1911 Tuneup Recommendations Sought

[choprzrul]

I realize that this is probably opening a can of worms; but here goes anyway. I have an AMT 1911 that I bought about 20 years ago. I finally got a decent front sight on it over the holidays so that now I can hit minute of barn. The whole gun seems pretty loose and I suspect it had a high round count when I bought it (young and dumb at the time). Trigger has a lot of creep and isn't very smooth. The barrel has a psuedo brake extending about 1.25" from the front of the slide. Recoil spring doesn't seem like it is controlling the slide very well when firing.

Where should I spend my money to make it a good shooting and make it generally reliable? I would also like to get a 1911 instructional book/manual that discusses fitting and tuning.

[SCMA-1]

Is it "unreliable"? How so? You asked where to spend the money to make it generally reliable; it that's all your after, then we need to know why it's unreliable by you describing the symptoms.

[mtenenhaus]

I'd send it off to Bruce Gray (grayguns.com), he's really amazing at this kind of stuff.....very honest, great work, great guy.

[walter]

pics?

[Synergy]

Pick up the 1911 manuals by Jerry Kunhausen (SP) If its a rattle trap, it might not be worth the investment. I would get it to a good smith and have him give you their pro opinion. Hard to judge wear and tear, frame to slide fit and trigger pull based on what you described.

[9mmepiphany]

I'd send it off to Bruce Gray (grayguns.com), he's really amazing at this kind of stuff

i'm not sure Bruce would even touch an AMT...their big claim to fame was as the first all stainless 1911

[choprzrul]

Wow, what was I thinking. It is a Thompson, not AMT. It sometimes FTF. The round won't make it out of the magazine and the bullet usually ends up getting deep seated in the case. When it gets dirty, it doesn't like to eject. I am hoping these pictures help. Sorry about the quality, wife is using the camera for work and all I have is my phone.









Bear with me, I am a 1911 amateur, but I will try to answer any questions.

[choprzrul]

Some reading online leads me to believe that my Thompson is a real turd from the factory. Opinions? Be brutally honest.

[Synergy]

Some reading online leads me to believe that my Thompson is a real turd from the factory. Opinions? Be brutally honest.

You have a frame and with enough money and a good smith you could have a full custom 1911. Its all depends on your budget.

[SCMA-1]

The vast majority of failures to feed are magazine related. If your current mags used to work perfectly at one time but now your rounds nose dive into the feed ramp, then it's usually because your mag springs have gone bad (weak). You could replace the mag springs but it may be simpler to just get new mags of known quality/performance. There are a variety of good ones out there including ones made by Chip McCormick, Wilson, Mecgar just to name a few:

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/cid=9/k=1911/ksubmit=y/Products/Magazines/search=1911

Brownells is a good starting point but you may want to shop around for the best prices.

There are other things that can contribute to this particular failure to feed (nose dive) including damaged or malformed mag feed lips and a week recoil spring. Stock Government 1911 recoil spring is 16lbs; they are fairly inexpensive and worth replacing if the gun is very old and has alot of rounds through it.

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/cid=3775/k=/t=S/mfg=/Products/Recoil-Springs/All

Polishing the feed ramp and throat can enhance smooth feeding also. 1911s can be finicky over bullet shape and feeding; a properly setup 1911 however should feed 230 FMJ ball flawlessly though.

I would start there with the feeding issue.

[choprzrul]

You have a frame and with enough money and a good smith you could have a full custom 1911. Its all depends on your budget.

Budget dictates developing a plan and buying parts over the course of several months.

[Synergy]

Budget dictates developing a plan and buying parts over the course of several months.

SCMA brought up good points. Try to find some local 1911 guys that can give you some hands on tips and tricks. Some 1911 calgunners are around you I am sure. I had a problem with my RIA GI feeding anything other than 230g ball. Reading on the net and using Kuhnhausen's book I did some work to the feed ramp and polished my mags and always keep them clean. It will eat anything I feed her from 185-230 SWC, HP, Ball...Start simple and cheap and work up from there.

[ojisan]

Ejection...worse when dirty is the clue...
I had one of those barrel bushing and comp combos.
It caused many function problems unless the gun was spotlessly clean.
The problem is that the comp does catch and redirect some of the muzzle blast as intended.
Unintended is that the comp deposits crud on the barrel as it comes back over the barrel in recoil.
This soon causes the barrel bushing portion of the comp to bind on the barrel's outer surface, as the crud quickly bakes hard and creates an interference fit that slows the slide action.
I suggest you get a regular bushing.

[choprzrul]

Should I stay with the Thompson barrel and have the bushing fitted, or go with a barrel + bushing set? Do mags like those from Wilson Combat make that much of a difference in feeding? Are there close seconds that don't cost so much?

[SCMA-1]

Should I stay with the Thompson barrel and have the bushing fitted, or go with a barrel + bushing set? Do mags like those from Wilson Combat make that much of a difference in feeding? Are there close seconds that don't cost so much?

Most of the 1911's accuracy is from the consistent lockup between several components including the barrel/bushing/slide interfaces; properly fitted, most barrels will yield very good accuracy with the right loads. I'd keep the barrel but get a standard bushing without the "comp". To get the most accuracy out of your existing barrel and slide, you really should have the barrel bushing fitted to the slide and barrel for you by a competent gunsmith. I prefer to use an "oversized" bushing and let my smith friend precisely fit it to my barrel and slide for best accuracy, but with today's precision EDM machining, you can get a "drop-in" bushing that should do just fine for all practical purposes.

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=8849/Product/1911_AUTO_BUSHING

Contrary to popular belief, the slide-to-frame rail tightness contributes very little if any to the overall accuracy of a 1911; in fact, the tighter this interface, the less tolerant to fouling and generally less reliability. It's a trade off. Most of your accuracy comes from the consistent (repeatable) lock up of the barrel (muzzle end) to bushing, bushing to slide, barrel hood to slide, barrel locking lugs to the slide recesses and barrel lower lugs to the slide release shaft. Most of these are operations that should only be attempted by a competent smith as it involves fitting and material removal of the main components which could be a costly mistake if one were to remove too much.

I favor Chip McCormick mags; you can get them for as little as $20 for the 8 rounder with extended base pad if you shop around:

http://www.google.com/products?hl=en&q=chip+mccormick+power+mag&scoring=r

Unfortunately, 1911 mag quality between the many different manufacturers can range from exceptionally poor to excellent.