thesomnambulist
Member
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2013
- Messages
- 4
I recently acquired a used Taurus PT1911. This is the second 1911 I've owned, the first being an old systema. Neither of them are high end 1911s by any stretch of the imagination, but still fun. I'm not a gunsmith, but I am technically inclined, and like tinkering with things to understand how they work. I've done a fair amount of reading and watching videos to know what I'm looking at. I have disassembled the lower to inspect and clean the parts, and I have a couple of questions.
1. Someone prior to me put Crimson Trace laser grips on the gun. The gun came with an ambidextrous safety, but it apparently interfered with the laser on the Crimson Trace grips, so it was partially ground off to make it fit, leaving an annoyingly sharp edge on the right side thumb safety. I am right handed, and don't really see a need for the ambi safety. If I simply remove this from the right side of the gun, will that negatively affect anything? I know I'll have the hole it was in, but if I understand correctly, it's just an extension of the left side thumb safety, so nothing is relying on it to be held in place.
2. The sear... Again, I'm not a gunsmith, and don't have any prior experience working on 1911s, but from everything I've seen, the edge of the sear that holds the hammer should have a flat face. That is not what I found on this one. The edge that holds the hammer was completely rounded, and it appeared to be that way from the factory. I can't imagine that this is ideal (or completely safe). Is a rounded face on the sear common? Is this safe? I think one of my first purchases is going to be a Wilson Combat value sear. If I do this without replacing the hammer, is there anything I should be watching for? I know this is only the start of what this gun needs, but I intend to very slowly upgrade, and this seems to me like the most important upgrade.
3. Other upgrades that I intend to do: definitely springs, probably hammer, maybe trigger. I have no interest in the laser grips, so I'm going to try to sell them to get a little money to invest back into the gun. Is there anything else I should be considering, or any different priorities? My goal here is to have a safe, reliable shooter.
1. Someone prior to me put Crimson Trace laser grips on the gun. The gun came with an ambidextrous safety, but it apparently interfered with the laser on the Crimson Trace grips, so it was partially ground off to make it fit, leaving an annoyingly sharp edge on the right side thumb safety. I am right handed, and don't really see a need for the ambi safety. If I simply remove this from the right side of the gun, will that negatively affect anything? I know I'll have the hole it was in, but if I understand correctly, it's just an extension of the left side thumb safety, so nothing is relying on it to be held in place.
2. The sear... Again, I'm not a gunsmith, and don't have any prior experience working on 1911s, but from everything I've seen, the edge of the sear that holds the hammer should have a flat face. That is not what I found on this one. The edge that holds the hammer was completely rounded, and it appeared to be that way from the factory. I can't imagine that this is ideal (or completely safe). Is a rounded face on the sear common? Is this safe? I think one of my first purchases is going to be a Wilson Combat value sear. If I do this without replacing the hammer, is there anything I should be watching for? I know this is only the start of what this gun needs, but I intend to very slowly upgrade, and this seems to me like the most important upgrade.
3. Other upgrades that I intend to do: definitely springs, probably hammer, maybe trigger. I have no interest in the laser grips, so I'm going to try to sell them to get a little money to invest back into the gun. Is there anything else I should be considering, or any different priorities? My goal here is to have a safe, reliable shooter.