M1911
by Roger Loock
Hi again, Roger form Revelation Arms here. Hope everyone got some use out of last months article and I hope I answered everyone's questions adequately.
This time, Due to many requests, I will address the Care and Cleaning of the 1911 style pistol.
First a short history lesson.
In 1913, John Browning patented the "improved" M1911, in the configuration we are familiar with today. From the 1920's on, subtle changes were made to the basic M1911 design. Changes such as the spur on the grip safety being extended, the use of Patridge sights, arched mainspring housing to name a few.
During World War I and World War II, the demand for the M1911 was so large that Colt could not fulfill all the government orders. The company licensed the manufacture of the pistol to other companies. They were: Remington Arms Co., Remington Rand Co., North American Arms Co. Ltd. (Quebec, Ontario, Canada), Ithaca Gun Co., Singer Sewing Machine Co., Union Switch & Signal Co., and Springfield Armory Govt. Arsenal.
Over 2 1/2 million M1911 pistols were ordered for World War I. They usually sported a blued finish. The ones that you might find now of that era with parkerized finishes are the ones that were refinished at one of the government arsenals after the war. The 1911 model pistols produced just prior to and for World War II were designated as the Model 1911A1. Over 1 1/2 million military Model 1911A1 pistols were produced from 1924 to 1945.
In the early 1930's, Colt offered a target version of the basic civilian Model 1911. This National Match pistol first appeared in 1933. These pistols differed from the standard grade because they incorporated a match barrel, checkered trigger, checkered arched grip, walnut stocks and the innards were hand honed. Also included on later versions were a ramp front sight and an adjustable rear sight. These models were marked "NATIONAL MATCH COLT Automatic Calibre .45" on the left side of the slide. During World War II, the National Match Model was discontinued, but resumed in 1957. This newer version was referred to as the "Gold Cup National Match".
The MKIV Series 70 Government Model Colt pistols were manufactured from 1970 to 1983 and have "70G" as a prefix in the serial numbers on the models made from 1970 to 1976. The models made from 1976 to 1980 have "G70" suffixes. Models made from 1979 to 1981 have "B70" suffixes and models made from 1981 to 1983 have "70B" prefixes. The series 70 had in addition to the Government model a Series 70 Combat Commander, Series 70 Lightweight Commander, and Series 70 Combat Government. The Series 70 featured an accurizor barrel bushing for improved accuracy.
In 1983, Colt presented the MKIV Series 80 Pistol. It was a single action with 5" barrel. It was offered with checkered walnut grips and rubber style combat grips. This model had a firing pin safety incorporated.
The M1911 is my favorite semi-automatic pistol and I have a newly manufactured 1991A1 "Officers Model" that I carry daily. The 1991A1 is the new model designation for the M1911A1. I think this is the best single action semi-automatic gun for the money available today.
Now onto some maintenance.
Disassemble
Disassembling the M1911 type of pistols is a straight foreword and simple process. It requires a minimum of tools (before Colt's Series 80 pistols, it was possible to completely disassemble and re assemble the pistol without any tools), like a pair of tweezers, a punch, etc., although you can improvise.
Before starting to take the pistol apart, follow one simple safety rule. Make sure the gun is empty! Remove the magazine and pull the slide back and lock it in the open position. Check that the barrel's chamber is empty. Always think Safety First!
After making sure that the pistol is unloaded, release the slide manually and let it slide slowly foreword. With the slide foreword, and facing the muzzle of the pistol, press the recoil spring plug inwards until the barrel bushing is free to be twisted clockwise, until it uncovers the complete recoil spring plug. BE CAREFUL!, the recoil spring plug is under pressure from the recoil spring, make sure you keep it pressed in when twisting the bushing. Let it out slowly.
Remove the recoil spring plug and the recoil spring. Cock the pistol's hammer to the full cock position, pull the slide to the rear, until the slide release lever is aligned with the small circular notch on the left side of the slide.
Push the axis of the slide release lever from the right side of the pistol towards the left side. The slide release lever will pop out. Pull it completely off the frame of the pistol.
Hold the pistol upside down and push the slide foreword and remove it from the frame. You can now remove the recoil spring guide.
Facing the muzzle again, twist the barrel bushing counter clockwise and pull it out. Move the barrel link foreword towards the muzzle and remove the barrel from the front opening of the slide.
This completes the every day field stripping procedure. It is not recommended to proceed any further unless you are sure of what you are doing, in which case you wouldn't be reading this anyway, so let's dig into it.
Continue by removing the rest of the parts in the slide. If your gun is a Colt Series 80, push the firing pin lock plunger up and using a punch push the firing pin inwards. Release the firing pin lock plunger so that it keeps the firing pin inside its opening. If your gun does not have a firing pin lock mechanism, simply push the firing pin inside its opening, using a punch or other pointed tool. Using a punch, pull down the firing pin stop and remove it. Cover the firing pin opening with your thumb and press the firing pin lock plunger again, to release the firing pin. This action allows the firing pin to move back against the pressure of the firing pin spring. Remove the firing pin with it's spring.
Pushing the firing pin lock plunger inwards, pull the extractor slightly backwards. You must pull it enough so that the firing pin lock plunger can be freely removed from the bottom of the slide. Remove it and then remove the extractor to the rear of the slide.
This completes the stripping of the slide.
You are now ready to continue. Grasp the hammer and pull the trigger letting the hammer fall gently. Do not let slam into the receiver, this can damage the frame.
The next step is to remove the mainspring housing. Use a punch and a hammer, punch the mainspring housing pin out. There is a small indent on one end of this pin, use the punch in the small indent. Use the rounded end when installing it.
After removing the mainspring housing pin pull the mainspring housing down and remove it from the frame. It is usually not necessary to remove the mainspring but I will cover it anyway. Use a round end punch and depress the mainspring slightly. Then use a thin punch to remove the small cross pin at the top of the housing. Be VERY CAREFUL here, the mainspring is under considerable pressure and can hit you or somebody else and do some serious damage. After removing the pin you can remove the mainspring, it's cap and the mainspring retainer.
Cock the hammer again and move the safety lock upwards, at the same time pulling it out of the frame, you might have to wiggle it back and forth slightly. NOTE: the hammer must be cocked to remove the safety lock. The grip safety may also be removed at this time.
Next remove the 3 prong sear spring at the rear of the grip, lift the hammer strut and remove the spring.
Push the hammer pin from the right side of the gun towards the left. This will allow you to remove the hammer. This pin should slide out easily. If you have a Series 80 Colt watch for the upper sear lever, be careful not to drop it or loose it.
Take a moment to familiarize yourself with the arrangement of the lower sear lever and the upper sear lever, which form the Colt Series 80 firing pin safety assembly.
You may now remove the sear pin. Push it out from the right side of the frame to the left. Remove the sear, disconnector and lower sear lever from the frame.
Using a small screwdriver, unscrew the magazine catch. Push the magazine catch in slightly like you were going to remove the magazine and unscrew the small screw inside of the catch, it will only turn about one quarter of a turn. Push the assembly to the right side of the frame and remove it.
Push the trigger to the rear of the frame and remove it.
Take a screw driver and remove the grip panels.
That completes disassembly. The ejector and plunger tube should not be removed from the gun.
Now get your cleaning equipment and clean all the parts, wipe them down and apply a light coat of oil to the parts.
Use a brass brush in the bore and cleaning patches to remove the burnt powder and dirt.
If you made it this far you are doing good, reward yourself, have a drink or a smoke or insert your favorite vice here.
OK, everybody back? Lets proceed.
Reassembling
Reversing the above procedure, you can put the gun back together. There are some points that should be noted.
Remember the relative position of the sear, disconnector and if you have a Series 80, the firing pin safety lever.
In order to put the safety lock back in, use a small blade of a screwdriver to push the safety lock plunger into the tube. Push the plunger in the same time you twist and push the safety lock inwards. Remember the hammer has to be cocked for this step.
When inserting the slide stop, make sure it engages the barrel link hole.
If you took the mainspring housing apart, be careful when putting it back together, the mainspring needs considerable pressure to be put back into the housing at the same tine the cross pin needs to be installed.
After putting the gun together, try it's functioning. Be Extremely careful that all safety devices operate the way they are designed to operate. Feel the trigger, if something don't feel right, take it apart again and start over. If you fail to find the problem, consult a competent gunsmith or E-mail me and I will try and help. REMEMBER: SAFETY FIRST.
This concludes this article on 1911 style semi-automatic pistols. Practice this procedure several times and you will become proficient. This is important, you may be out in the field and have to maintain your firearms and there will probably not be a gunsmith available to assist you.
Your input is always welcome. Let me know what you would like to see in future articles.
Feel free to contact me at:
Revelation Arms,
2870 SW 221st Ave., Suite 208,
Hillsboro, OR 97123
Or visit our Web Site.
http://www.revelationarms.com
e-mail revelat@hevanet.com,
Best wishes in your survival planning,
Roger Loock, Gunsmith
