Another go round' with a PT-1911

[gsbuickman]

If this isn't a Novak heinie sight,then 'm Santa Claus ...

 

[gsbuickman]

On another note, I bought a nice set of Rosewood and ivory grips to put on this but I can't get the socket cap head screws out of the grip to replace the panels . It looks like I'll either have to shoot it as is or get a little creative to get the grip screws out. Probably something like using a little Dremel cutting wheel and slotting them for a flat head screwdriver ust to get them outout , then get some new screws to replace themthem ...

 

[Sovblocgunfan]

Those are heinie straight 8’s.

Why cant you get the screws off? Wrong size allen wrenches?

ETA: nice grips!

 

[entropy]

GSBuickman, I have the Novaks, see posts #9 and #12. Nice looking grips, BTW!

 

[gsbuickman]

GSBuickman, I have the Novaks, see posts #9 and #12. Nice looking grips, BTW!

Thanks, I won them in an auction on eBay . I have plenty of Allen wrenches in my rollaway Full of tools but I think it's a combination of the cap head screws being stripped out and I have a sneaky suspicion some yo-yo put thread lock on them ...

 

[Sovblocgunfan]

If you have a soldering gun you can apply heat directly to the screws to deal w the thread locker. That and the grooves you mentioned should do the trick.

 

[Havok7416]

Years ago I found a PT-1911 .45 at my local gunstore. They were asking $250 for it, so I asked them what was wrong with it. It had been one of their rental guns and it was due to be replaced with a new one. There were at least 25,000 rounds through it that they were aware of and they said they hadn't replaced any parts. For $250 I figured it was as good of a deal as I could hope for and took it home. Turns out, it is one of the most accurate pistols I own, although it generally looks like it was run over by a bulldozer - if you've seen how many people handle rental guns, this shouldn't be too surprising.

I've only had one problem with the gun and it happened around 27-29,000 total rounds fired (2-4k by me). During load testing at the local range, I stopped between magazines to talk to someone. When I went to pull the trigger on the fresh magazine, nothing happened. Apparently the previous round had expanded an unseen crack in the barrel bushing, causing the ears of the bushing and the recoil spring cap to depart the gun at high speed. The spring was left dangling from the front of the gun, but the remaining parts were never found. I ordered some new Springfield parts and was back in business a week later. The only difference is that the new parts are stainless instead of blued. Before anyone gets all excited about the bushing shearing, keep in mind it was heavily abused for 5 years as a rental and had who-knows-what happen to it during that time. No complaints here!

Below are the then and now photos of the gun. The new grips are quite possibly the nicest looking parts on the gun, but it still shoots right where it should every time.

 

[gsbuickman]

Years ago I found a PT-1911 .45 at my local gunstore. They were asking $250 for it, so I asked them what was wrong with it. It had been one of their rental guns and it was due to be replaced with a new one. There were at least 25,000 rounds through it that they were aware of and they said they hadn't replaced any parts. For $250 I figured it was as good of a deal as I could hope for and took it home. Turns out, it is one of the most accurate pistols I own, although it generally looks like it was run over by a bulldozer - if you've seen how many people handle rental guns, this shouldn't be too surprising.

I've only had one problem with the gun and it happened around 27-29,000 total rounds fired (2-4k by me). During load testing at the local range, I stopped between magazines to talk to someone. When I went to pull the trigger on the fresh magazine, nothing happened. Apparently the previous round had expanded an unseen crack in the barrel bushing, causing the ears of the bushing and the recoil spring cap to depart the gun at high speed. The spring was left dangling from the front of the gun, but the remaining parts were never found. I ordered some new Springfield parts and was back in business a week later. The only difference is that the new parts are stainless instead of blued. Before anyone gets all excited about the bushing shearing, keep in mind it was heavily abused for 5 years as a rental and had who-knows-what happen to it during that time. No complaints here!

Below are the then and now photos of the gun. The new grips are quite possibly the nicest looking parts on the gun, but it still shoots right where it should every time.
View attachment 820764
View attachment 820766

Wow , that's awesome and I agree . I can't think of a better way to test the long-term reliability of a firearm then to make it a rental weapon, then to buy it with that high of a round countcount & continue putting rounds down range with it, wow ..

 

[thomas15]

The unfortunate part about that is Taurus apparently did all their 1911 sights with a proprietary dovetail cut, meaning we can’t replace the sights with aftermarket stuff unless the slide is machined to accept a more common dovetail dimension.

I have one of the early (modern) Remington R-1 1911s and the same thing. I'm not a 1911 person so I might be off on a detail here but I think the dovetails are "combat" cut. Regardless, at some point I'm going to have the dovetails cut for Bomar or Novak not sure which or when. To be honest I hardly ever shoot it.

 

[Sovblocgunfan]

I have one of the early (modern) Remington R-1 1911s and the same thing. I'm not a 1911 person so I might be off on a detail here but I think the dovetails are "combat" cut. Regardless, at some point I'm going to have the dovetails cut for Bomar or Novak not sure which or when. To be honest I hardly ever shoot it.

You could be right. When I get tired of the sights On mine I guess I’ll have the slide modified to my liking. I have a HP clone with tiny fixed military sights. That slide will get done first!