Swapping triggers and hammers - 1911

[Lightsped]

I have never done any kind of work on my guns beyond the usual disassembly for cleaning.

How difficult would it be for someone with no gun work experience to add a new trigger and hammer to a basic 1911?

Or is this something I should pay a dealer/shop to do for me?

 

[mete]

The 1911 is designed as a military gun which means it can be taken apart quickly for claening and parts replacement . There are some excellent books , videos and stuff on the internet to learn to do this. One of the nicest things is that it lends itself to modification to fit the user. For example with my large hand the straight mainspring housing and the long trigger are better. ASSUMING that the parts are made to original specs they will interchange easily. It depends on what you want and why you want it.

 

[B Sigmon]

The trigger would be easiest. It will need to be filed top and bottom to fit in the slot.

The hammer may or may not drop in. It work in conjunction with the sear and may require fitting for a crisp clean break.

It can be done but you will need to get some tools. Brownells has everything you would ever need. Get the Jerry Kuhnhausen books on the 1911. They are a great place to start.

Bob Sigmon

 

[Bottom Gun]

I'd suggest trying a parts swap yourself before you pay someone to do it. It's not difficult at all.

Most parts should drop in without requiring modification unless your new parts are in the white. The best way is to just try them and see.

Simply changing these parts will affect your trigger pull. They may make it better or they may make it worse.
Make sure you have an exploded drawing of the parts so you can reinstall everything properly.

When you change the trigger, be sure to push the magazine catch in all the way before you turn the little screw on it otherwise you'll bugger it up.

Unless you want to change the length of the trigger, I'd suggest trying a different hammer first to see how if you're satisfied with it. The hammer is easier to swap out and it can be done without taking the trigger out.

It wouldn't hurt to lightly polish the bearing surfaces a bit with a good paste like Simichrome but I'd avoid doing any stone work unless you are absolutely sure of what you're doing and you have the proper jigs. I'd leave any stone work to a professional.

My two cents. . . . . . .

 

[Art Eatman]

See if you can find a copy of the paperback book on the 1911 by Hallock. It's my handy reference, even after doing a lot of work on them.

Find some screwdrivers of the right or near-right width. Grind them to fit the screw-widths fairly exactly. (Grip screws, mag-release screw-slot.) And, it doesn't hurt to reshape them to "hollow ground" shape. As-purchased screwdrivers are wedge shaped, and it's easy for them to jump out of the slot and mar the finish. Get a small tapping hammer, either plastic or brass, and a drift to fit the mainspring housing pin. You can find this stuff at your friendly Ace Hardware.

Doing all manner of workovers on 1911s is a piece of cake. Just don't be in any hurry. It gets easier with a little practice; no big deal.

After you become more confident, stoning the sear and hammer is easy. I use the very-fine hard Arkansas stones. A couple of them are some four inches long and about 1/4" x 3/8"; easy to use.

You may eventually get into throating and polishing, and bevelling the mag well, but that's another story...

, Art

 

[Johnny Guest]

Parts switching

I strongly endorse Bottom Gun's comment

I'd suggest trying a parts swap yourself before you pay someone to do it. It's not difficult at all.

Given only the simple tools Art Eatman mentions, you can switch out any part on a 1911 except sights and plunger tube. Oh, yeah, you'd need a smaller drift to punch out the ejector pin.


Sometimes simple parts switching works fine, sometimes not. I bought an Argentine Sistema 1927 a while back. It worked okay, but . . . The old style, broad hammer (forget the grip safety for now) pinched me badly, the trigger pull was hard and gritty, and the magazine catch was far too stiff. Point of impact was six inches left at 25 yards.

Not too bad for a GI pistol, but I'm accustomed to something better. I dug out my little box o' parts and installed an old GI hammer that I'd obtained years ago. I polished the rear end of the trigger bow with thousand-grit emery paper on a smooth marble block and finished up with an Arkansas stone. I replaced the mag catch spring.

I hosed out the receiver interior with carburetor cleaner - - about a third the price of Birchwood Casey Gun Scrubber. Use it only outdoors, the fumes are deadly. Apply a thin coat of oil to prevent rust.

The improvement was dramatic - - Trigger pull weight and crispness. Mag catch far better. No pinch. Ten minutes with Swiss pattern files opened up the tight rear sight, and I drifted it to the right. Hits where I hold it now. Time on project: About two hours. (I was going to the range anyway.)

Best,
Johnny