Help with 1911 thumb safety.

[PJ11B4VF7]

Greetings all. Wonder if anyone could help me. I posted this question on another forum and am curious what ya'll think here.

I recently received my first custom 1911 and have a couple of small problem with it that I have questions about.

The gun sports a Wilson ambi safety. It seems to function fine when fully assembled and I've already fired 100 rds through it. However when I disassembled it for cleaning I put the safety on with the slide off the frame. pulled the trigger and the hammer moved forward a millimeter and locked in place. Pushing the hammer back the safety went on again and I finished the re-assembly. When the gun is fully assembled and I try to squeeze the trigger with the safety on, the hammer doesn't move.

Any ideas why?

In addition when I first received it, it wouldn't go fully into battery on it's own. The slide would lock stop short about 1/32" and would fully lock with a tap on the rear. The smith that did the work said to shoot it to break it in. Well upon examination of the barrel (KART) I saw a burr/flat spot on one of the lower locking lugs.

I'll post pictures once my camera battery recharges.

As an aside. I haven't contacted the smith yet since I've been in and out of the field and on TDY since I received the gun. There are some issues I had with him that I will not get into, but make me hesitant to deal with him again.

 

[Dale Taylor]

What you describe is unacceptble for a new custom. Return it and get your money back. Don't work on it yourself. Good luck. [email protected]

 

[Jim K]

Well, the safety problem is no problem; it is normal.

If you look at the sear, you will see that the rear bottom has a flat part that is high, then the sear curves away. That flat spot is where the safety sits to block the sear when the gun is assembled. The safety cannot move higher because the slide won't let it. But when you tried the safety with the slide off, the safety could move higher so its blocking surface moved up past that flat spot on the sear. That allowed the sear to move when you pulled the trigger, and the hammer dropped to the point where the safety itself blocked it. (You can see most of this if you examine the insides with the safety out and the slide off, and also examine the safety.)

You can't fire the gun with the slide off, so if the safety works OK with the slide in place, you should have no problem.

The burr should not have been there, so that might be an issue with the gunsmith, but it doesn't sound like anything to lose sleep over. A stone or file should make short work of it.

Jim

 

[CCW1911]

Jim's got it right on the safety but I have to disagree a little on the burr. Unless your experienced in that area I wouldn't touch the locking lugs, it would be too easy to ruin the barrel fit. If it doesn't seat in shooting a 100 rounds or so send it back and they will fix it for ya.

Ross

 

[Jim K]

Good point, CCW1911. But rereading PJ11B4VF7's post, I am not now sure what he means by a "burr/flat spot".

A burr is a raised piece of metal that was left from machining; it can usually be removed with a file or a stone with no problem. A "flat spot" is the opposite, an area where the metal is flattened down. Depending on where the "flat spot" is, it could be normal or even desireable, or it could indicate a problem.

Can you clarify a little, PJ11B4VF7? Some close up pics would help.

Jim

 

[CCW1911]

Jim my opinion is more than a little shaded by some of the stuff i've had carried into the shop. I guess I should be a little more liberal. I agree if it's a little ole burr but the flats on a good barrel fit are critical.

ross

 

[PJ11B4VF7]

Gentlemen, thanks for the advice.

The thumb safety does seem to do what both Jim Keenan and CCW1911 describe. Attached are a couple of photos of the barrel feet. I wish I could take a good photo of the slide stop to show the witness marks of the lockup. The barrel seems to be locking up on both feet with no sign of lockup on the link so I guess that's a good thing? I keep thinking though that the marks on the feet mean that they weren't quite cut correctly.

Edited to add: Sorry for the poor quality of the photos

 

[CCW1911]

I missed the fact in your first thread that this is a custom gun. I would hope that you would give the gunsmith a chance to make you happy before complaining on a public forum.

This is my opinion.That is not a burr that I see. What I'm seeing in the pics are typical of what happens when you use a barrel foot cutter and let it bite into the vertical part of the feet. It digs in and causes what you see. If the gun is not quite going into battery you could take flats of the feet down slowly and maybe get the fit right, I would send it back before working on it. Having said that they are some smiths who like the barrel to snap into battery and would probably approve of the pic. They can be more than one way of doing things and plenty of web experts to criticize anyones work. It's just not the way I and many others do it.

Ross

 

[RogersPrecision]

 

[PJ11B4VF7]

Gentlemen, I'm not really trying to "complain" I'm trying to find out what issues I would have to address with the smith if I choose to do so. I certainly have no intentions of posting his name on a public forum without having spoken with him first.

 

[CCW1911]

Chuck, I'm trying to be diplomatic dammit!!!! That's very hard for me. Now you edit your post to rollin eyes. Give me some credit.
Ross