Disassembling and cleaning an RIA 1911...

[TireFryer]

Good evening folks...

I will be picking up my RIA 1911 5" .45 w/ some minor tweeks on Monday.

Prior to shooting it, I would presume it's a good idea to take it apart, clean it and then go on to shoot it...correct? Herein lies the dilema for me... this is my first handgun and I am at a loss as to the proper procedures to disassemble the gun, and moreso, how to go about cleaning, oiling, ... properly. Are cleaning kits available out there? If so, where and what brand or type of cleaning kit should I be looking for?
Any and all info/advice/help would be greatly appreciated

TIA
Basam

 

[1911 guy]

Here's what I do:

1) Remove magazine
2) rack slide to eject any cartridge that may be loaded
3) Visually check chamber
I know, basic stuff, but someone will forget/ignore this and get hurt or dead.
4) Place right index finger firmly on slide stop where it protrudes from right side of frame
5) rack the slide again, slide stop will pop out of it's detent
6) depress recoil spring plunger with your thumb
7) Rotate bushing to allow slide removal
8) slowly release pressure on recoil spring plug and remove it and spring
9) pull slide stop out of the frame
10) pull slide foreward and off the frame

Now it's time to clean

remove barrel bushing by rotating it in the opposite direction until it comes free of it's detent. Remove it and the recoil spring guide. Turn the barrel ling down so it lies against the bottom of the barrel and remove the barrel by sliding it, too, foreward and out of the slide.

Clean all the gummy crud out of everything you see. With a new pistol, there might be lots of it, sometimes almost none. If you're not sure you got it all and think there may be crud deep inside, remove the grip panels with a PROPERLY sized screwdriver (Emphasis because grip screws are easy to damage) and squirt a bottle of lighter fluid inside everything. The naptha will rinse the crud away and dry without any residue. Mine get this about once a year.

Wipe away all solvent and lightly lube the moving parts. A drop of oil here and there goes a long way. Apply a very thin coat of grease to the slide rails and reassemble the pistol. Just reverse the dissassambly.

 

[TheEgg]

Go here:

http://www.m1911.org/m1911dt.htm

click on subjects on the right -- more information than you can absorb in months of reading!!! Including pictures on stripping, and videos too.