How to test the disconnector on a 1911??

[billcalley]

Hi all,

My PT1911's slide has the ability to be pulled back up to 0.145" from its full forward (locked) position, and a trigger pull will still drop the hammer. Is the pistol still locked even at the 0.145" distance, or is there some other, tighter spec that I need to adjust it to? Is this at all safe? (I would hate to get a slide embedded into by forehead like in Sin City ).

Thanks,

-Bill

 

[Drail]

The old Army field manual test required the slide to be pulled back 1/4 of an inch and trigger pressed and the hammer stays at fullcock. Taurus' tolerances might be different, you need to ask them what their spec is. The slide is not going to eject into your head because of a short disconnector. (that picture is priceless) With the gun unloaded and cocked ease the slide back very slowly from lockup and watch the rear of the barrel drop down as it unlinks. If the trigger won't release the hammer before the barrel starts to drop you're probably OK. If the hammer falls as the barrel is just starting to link down you have a problem. The slide won't come off but the gun may fire out of battery and blow out the case. This would be a Very Bad Thing. If you don't completely understand this take it to a smith and have it checked out.

 

[billcalley]

Thanks Drail, then my PT1911 is within original specs, since the disconnector stops sear drop after 0.145", rather than anywhere near your quoted 0.25" spec of the old Army armorers. It also just stops the sear falling as the barrel just starts to go down.

 

[Drail]

You should be OK. Look closely at your empty cases for any sign of bulging on the case where it was hanging over the feed ramp. A .45 ACP runs at relatively low pressure so they usually won't have any problem not being fully supported over the feed ramp. You can tell a lot about a gun by just looking at the brass, extractors, ejectors, firing pins and the breechface all leave their personal signature on the fired case.

 

[1911Tuner]

At .140 inch out of battery, the bottom of the firing pin stop should keep the hammer from reaching the firing pin anyway, assuming that the hammer is within spec.

 

[billcalley]

Thanks again Drail, and thanks very much Tuner1911.

Yes, I did notice that the 1911's hammer was not able to contact the firing pin with the slide that far back, instead hitting the bottom edge of the slide first.

But this started me wondering as to why John B. even put a disconnector in his gun at all, since the disconnector doesn't even start to work until the slide is far enough back to block the hammer from impacting the firing pin anyway.

Since I don't deserve to even lick John B's boots after he walks through cow manure, I know I'm missing something truly obvious here, but I am kind of curious about this...

 

[1911Tuner]

The disconnect is a connector and a disconnector. Without it, pulling the trigger wouldn't drop the hammer. The trigger stirrup never touches the sear, but rather pushes on the disconnect, which rolls the sear out of the hammer hooks.

When the slide moves, and cams the disconnect into the frame, it doesn't "fill the gap" between the trigger and the sear any more...and the sear is free to reset.

 

[rcmodel]

Trust me, you do want a disconector!

Without a disconnector, you would have a full-auto machine pistol.
And nothing you could do about it except hold on until you run out of ammo!
7 rounds doesn't last long enough to let off the trigger!

rc

 

[billcalley]

Ooops, yes -- I did forget the small issue of the sear reset, with the minor accompanying problem of a 1911 going full-auto and blowing the top of one's head off during recoil .

My bad :banghead:.

Thanks guys



.

 

[1911Tuner]

ehhh. It ain't that big a deal.

Back in '03, Cousin Ken (Rainey) came for a visit, and his Kimber started a hammer followdown. He handed the pistol to me, and when I pulled the trigger, it ripped off 4 rounds in a blink. Didn't even bend my elbow. I had it in one hand, and two rounds hit a 12X16 steel gong 15 yards away. The other two walked off to the right, and both hit the 6-foot berm...one about 4 inches above the top of the target, and the other about a foot high and a foot to the right.

We played with it a little, and I managed to get a 6-round burst. With a firm, two-hand hold, 5 rounds rang the steel and the last one walked off to the right maybe 3 inches.

After we got done playin' we took it back to the house and fixed it.

 

[rcmodel]

On the other hand, some folks aren't so lucky.
We had an outdoor range roof at Ft. Carson with a line of .45 holes in it.

One of civilian Bullseye shooters who was our guest that day must not have had that stiff a right arm!

I shot it before fixing his home botched trigger job.
I do agree that it is controllable, if you are expecting it.

But I suspect he wasn't.

rc

 

[Jim K]

Tuner, you could have gotten into trouble by "playing with it" rather than fixing it immediately.

Even if the gun won't fire from hammer follow down, no one wants a pistol that has to be re-cocked for every shot, which is what would happen if there were no disconnector.

(Incidentally, I agree that it should really be called a "connector", since it connects the trigger bow to the sear, but after 100 years it is a bit late to go changing the name.)

Jim

 

[billcalley]

Yes, I too had this happen: I had just bought a used pistol, and it went into burst "mode" unexpectedly . It fired three rounds with one pull of the trigger at an indoor range (and back in the day I was using a one handed hold).

It ripped the rounds off so fast that the range folks didn't seem to notice , and all the bullets went downrange.

But after I got home and changed my undies, I put the pistol away for ten years and never touched it (until I figured out how to fix it by reading up on the subject).

 

[1911Tuner]

Not where we were at the time, Jim. I'm nuts. I ain't stupid.