listen to this one...broken 1911 slide

[mtnmedic11]

Hey there, about a two weeks ago Im at the range with about 500 rounds of 230 ball doing drills when I noticed my groups were, well not groups at all and way off the paper. I looked down at the slide and didnt notice anything. Emptied the weapon, looked at it for a second and still nothing. So I loaded a mag and kept going, on the 5th round I watched my Novak sight fly off the slide and hit me directly in the Oakleys...not too happy because I also noticed a little triangular piece of metal and was tacked in there...thats right the smith, as he later confessed when I pushed him, had broken the bit off when machining my slide for the novak sights and tacked a small piece of metal in there.

Im stuck, the guy says he can repair it by welding on a new piece of steel and re-machining it for the novak. Obviously I dont trust the guy at this point since he neglected to tell me about the problem. My question is: Is this a repairable problem or do I have to go after him for a brandy-new slide and send it to someone else??? I shoot alot, in the military and at home, but I am no gunsmith or welder, any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jmorris]

It is repairable by welding and remachining; however, if your “smith” could have performed this operation properly he would have already done it instead of risking the bad word of mouth “advertising” he deserves. Only a hack or a crook would have done what you describe. Just remember the old saying “get me once it’s your fault; get me twice it’s mine.”

 

[skinewmexico]

Tell him to buy you a new slide.

 

[machinisttx]

Tell him to buy you a new slide

.

+1

I had a bad experience with a gunsmith years ago. He needs to make it right, or you need to make sure anyone and everyone around there know he is unfit to receive their money.

FWIW, the gunsmith I had bad dealings with was supposed to drill and tap a brand new mauser receiver for scope mounts. He set it up incorrectly and drilled one of the holes off center. Instead of calling and informing us that he had ruined my receiver he just moved over slightly and redrilled the hole...which ended up sharing the same space with the poorly located screw hole. We found it when the rifle wouldn't shoot in the same place twice. He refused to refund my money, but said he would either buy the rifle or replace the receiver....except he wanted to charge me for the labor(if I wanted him to replace the receiver). That guy is the only gunsmith left in this area now that I know of, and I'll gladly pay anyone else double or triple before I would even consider allowing him to mangle another one of my firearms.

Why are you even considering letting this guy touch your gun again? Make him buy you a new slide, preferably one already cut for Novak sights---and if you can't get one that way, make him pay for someone HONEST to do the work.

 

[mtnmedic11]

Is a "dutchman" job with silver solder going to be strong enough for this problem?

 

[Geno]

Wow, disappointing, huh? Get a new smith. Right is right, and wrong is wrong. The breakage can happen. The fail to notify, that's wrong. What is worse, is the fail to acknowledge afterword...I'm calling foul on that smith. That's too far.

 

[Jim Watson]

Matter of honesty and integrity. Local gunsmith doing a parts gun buildup went into my military replacement hard slide a little too fast with the dovetail cutter, broke the cutter, and gouged up the slide. I now have a new Caspian slide, no charge.

 

[machinisttx]

Is a "dutchman" job with silver solder going to be strong enough for this problem?

No. The only way to fix that slide now is to have it welded up, re-heat treated, and the dovetail recut. Two things need to happen here. The first is that dishonest gunsmith buying you a new slide. The second is you finding another gunsmith--hopefully one that is HONEST.

 

[BBBBill]

Slide replacement is one way to go. Other is to send yours to EGW for a look-see. They are the go-to guys for lots of big name smiths to just that kind of repair work. Very reasonable on price, too.

www.egw-guns.com
215-538-1012

 

[RogersPrecision]

I'm assuming this is the front sight?
I've 'repaired' prolly 200 front sight dovetails using the 'silver soldered/dutchman' technique over 22 years.
machinisttx is simply wrong.
This info is prolly worthless to this thread, but I needed to speak up.

 

[BBBBill]

Chuck is right, of course. I was thinking rear sight, but his technique should work just as well for that. A search for his posts on the 1911 forum will show some excellent repair work. If we could all be that good.....

 

[RogersPrecision]

Bbbilll,
I'm hesitant to recommend the technique for the rear sight. Reason being is the inability to localize the heat. I'm somewhat afraid of annealing the breechface area, although my experience has never shown a problem.

 

[mtnmedic11]

No this is the rear dovetail cut gents...I have sent the slide back to this guy and Im letting him fix it however he sees fit with the agreement that if I so much as feel uncomfortable with it he buys me a brandy new TRP slide from SA for $220. I have had many good run-ins with this gunsmith and I am giving him the opportunity to make things right.

 

[Jeff F]

mtnmedic11, that's probably the best way to work it out. At least your giving him the chance to make it right.