Flitz on Internal Parts

[WoodchuckAssassin]

While I’m happy with my SR1911 trigger, it’s still not as crisp as I would like it. It doesn’t have creep so much as it was a *click* before the *bang*. Would polishing the sear, hammer, disconnect, trigger bow/trigger channel with Flitz Polish have any effect on the crispness of the trigger pull? I’m always afraid to do anything that might change the angle of the sear/trigger, so I wasn’t sure if Flitz would remove enough material to affect this. Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

[BCRider]

The sear and hammer hooks are far better off being stoned by someone that has a jig. There are a number of tricks to this and a good 1911 smith or dedicated amatuer with the right jigs and stones is worth the cost.

What happens when you try to "polish" stuff like this with abrasive creams (Flitz for example) or abravise films or other products that are not solidly backed up at proper angles is you end up with shapes that look like slightly used bars of soap. That is definetly NOT what you want for the internals of any gun.

Some guys do have some measure of luck with that sort of quick and dirty polishing work. But mostly their success is because they don't work the products over the metal long enough to do any major damage. But the trend towards an unsafe trigger is well on the way when such things are used on critical action parts.

So simply say "NO!" to action shortcuts like polishing with abrasives of this sort witout special jigs or laps to ensure that surfaces and corners are maintained.

 

[Drail]

+1. Flitz is not going to do what you want. You need a professional trigger job (and a reliability checkout). There are no shortcuts. The entire gun should be gone over and any slight defects addressed. If you do not want to pay the price for that then send it back to Ruger. But it may come back just as it is.

 

[BCRider]

Another thought is that you could play with the multi finger spring. On a 1911 a LOT of tuning can be done simply by tweaking that spring. There's an excellent technical write up in the "Articles" area on the Brownell's web site about this. I used their method with good success on my own 1911.

Just be sure to follow each step in order. The way the operations stack up each step relies to some extent on what you did in the step before. So no shortcuts allowed!

 

[cyclopsshooter]

Creep is most often caused by long hammer hooks- the hooks should be shortened with a jig and stones just be careful to not take too much off.

 

[WoodchuckAssassin]

I really don't want to mess with the finger springs. Wouldn't that effect the weight of the tirgger pull? I'm happy with the 5 lb. "defense" trigger pull...I just want a crisper trigger pull. Can anyone recommend a good and cost effective sear/trigger jig? I don't want something cheep, but I can't really spend upwards of $100 for a jig.

I was buying Flitz to polish up some guns anyways, so I was hoping to kill 2 birds with one purchase. Guess I gotta bite the bullet. Sorry...bad pun

 

[788Ham]

If you're just going to polish them up, get some Mother's wheel and mag polish at the auto parts store, a lot milder polish. I've used it on my S&W 629 and my Ruger SP 101, can't look at 'em outside in the sunlight! LOL

 

[DPris]

There are two types of "polish" relating to guns.
One (Flitz) is cosmetic & intended to make things shiny.
The other is done to improve the relationship (smooth interaction on bearing surfaces) between mechanism parts, and it's done with stones & a couple other abrasive items. It's not done with liquid polishing compounds.

Messing with the hammer hooks requires a GOOD jig unless you're extremely good and can do it by eyeballing & excellent hand coordination.
Even with a jig, there's a chance of screwing it up if you don't know what you're doing.

Seems to me you could get a pro to do a quick-slick in that area for less than the price of a jig, if you have somebody locally that's competent.
I'd recommend that route. The nature of your initial question indicates (no offense) that you don't know what you need to know in achieving your goal by doing it yourself.
Denis

 

[1911Tuner]

I've produced some pretty good results by imbedding a mild polishing agent...like Flitz...in rough denim glued to a hard surface, and vigorously burnishing the part on it.

 

[CraigC]

There's also a reason why gunsmiths use stones and not buffers. You do not want a mirror polish on friction surfaces like that. A mirror polish does not hold any oil and that can cause chattering. You want a smooth, brushed surface, which will hold a fine film of oil. Surfaces will glide against each other smoothly.

 

[Walkalong]

Yep, learned that the hard way. Smooth, flat, and square. Not rough, and not polished to a sheen.

 

[481]

I've produced some pretty good results by imbedding a mild polishing agent...like Flitz...in rough denim glued to a hard surface, and vigorously burnishing the part on it.

How much risk is there of removing enough metal to cause a problem using this technique, Tuner?

 

[1911Tuner]

Almost none. It basically just burnishes the surface.

As Craig pointed out, some surfaces shouldn't be mirror polished. I've used the denim trick to burnish 1911 sear crowns and the rear angled portion of disconnector spades where the sear spring bears against them after making sure that they're smooth.

 

[WoodchuckAssassin]

DPris,

You're right, I am a little bit over my head...but how else am I gunna learn how to swim? Haha. And I like what Turner said...but I'm not 100% sure what the sear crown is. If I had to guess, I'd say it's the part of the sear that contacts the trigger (the part I'm most worried about changing). If not, maybe someone can set me straight. I appreciate all the input from The High Road.

 

[481]

Almost none. It basically just burnishes the surface.

As Craig pointed out, some surfaces shouldn't be mirror polished. I've used the denim trick to burnish 1911 sear crowns and the rear angled portion of disconnector spades where the sear spring bears against them after making sure that they're smooth.

Alright. Thanks, Tuner.

 

[BCRider]

I've produced some pretty good results by imbedding a mild polishing agent...like Flitz...in rough denim glued to a hard surface, and vigorously burnishing the part on it.

You basically created a lap then charged it with the abrasive. I'm sure you know that there's nothing all that new about such a thing.

I've used wood of various grades as the "stick" to hold the abrasive for some things similar to your use of the denim glued to something hard. I've also used my leather stropping boards that I use for putting a final razor edge on my wood working knives for this purpose as well. The leather being charged with white auto body polishing compound. Very likely the same white powder abrasive used in the Mother's and other metal polishes.

All these work well. But it's not the sort of thing you use for polishing the hooks on a hammer and sear.

To woodchuckassasin, it's not enough to get the jigs. THEN you need the stones and knowledge on how far to cut down the hooks and how to chamfer them to the spec used to create the classic "like breaking glass" trigger break.

I know you don't want to hear it but for much less than the cost of all the stuff you'd need you can get a good 1911 smith to do the job for you. And they've got that knowledge that you simply can't order out of a catalog.

Your other option would be a drop in match grade kit. But even then given that it's a 1911 you'd need to fit SOME things. For example, the operation and trustworthiness of the safety seems to be linked to the fit of the other internals. From tinkering with my own 1911 I got to where the safety could be kicked to "FIRE" by simply flicking the hammer and pulling on the trigger. If I did that enough it kicked the safety down without having to touch it. That little matter has since been fixed. But it shows why a 1911 has to be tuned from one end to the other. It's like the fit of each part affects the others that are "downstream".

 

[1911Tuner]

If I had to guess, I'd say it's the part of the sear that contacts the trigger

The sear crown is the part that contacts the hammer hooks. No part of the sear ever touches the trigger.

 

[WoodchuckAssassin]

I just read my post from last night...and I'm a dumba**. I was thinking hammer...typed trigger...and now I'm embarassed. Haha.

I would love to take it to a smith, but for the life of me I can't find anyone who'll work on it! They're a diein' bread, I guess - that's why I wanted to take a whack at it myself. Deep, deep down, I know that I need more knowledge to accomplish what I want. When my finances are a little more in order, I'd love to enroll in a local smithing certification program ($3000 + tools in my neck of the woods). Untill then...does anyone know a trustworthy smith near Lynchburg, VA? Again, thanks for all the info.

 

[1911Tuner]

The trigger never touches the hammer, either.

Lynchburg! Not all that far away. Before I moved down here from King NC, I had a neighbor from Lynchburg. Hamlet family. Check your PMs.

 

[BCRider]

WCA, if you want to have a go at tinkering and learning how to do this sort of work start out with the excellent book on 1911 tuning by Jerry Kuhnhausen. It's more or less one of the bibles for 1911 tuning.

It will help if you develop some skills in metal working as well. You can actually make your own jigs to use for stoning the parts to the specs given in the book. But it'll take using at least a drill press along with a collection of GOOD files, various grits and shapes of honing stones and a few other tools. You do not need a full on machine shop but you will need a machine or two for much of this sort of tuning work. What you lack in expensive shop machines you will need to make up with imagination, ingenuity and skill with the hand tools and measuring instruments.