not Tuner, and you didn't ask me, but:

They are best fitted using a bushing mandrel in a lathe.
Some smiths final fit them free-hand with a Extra-Fine belt on a belt sander.

Since yours is already fit to the barrel & slide, but too tight for your tastes:

Take the bushing out and look for shiny tight spots where it is rubbing when you do turn it with a bushing wrench.

Then use a fine-cut file and keep knocking down the high spots until you get it to just barely turn by hand. (You can color it with a black marker if you want more contrast on the tight places.)

Stop before you get quite there, and polish it with fine paper and it should be good to go.

rc
 
Gosh RC, I was going to respond with 'How do you UN-FIT a bushing'?

Hmm... Ink test.

One thing to point out, Do Not take any metal from the slide opening. Only file, sand, polish the bushing. Also make sure the channel in the slide that the bushing rotates into is completely clean.

-Steve
 
Thanks all.

Highlander, I already have that same exact wrench. I would like to be able to turn it by hand.
 
Use Tuner slurry. JB Bore cleaner and CLP oil mixed together until it "slags" off of a screw driver (or other mixer). Put it on the outside of the bushing and work it in the slide back and forth a couple of times using your bushing wrench. Repeat until the desired looseness is achieved.

Clean off the slurry very well and reassemble.
 
Hmmm interesting...could I substitute Remington 40 X bore cleaner?
 
Okay I'm going to chime in here! I don't know where tuner is at but I advise against using the Slurry method.
This modifies the slide and the bushing. The bushing was designed to be replaceable. You want to fit the bushing to the barrel and slide by modifying the bushing only.

It also sounds like you might have had a National Match bushing fit and a tight fit helps mucho with accuracy.
 
If it's so tight that it's hard to turn with a wrench...I'd go with the lathe/mandrel approach. I use a smooth mill file to get it to the point that it's snug...then finish lap with straight J&B...followed by the slurry mix to make it butter-smooth. If it's just a little too tight to turn by hand, the slurry works well. It won't hurt the slide, and it won't remove enough material make a whit of difference should you elect to have another oversized bushing fitted at a later date...assuming that the bushing bore isn't oversized/out of spec to start with. We're probably talkin' a half thou total from both bushing and slide bore...or less.

Of course, I don't fit bushings tight enough to require a wrench for removal. You may want yours just a little more snug, and if you don't mind using a bushing wrench, that's fine. Just don't make it so tight that you run the risk of galling the steel.
 
I'm not Tuner either but what if the "tightness" turns out to be on the barrel and not the keyway?????
Click to expand...

Just so not to leave a question unanswered........Bailey, if the bushing was so tight on the barrel that a wrench was required to turn it the pistol wouldn't cycle very well, if at all. I'd expect it would lock a gun up before much shooting had been done IF the shooter was strong enough to rack the slide in the first place.
 
The way we dealt with tight match bushings with National Match guns in the service was:

You don't take them apart and put them back together the old-fashioned GI way!

(Assuming no Full-length guide rod)
Here's how:
1. Pull the slide back against spring pressure until you can pop out the slide stop.
2. Ease the slide forward off the frame while capturing the compressed spring & guide with the fingers of your left hand.
3. Remove the spring.
4. Tip the slide up and push the spring-plug back out of the way.
5. Use a bushing wrench on the bushing to turn it.
6. "Bump" it out of the slide using the loose barrel as a slide-hammer.

To re-assemble:
1. Reverse the procedure to put the plug, barrel, and bushing back together in the slide.
2. Then put the spring back in and compress it & hold it against the barrel lug while putting the slide back on the frame.
3. Once the compressed spring is safely inside the dust cover, run the slide back hard and it will flip the link forward so you can put the slide stop pin back in.

I haven't taken apart a 1911 the "GI way" by compressing the spring and turning the bushing since 1968.

The only caveat is to maintain control of the spring coming off and going on. If it gets away from you, it may get kinked.

rc
 
Oh, and RC is correct.. For a non-FLGR gun, I prefer that method of disassembly even if the bushing can be turned without a wrench. It's quicker and I can do it with my eyes closed.

-Steve
 
Sometimes, just backing the slide up a half-inch will make it much easier to turn the bushing. I've become adept at doing it with the spring under pressure. If you're not...rc's method of removing the slide, barrel, and recoil system as a unit will do.

Of course, it goes without saying that it can't be done with a FLGR, but those things are...well...another argument.
 
1911 Tuner,

The bushing isn't so tight I can barely turn it with a wrench. I can turn it a little by hand but then it gets really tight.

vr,

Redhat
 
I have a question an bushing fitting that will fit here. I have an over/undersized bushing I am trying to fit. Using a drill press and custum fit dowel I have been able to fit the bushing to the slide. What is the best way to fit to the barrel. I have a reamer of the proper size but am worried about not being square to the centerline if I try to ream by hand. Anyone have any tricks or suggestions?
 
Friend with a lathe?

However, since you have already done the outside diameter first with a dowel rod mandrel, it is doubtful the hole is going to be perfectly centered in a lathe's 3-jaw chuck.
Now, you need to dial indicate it in a 4-jaw chuck to get the reamer centered.

Failing that, use the drill press table, carefully leveled & square with the drill, as a flat 90 degree base for the bushing, and let the reamer self-center in the present hole.

rc
 
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