Hey everyone... I needed to polish the frame on my ParaOrd P14 and used an online source as guide on how to detail-strip my gun. I can field-strip and reassemble my pistol with no problem, but this is really the first time that I have delved into the guts of my gun. Now that I have my polishing done I have been sitting here trying to get it all back together again and the online source doesn't go onto enough detail to show how it goes back together. Does anyone here have a better online source of close-up pictures than the Marstar Canada site to help me? Thanks for any help...
Detail-stripped my .45 and need help to reassemble...
- Thread starter IRONFIST
- Start date
- Status
1911Tuner
Moderator Emeritus
Howdy Ironfist,
If you didn't study the relationship of the parts as you broke the gun down,
you'll have to start from scratch. This is assuming that you have an early
Para...without the Colt design Series 80 firing pin safety system. If yours
has these extra parts, the procedure will be a little different.
Trigger in first. It will go in upside down, but not all the way.
Mag catch goes in next. Work it back and forth while turning lightly on the
lock with a screwdriver. When it hits the sweet spot, it'll turn easily. Don't
put more than very light turning force on it. It's not a screw.
Point the frame at the floor.
Sear and disconnect go in as a unit. With the flat side of the disconnect toward the trigger, lay the sear on top with the concave part of the sear
rearward. The square legs of the sear should sit on top of the disconnector
paddle. Pinch the assembly between thumb and finger, and slip the top of
the disconnect into its hole in the frame lay the paddle against the trigger
stirrup with the bottom of the disconnect about flush with the bottom of the
trigger stirrup.
Hold the assembly in place with the tip of your finger, and roll the pistol
onto its side with the left side facing up. Look into the sear pin hole, and
pull the trigger a short distance rearward to see when the sear and disconnect align with the sear pin hole, and insert the pin left to right.
Roll the pistol upright while holding the pin and shake it a few times. If
all is well, they will stay put. If anything falls out, start over.
Install the hammer, and flip the strut over the top. Lay the sear spring in
by moving it up ward slightly as you get the tab on the bottom into the
slot in the back of the frame. Make sure that the center leg is on top of
the disconnect, and that the left leg of the sear spring is on top of the
left sear leg. Hold it in place with your right thumb while you slip the
mainspring housing about halfway up to put pressure on the spring.
The hammer pin is smooth, without a groove in the center. The grooved pin
is the mainspring housing pin. They're the same diameter, but they're
not interchangeable.
Flip the hammer strut into place, and slide the mainspring housing up slowly
Make sure that the strut is centered in to mainspring cap, and don't push the housing all the way into place yet. About a 16th of an inch short of full engagement will work.
Install the grip safety, and make sure that the strut is centered in the channel in the center of the grip safety. If it gets pinched on either side,
remove the grip safety and try again. If all is well, the mainspring housing will slip into place. The hammer should be fully down so you won't be fighting the mainspring's tension.
Install the mainspring pin through the frame. The plunger on the end of the mainspring will require some force. I usually get it started, and flip the gun over...lay the pin against a table, and bump the side of the grip frame
with the heel of my hand. Finish driving it in flush with a hammer and punch. Easy. If you hit it too hard, you'll drive it out the other side.
Cock the hammer and install the thumb safety..making sure that the pin
goes through the grip safety's hole. Depress the plunger with a suitable
tool and push the thumb safety in and up in the same motion. It should
snap into place in the engaged position.
If yours has the Colt-type firing pin safety system, hit the link below for
instructions.
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=56922
Luck to ya.
Tuner
If you didn't study the relationship of the parts as you broke the gun down,
you'll have to start from scratch. This is assuming that you have an early
Para...without the Colt design Series 80 firing pin safety system. If yours
has these extra parts, the procedure will be a little different.
Trigger in first. It will go in upside down, but not all the way.
Mag catch goes in next. Work it back and forth while turning lightly on the
lock with a screwdriver. When it hits the sweet spot, it'll turn easily. Don't
put more than very light turning force on it. It's not a screw.
Point the frame at the floor.
Sear and disconnect go in as a unit. With the flat side of the disconnect toward the trigger, lay the sear on top with the concave part of the sear
rearward. The square legs of the sear should sit on top of the disconnector
paddle. Pinch the assembly between thumb and finger, and slip the top of
the disconnect into its hole in the frame lay the paddle against the trigger
stirrup with the bottom of the disconnect about flush with the bottom of the
trigger stirrup.
Hold the assembly in place with the tip of your finger, and roll the pistol
onto its side with the left side facing up. Look into the sear pin hole, and
pull the trigger a short distance rearward to see when the sear and disconnect align with the sear pin hole, and insert the pin left to right.
Roll the pistol upright while holding the pin and shake it a few times. If
all is well, they will stay put. If anything falls out, start over.
Install the hammer, and flip the strut over the top. Lay the sear spring in
by moving it up ward slightly as you get the tab on the bottom into the
slot in the back of the frame. Make sure that the center leg is on top of
the disconnect, and that the left leg of the sear spring is on top of the
left sear leg. Hold it in place with your right thumb while you slip the
mainspring housing about halfway up to put pressure on the spring.
The hammer pin is smooth, without a groove in the center. The grooved pin
is the mainspring housing pin. They're the same diameter, but they're
not interchangeable.
Flip the hammer strut into place, and slide the mainspring housing up slowly
Make sure that the strut is centered in to mainspring cap, and don't push the housing all the way into place yet. About a 16th of an inch short of full engagement will work.
Install the grip safety, and make sure that the strut is centered in the channel in the center of the grip safety. If it gets pinched on either side,
remove the grip safety and try again. If all is well, the mainspring housing will slip into place. The hammer should be fully down so you won't be fighting the mainspring's tension.
Install the mainspring pin through the frame. The plunger on the end of the mainspring will require some force. I usually get it started, and flip the gun over...lay the pin against a table, and bump the side of the grip frame
with the heel of my hand. Finish driving it in flush with a hammer and punch. Easy. If you hit it too hard, you'll drive it out the other side.
Cock the hammer and install the thumb safety..making sure that the pin
goes through the grip safety's hole. Depress the plunger with a suitable
tool and push the thumb safety in and up in the same motion. It should
snap into place in the engaged position.
If yours has the Colt-type firing pin safety system, hit the link below for
instructions.
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=56922
Luck to ya.
Tuner
1911Tuner... Thank you very much for the detailed description. My pistol is a series 80 and while I STILL don't have the blasted thing together, I now at least understand where the parts go and in what order. Those darn holes just refuse to line up for the sear pin and the "birds head" keeps falling out of the pistol, but I am stubborn and will keep working at it. Thanks again!
1911Tuner
Moderator Emeritus
Bird's Head
Howdy Ironfist,
Try sticking the trigger lever to the frame with some Lubriplate or similar
grease. A slave pin will help a lot, and a small knife blade can be used to
line it up. It'll take some wigglin', but you'll get it.
An alternative method is to use a shim in the frame and do away with the
Series 80 system altogether. If you take that route, the plunger and spring
in the slide has to go, too. The shim is a Brownells item at $4.25 a copy.
Remember...the left leg on the sear spring has to go on top of the sear leg.
It can get in under it, and the pistol will go together, but the hammer won't
cock. For more detail, go to the Consolidated 1911 Clinic and read the
1911 Detail Strip thread.
Luck to ya. Standin' by...
Tuner
Howdy Ironfist,
Try sticking the trigger lever to the frame with some Lubriplate or similar
grease. A slave pin will help a lot, and a small knife blade can be used to
line it up. It'll take some wigglin', but you'll get it.
An alternative method is to use a shim in the frame and do away with the
Series 80 system altogether. If you take that route, the plunger and spring
in the slide has to go, too. The shim is a Brownells item at $4.25 a copy.
Remember...the left leg on the sear spring has to go on top of the sear leg.
It can get in under it, and the pistol will go together, but the hammer won't
cock. For more detail, go to the Consolidated 1911 Clinic and read the
1911 Detail Strip thread.
Luck to ya. Standin' by...
Tuner
bountyhunter
member
Here's the best advice: spend $12 for the Wilson Combat maintenance manual which has a picture for every step. I swear you will not believe how much it helps.
You may get what you are looking for at ( www.gunmanuals.ch/manuals01.htm ) or ( http://stevespages.com/page7b.htm ) or ( www.biggerhammer.net/manuals/ ) ( www.again.net/~steve/page7a.htm ) . Don't look for COLT 1911 , . LOOK FOR 1911 OR 1911A1 . One of these site has a manual for an AUTO ORDNANCE 1911 and another has one for an OLYMPIC ARMS 1911. Hope this helps.
Thank you 1911Tuner and everyone else who posted your help and advice. After numerous tries and the help of an icepick, I was able to get my pistol back together. I haven't shot it yet, but I did do a function test and it seems to work like its supposed to. When I was putting it together I forgot to put in the little "L"-shaped piece that the hammer pin goes thru. Not the "birds head", but the other piece. I had to drive the hammer pin back out partially, slide the missing piece into place from the top and line up the all the holes to get the hammer pin back into position. I was cursing life, let me tell ya. I finally got it all back together and now I am contemplating doing it all over again while it is fresh in my head so that I can get better. Thanks again to the the good folks here on the board. You all made my day.
1911Tuner
Moderator Emeritus
Success!
Excellent news!
Ironfist said:
the little "L"-shaped piece that the hammer pin goes thru. Not the "birds head", but the other piece.
That's the firing pin plunger lever. To make sure that all went together
and in working order, put a pencil in the bore, eraser first. Point the
pistol straight up and pull the trigger. If the pencil is shot out of the
barrel, you're good to go. Oh yeah! Make sure the gun is unloaded
before doin' the test inside your house.
(I know, I know...but I gotta say it.)
An M-16 firing pin will make the job go a lot smoother next time. By the time you've stripped and reassembled it a half-dozen times, you won't
believe how fast you can do it. It should be detail-stripped and cleaned
about every 1500-2,000 rounds anyway. I use carburetor cleaner to
flush out the frame and slide...Air-dry and relube the parts lightly.
Goes faster if you've got compressed air.
Luck to ya!
Tuner
Excellent news!
Ironfist said:
the little "L"-shaped piece that the hammer pin goes thru. Not the "birds head", but the other piece.
That's the firing pin plunger lever. To make sure that all went together
and in working order, put a pencil in the bore, eraser first. Point the
pistol straight up and pull the trigger. If the pencil is shot out of the
barrel, you're good to go. Oh yeah! Make sure the gun is unloaded
before doin' the test inside your house.
(I know, I know...but I gotta say it.)
An M-16 firing pin will make the job go a lot smoother next time. By the time you've stripped and reassembled it a half-dozen times, you won't
believe how fast you can do it. It should be detail-stripped and cleaned
about every 1500-2,000 rounds anyway. I use carburetor cleaner to
flush out the frame and slide...Air-dry and relube the parts lightly.
Goes faster if you've got compressed air.
Luck to ya!
Tuner
1911Tuner
Moderator Emeritus
Zen
You have learned well, Grasshopper. Go forth and prosper.
You have learned well, Grasshopper. Go forth and prosper.
- Status
