Geneseo1911
Member
Codger- you should've had your wife sew a pouch into your knapsack for a ballistic plate to protect that sausage.
can someone explain to me what an idiot mark is?
- Thread starter hobgob
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1911
Nahhhh, after the battle was over I just wrote the vienna sausage company and gave them a good bashing for not making their cans thicker! They responded that they were sorry but it would increase their cost of production and they'd probably hafta apply for some bailout money if they did thicken the cans. I did notice later on though that they had put heavier metal in the cans but all cans were short one sausage..............
Nahhhh, after the battle was over I just wrote the vienna sausage company and gave them a good bashing for not making their cans thicker! They responded that they were sorry but it would increase their cost of production and they'd probably hafta apply for some bailout money if they did thicken the cans. I did notice later on though that they had put heavier metal in the cans but all cans were short one sausage..............
1KPerDay
Member
LoL 
It's funny......
Just checked out the 1911 forum (Taurus PT1911 threads) showing pictures of their PT1911's. Couldn't help but notice that probably 80 percent of the pictures show only the right side of the pistol........hmmmmmmm, wonder why? And of the ones that also show the left side of the pistol, probably at least 40 percent have a noticeable..........yep, you guessed it, you're ahead of me. And some of them are slightly out of focus on the left side picture.......again hmmmmmmmm, wonder what they're hiding!!!!!! We're not alone, they walk among us!!!! 
Just checked out the 1911 forum (Taurus PT1911 threads) showing pictures of their PT1911's. Couldn't help but notice that probably 80 percent of the pictures show only the right side of the pistol........hmmmmmmm, wonder why? And of the ones that also show the left side of the pistol, probably at least 40 percent have a noticeable..........yep, you guessed it, you're ahead of me. And some of them are slightly out of focus on the left side picture.......again hmmmmmmmm, wonder what they're hiding!!!!!!
We're not alone, they walk among us!!!! j1979
Member
A scratch on a Taurus is like a scratch on a Chevette though.
gc70
Member
Technique
No tools are needed to press the slide release in place, just use a safe technique.
Put the top of the slide against your stomach to steady the gun. Put one thumb on the frame below the slide release notch and the other thumb on the slide above the notch to position the slide release and keep it from moving up or down. Push in on the slide release with the joint of the thumb.
My (former) gunsmith put "the mark" on my 70 Series Gold Cup so I could avoid the shame of doing it myself.
No tools are needed to press the slide release in place, just use a safe technique.
Put the top of the slide against your stomach to steady the gun. Put one thumb on the frame below the slide release notch and the other thumb on the slide above the notch to position the slide release and keep it from moving up or down. Push in on the slide release with the joint of the thumb.
My (former) gunsmith put "the mark" on my 70 Series Gold Cup so I could avoid the shame of doing it myself.
uh-oh
Member
gc70, did you take that picture with your teeth?
El Hombre
Member
I'm curious as to when the term "idiot mark" was first used.
It used to be you saw the "takedown/reassembly" mark on almost every
1911. Like a previous poster said it was just a wear mark, like scratches in a pickup bed.
Not sure when we all became so condescending about the mark. I never heard the term "idiot mark" untill maybe the late 90's, probably coined by some gunwriter.
That being said, I don't like the mark, I try to avoid the mark, but as was also stated above, on a stainless gun, it polishes right out with a little green scotchbrite. On a blued gun, it just adds a little character.
If a gun is used much, it will get the mark. If all you want to do with your pistol is look at how pretty it is, buy a magazine with lots of pictures.
It used to be you saw the "takedown/reassembly" mark on almost every
1911. Like a previous poster said it was just a wear mark, like scratches in a pickup bed.
Not sure when we all became so condescending about the mark. I never heard the term "idiot mark" untill maybe the late 90's, probably coined by some gunwriter.
That being said, I don't like the mark, I try to avoid the mark, but as was also stated above, on a stainless gun, it polishes right out with a little green scotchbrite. On a blued gun, it just adds a little character.
If a gun is used much, it will get the mark. If all you want to do with your pistol is look at how pretty it is, buy a magazine with lots of pictures.
1KPerDay
Member
That sucks... I'm wary of sending my guns to a gunsmith for this reason. Nobody will care about my guns as much as I do.
j1979. (And it was not worth it!!)
"A scratch on a Taurus is like a scratch on a Chevette though."
I consigned a Randall Raider in the Indy-1500 one year, and checked it out every evening. On the next-to-last day I went to check on how it was being looked at. It was lying eject-port up, instead of down, as usual. (It had NEVER been fired or taken down in the 16 years I had it.) I turned it over. Yuppers, it had the idiot's mark on it! I vociferously challenged my "Gun-buddy" as to why/how he'd let this happen! He apologized, I accepted -- with 5 boxes of Brass Blazer in .45ACP -- and promised not to bend his Harley.
"A scratch on a Taurus is like a scratch on a Chevette though."
I consigned a Randall Raider in the Indy-1500 one year, and checked it out every evening. On the next-to-last day I went to check on how it was being looked at. It was lying eject-port up, instead of down, as usual. (It had NEVER been fired or taken down in the 16 years I had it.) I turned it over. Yuppers, it had the idiot's mark on it! I vociferously challenged my "Gun-buddy" as to why/how he'd let this happen! He apologized, I accepted -- with 5 boxes of Brass Blazer in .45ACP -- and promised not to bend his Harley.
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Guns and more
member
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- May 6, 2008
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I put one on my Springfield the first time I broke it down. In my defense (and yours) it's damn hard to get the slide stop to drop straight in. It hangs up on the pin behind it that's under spring tension. By the time it went "click", I had a scratch.
Tinpig
Member
This frame was first issued in 1918. I guess I'm lucky it didn't pick up more before I got it. Doesn't mean I like them.
Tinpig
Tinpig
Cloudpeak
Member
Some slide stops snap in with no problems past the plunger button. Some do not. You want to have the recoil plug out and the recoil spring sticking out to remove tension from the slide and have the take down notch on the slide lined up. Use some "protection" as has been discussed when you first try to install the slide stop. If it does not slide in with ease, you could consider doing this mod. I did it on two of my 1911's and it works well.
Post number 5. http://forum.m1911.org/showthread.php?t=67130&highlight=slide+stop
Post number 5. http://forum.m1911.org/showthread.php?t=67130&highlight=slide+stop
I took my new Taurus PT1911 back to the shop i buy from to have my rear sight adjusted with a sight pusher as i couldnt budge it with the tools i had without damage.
I take it out of the case and hand it to him as the slide was back already and here is the short conversation:
him "Did you even shoot it to verify the sight is off?"
me "yeh i did"
him "i could see it was clean and it didnt have an idiot mark most new 1911 owners have,so i wasnt sure if you had been inside it"
me "i read the internet and knew about idiot marks before buying it and how to aviod it"
I take it out of the case and hand it to him as the slide was back already and here is the short conversation:
him "Did you even shoot it to verify the sight is off?"
me "yeh i did"
him "i could see it was clean and it didnt have an idiot mark most new 1911 owners have,so i wasnt sure if you had been inside it"
me "i read the internet and knew about idiot marks before buying it and how to aviod it"
RevolvingGarbage
Member
*EDIT*Woops, disregard this post, didnt look closely enough.
Well I put actually installed the mark on my first 1911 about 30 years ago. Since that time I have installed the mark on couple more 1911's but have learned how to avoid the mark. My current 1911 gets shot and disassembled for cleaning on average about 3 or 4 times a month. I've got over 4k rounds through it and haven't installed the mark on it yet. I guess experience does count for something.
Now, if I could just learn to shoot.
Now, if I could just learn to shoot.
AKElroy
Member
Exactly. I recently put an idiot mark on my stainless series 80, and then carelessly blew my head clean off.
1KPerDay
Member
hhaaaa! LOL
AKElroy...
I'll bet that stopped the "ringing" in your ears though!
I personally think that all pistols should come with the idiot mark factory installed. They could cut a neat tidy groove just deep enough that we could use it as a pattern.
I'll bet that stopped the "ringing" in your ears though!
I personally think that all pistols should come with the idiot mark factory installed. They could cut a neat tidy groove just deep enough that we could use it as a pattern.
Muddflap
Member
If you don't own a 1911, it's the mark left on your forehead, when your wife catches you checking out the bikinis at the beach.
SharpsDressedMan
member
See my new "idiot mark contest" in the THR autoloader column!
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