Could someone walk me thru changing the mainspring housing on a 1911?

[Lone_Gunman]

I need help changing out the plastic mainspring housing on a Colt XSE to a metal housing with a mag well...

Do any parts other than the housing have to be replaced?

Is this something I can do myself?

 

[patrolman]

I'll give this a shot, here.

If you're gonna tackle this, here's what you're looking at:

First, you'll need to drift out the mainspring housing pin, located near the bottom of the MSH. I use either a 1/16 or 3/32 punch for this. Probably gonna have to remove the grips to accomplish this. Once the pin is drifted out, the MSH can be removed from the frame by sliding it down the "guide slots" inside the frame. Once that's done, things get a little more complicated. Take a look at the MSH once its out of the frame and you'll notice there is a small pin near the top. That pin holds the mainspring, mainspring cap, and mainspring housing pin retainer in place, for all intents and purposes. To remove that small pin, you have to apply pressure to the mainspring cap in order to free up that pin. You can use a punch for this, but be careful as a compressed mainspring has plenty of energy and will go flying once that pin is removed if you're not careful. Anyway, once you compress the mainspring by applying pressure to the cap, you can drift out the small pin. Once that small pin is drifted out, SLOWLY release pressure from the mainspring cap and then remove the mainspring cap, mainspring, and mainspring housing pin retainer from the MSH. At that point, you can install the new MSH/Mag Well into the frame and check the fit. Assuming it fits (and most mag wells won't fit flush, in my limited experience) without excessive friction or wobble, you can continue. To install the new MSH, you have to reinstall (in this order) the mainspring housing pin retainer, the mainspring, and the mainspring cap into the new MSH then apply pressure and reinstall that small pin that holds it all inside the MSH. Assuming you have no problems there, you can install the new MSH onto the frame and then secure the MSH in the frame by reinstalling the mainspring housing pin. When reinstalling the MSH, make darn sure that the sear spring is properly positioned in the frame, as the MSH does apply tension to the sear spring once installed.

Hope that made sense, but I bet that RC, Tuner, Fuff, Rogers, etc. can explain it a heck of a lot better......

In closing, remember that any issues that a magazine well may attempt to solve (specifically, the speed of magazine changes) can also be corrected through proper training....

 

[2RCO]

Lone you can do this yourself. Might I suggest a Flat Checkered Mainspring Housing assembly from WWW.2RCo.Com. I can do the change in about 45 seconds or less. Just pop the retainer pin out and pull the housing down. Put a new one in with the internals preinstalled and voila!

 

[Oro]

You can do it, just go slow and be careful and don't leave any tool marks on the frame from mistrikes, etc.

Patrolman's instructions are plenty accurate. If you don't have the punches, etc., you can use parts of the pistol. The 1911 can be detail stripped without tools in a very clever design. Here's instructions on how to do it:

http://www.coolgunsite.com/disassembly/disassembly.htm

Removing the mainspring is not covered in the above, but patrolman has covered it. I find using the round end of the slide stop to depress the MSH plunger very effective. The mainspring has a steel stop on both ends, sometimes the pointy one on the bottom stays inside, be sure to tap it out and move it to the new MSH.

 

[Dirtpile]

As long as on fitting is required you can do it yourself.
1. Remove grips. (to prevent damage)
2. Tap out pin in bottom of the frame. (the one at the bottom rear of the grips where they are cut out)
3. Now the mainspring housing will slide out the bottom. The trigger/connector leaf spring may fall when you do this.

Chances are you have to change the mainspring over you'll need a small pin punch (1/16) And some muscle for this. This is also a good time to check the fit of the magwell to see if it needs fitting.
4. Find some way to securely hold the housing ith the top up and the small pin near the top accessable. (in the side toward the front)
5. Push like hell on the mainspring plunger while you tap the little pin out.
6. Now dump out the mainspring and both the plungers from the housing.

Reverse order for reassembly.

Notes: The leaf spring gets sandwiched between the frame and the mainspring housing, so in order to keep it in place point the muzzle down when you slide the housing off.
If it does fall out, it has a slot in the frame that the bottom fits into. Also make sure that each of the three fingers rests on the trigger bar, disconnector and sear respectively.
It is easiest to get the hammer strut into the mainspring plunger if you cock the hammer before sliding it back on. Then once it's in pull the trigger to release it while you slde the mainspring housing up. Also you may need to keep some resistance on the hammer.
Another note: There are several grip manufacturers that make grips that are cut square at the bottom to be flush to the magwell. Otherwise you'll have a gap.

 

[dmazur]

A suggestion for dealing with the mainspring cap and mainspring cap retaining pin -

1. Drive a substantial nail into a 2x4 and then cut the head off. Polish the cut end smooth. (It should be about the same diameter as the hammer strut to work best...)

2. Put the 2x4 in a vise with the nail horizontal.

3. Hold the mainspring housing so you can "get at" the retaining pin with a small punch and push the MSH onto the nail to compress the mainspring. Once the retaining pin is free you can ease back on the spring pressure and disassemble the MSH.

The advantage of using this method is that the axis of the MSH isn't pointed at your head (!) so, even if the nail slips off, things generally aren't dangerous. It's a good idea to wear safety glasses when dealing with spring disassembly anyway.

 

[Jolly Rogers]

I didn't read (may have missed it) that anyone recommended a rubber band around the grip safety to retain the sear spring. If you secure the grip safety the spring will not become mis aligned at the sear disconnect area and it will make the mainspring housing much easier to reinstall after you reassemble the mainspring housings innards.
Joe

 

[rcmodel]

+1

I was just getting ready to post that trick.

Rubber-band or tape the grip safety down first and save yourself some trouble later.

rc

 

[DanielW]

+1 on the tape trick. I didn't do it and it was a pain to put it back.

 

[SuperNaut]

To compress the mainspring cap I welded a nail to an old pair of large channel locks and rounded-off the end with a file. Then I dipped the serrated end of the channel locks in Plasti-Dip.