Kart barrel fitting question

[patrolman]

hi y'all.

gave up on trying to fit that "drop-in" barrel to one of my 1911s, so I started fitting a Kart EZ Fit to my other one. finally got the barrel to full lockup, but it takes a little bit of force to get it there. also, takes quite a bit of force (had to tap it with a mallet a few times) to get it out of battery. once the barrel goes into linkdown, there is plenty of clearance between the barrel and the slide. barrel hood's face has ~.001 clearance with the breech face in full battery (just a hint of daylight), so no contact there during lockup. also, as I measure it, looks to have about .059 engagement on the #1 lug. the slidestop pin is also showing contact with the lower lug legs. sorta confused as to why lockup is so tight and getting it into linkdown requires force...
any ideas?

 

[1911Tuner]

Howdy patrolman.

From the sounds of it, you need to take a little more material from the two fitting pads in front of the first lug wall.

 

[patrolman]

tuner,

took the pads down to virtually nothing and I still have tight lockup. would it be beneficial to continue to file lightly along the radius where the pads were?

 

[rcmodel]

Is it tight without the link?

Rather then just keep filing, I would try smoking the lugs and the locking cam with a candle then try it again.

You will be able to clearly see what is tight, where.

rcmodel

 

[patrolman]

rcmodel,

thanks for the tip. the smoke told me that the slide stop pin was favoring the left lower lug. got that evened out. bind is now gone, but lockup is still tight enough to require a forceful hand to get it out of battery. kinda reminds me of the lockup on a Baer that belongs to a buddy of mine. wondering now if putting 100 rounds through it will help seat everything...

tuner, would your JB Bore/Oil mixture on the lugs and slide stop pin be advisable at this point when I go to seat everything at the range?

 

[1911Tuner]

would your JB Bore/Oil mixture on the lugs and slide stop pin be advisable at this point when I go to seat everything at the range?

I'd do it before the range trip, and hand-cycle it a couple hundred times to see what difference it makes. If you have to whack the slide hard to get it to move out of battery, it may require more than the slurry to loosen things up. Worth a try, though...

 

[patrolman]

Tuner said:

"If you have to whack the slide hard to get it to move out of battery, it may require more than the slurry to loosen things up. Worth a try, though..."

Tuner,

what else can I do to loosen everything up?

 

[1911Tuner]

what else can I do to loosen everything up?

Just try the slurry first. Get in the upper lugs and on the lower lug area. Wipe it out and leave just a tiny film...and go shoot the gun a little, then bring it home for a thorough cleaning and oiling. Use a spray cleaner to get it all out. Hard for me to determine how hard it is to unlock from here.

 

[patrolman]

along the same lines, how much contact between the breech face and the barrel hood face is acceptable? would any contact between the breech face and the barrel hood face prevent lockup?

 

[jrhines]

Tuner, it is my understanding...

that the Kart pads set the depth of lug engagement. True? Or am I way off?