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CAS TOPICS => Gunsmithing => Topic started by: PJ Hardtack on July 18, 2014, 10:30:56 AM

Title: Wassamadda my 1911 ..... ?
Post by: PJ Hardtack on July 18, 2014, 10:30:56 AM
One of my R1's will not allow double taps. The trigger does not always reset, requiring the slide to pulled back a fraction of an inch to reset.
I put it in the hands of a 'smith who charged me a total of $112 ($80 to strip, clean, inspect and reassemble!) and returned the gun without test firing it. The problem persists. He told me he just tweaked the three prong spring.

I spoke to him and he know thinks that the problem may be the disconnector or the recess for same. Before I invest any more in his gunsmithing skills, I'd like some opinions.

Title: Re: Wassamadda my 1911 ..... ?
Post by: Shotgun Franklin on July 18, 2014, 11:47:23 AM
Replace the spring he screwed with. Get a stock spring. If that doesn't work you've lost nothing by having an extra spring. You can make sure the trigger is riding easily through the channels in the frame where the 'bars' of the trigger ride. If it's not, see if you can tell where it rubs. Relieve the bar of the trigger in that area or put some good grease on the bars, a thin film not a glob.
Title: Re: Wassamadda my 1911 ..... ?
Post by: PJ Hardtack on July 18, 2014, 02:30:14 PM
Yeah, the spring has been 'tweaked' now by two people who thought they knew what they were doing.

The trigger movement is fine as is the travel of the disconnector. This shouldn't be a tough fix.
Title: Re: Wassamadda my 1911 ..... ?
Post by: Shotgun Franklin on July 18, 2014, 02:36:51 PM
A schematic showing the relationship of the parts is easy to find. I'm betting you can find a cut a way type video showing how the parts actually move. It's a really easy gun to work on.
Title: Re: Wassamadda my 1911 ..... ?
Post by: PJ Hardtack on July 18, 2014, 02:56:47 PM
I did some surfing and the apparent fix is to put more tension on the middle finger of the three prong spring.

Holding the trigger after firing and pulling back the slide, I seem to have the required travel and I can hear the reset take place as I release the trigger. It just isn't happening every time I fire the gun.

One poster on a site said that he had the same problem and could reset the disconnector after a shot with a slap on the gun. That told him what the problem was.
Title: Re: Wassamadda my 1911 ..... ?
Post by: PJ Hardtack on July 18, 2014, 04:14:37 PM
I just added more tension to the centre spring. All that remains now is to test fire the gun ......
Title: Re: Wassamadda my 1911 ..... ?
Post by: Shotgun Franklin on July 18, 2014, 09:07:17 PM
In the long run a new spring will be worth your money. Once a spring has been 'fixed' a few things it's prone to break or fail. They are fairly cheap.
Title: Re: Wassamadda my 1911 ..... ?
Post by: PJ Hardtack on July 18, 2014, 09:56:25 PM
Yep. Will order some ASAP.
Title: Re: Wassamadda my 1911 ..... ?
Post by: PJ Hardtack on July 22, 2014, 03:14:54 PM
After tweaking the disco spring, the gun will still not reset 100% of the time.

New springs on the next stage delivery .....
Title: Re: Wassamadda my 1911 ..... ?
Post by: yahoody on July 28, 2014, 11:07:28 PM
Damn near impossible to wear out or wreck a leaf spring on a 1911 unless you cut one of the fingers with a file.

You can bend the chit out of them and not hurt a thing other than add/subtract some pounds to your trigger pull.

Likely a 2 minute fix by anyone familiar with a 1911.  But if it were me...as I been wrenching 1911s for 35 years as a living, I'd suggest tweak the thing, left side and center forward a few mm and leave the grip safety, right side leaf, alone.  Put it back together and test fire.  If the trigger isn't resetting  it aint the leaf spring.

"he now thinks that the problem may be the disconnector or the recess for same."  My thought as well.  Again a 2 minute job to fix either or both.  That $112 should have covered it all and then some, including ammo and range time.   
Title: Re: Wassamadda my 1911 ..... ?
Post by: Red Cent on July 30, 2014, 07:48:21 PM
Do you have an over travel/adjustment screw in the trigger?