TI Frame galling problem

[bigjim]

I wanted to get some feed back from you folks on a Ti Frame gun I have been unhappy with.

I had a custom makers 5 inch 1911 builot on a caspian TI frame.
The rails were straight and polished beatifully. The slide raceways were a work of art. It was snug but not overly so.

From the very first shot it felt rough. When you took the entire gun apart bare frame and slide with fresh oil the slide travel still felt like the TI was acting as a abrasive. The oil quickly becomes dirty like it is suspending material from the frame and slide.

Now after only about 2000 rounds the frame has begun to gall.

I am going to have acc-u-rails put in and be done with it.

All in all I am not happy with the way this TI frame is working out. Anyone else have these issues? Feed back please.

 

[Zak Smith]

Why not just give Caspian a call and see if they know what's going on?

 

[bigjim]

Giveing caspian a call is not a bad Idea. However that frame has been touched by a Smith since it left caspian so I think They should not have to deal with the issue. I always think the last guy to touch something is on the hook.

I will let you fellas know how this works out and how the Gunsmith in question treats this.

Bigjim

 

[mete]

Galling ? when two moving parts gall there is actually cold welding of the metals , is this what you mean ? I understand that gunmakers use a fairly soft Ti alloy. you might try a lube designed for stainless steel such as RIG +P.

 

[Zak Smith]

I remember someone writing on 1911forum about problems using lapping compound when fitting the frame's rails. Could this be related?

There are supposedly numerous titanium-framed 1911's out there, built by Gunsite and Ted Yost, without problems.

-z

 

[bountyhunter]

I agree this is a hardness problem, not a galling problem. Could try very good grease like Slide Glide to see if it improves. Sounds to me like maybe this frame was not hardened properly or the surface hardening was cut through in the milling to fit process.

 

[mete]

If the slide had been lapped to the frame - if any lapping compound remained on the rails it would continue to lap.

 

[tex_n_cal]

The reason why Titanium galls has to do with the basic nature of the metal - when touched by other metals, the titanium has a strong tendency to chemically bond with and stick to the other metal.

When we were making Ti springs a few years ago, we tried forming the wire with just oil for lube, and I was completely astounded that the wire would actually tear up carbide tooling due to galling. We were only able to form it unless we had the wire lubed with a moly-type dry film lube.

I think in the case of your frame, I would carefully clean up and remove any lapping compound, and work for a slightly loose fit of slide to frame. I'd then use a really good coating on the slide (or the frame, to help prevent the galling problem.