Home school 1911 work

[BB63Squid]

I want to make my Colt Mk IV/Series 70 more accurate.

I am thinking that new barrel and bushing will be the first things I can do towards my goal.

Any other suggestions? Also looking for a good source(s) for the barrel and bushing, so if you can guide me towards a a solid source, it would be appreciated.

[FMJBT]

I want to make my Colt Mk IV/Series 70 more accurate.

I am thinking that new barrel and bushing will be the first things I can do towards my goal.

Any other suggestions? Also looking for a good source(s) for the barrel and bushing, so if you can guide me towards a a solid source, it would be appreciated.

Take a look at Fusion Firearms:

http://www.fusionfirearms.com/servlet/the-1911-Pistol-Barrels/Categories

I've bought quite a few parts from them over the last few years. Good customer service, and more importantly their parts are all very high quality.

[get2now]

I take it you've already checked the barrel lock-up and have also determined the bushing is worn out?
Try; http://www.brownells.com/ or http://www.shootersconnection.com/ or http://www.speedshooter.com/

G

[BB63Squid]

Take a look at Fusion Firearms:

http://www.fusionfirearms.com/servlet/the-1911-Pistol-Barrels/Categories

I've bought quite a few parts from them over the last few years. Good customer service, and more importantly their parts are all very high quality.

Thanks for the info. That URL led me down a rabbit-hole that gave me a good history on the weapon. Pretty informative stuff.

[bountyhunter]

Handloaded ammo would probably make more of a difference than a new barrel. You would not believe how much group scatter is due to ammo inconsistency.

IMHO, trying to turn a mass-made gun into a bullseye shooter is like trying to do enough surgery on Rosie O Donnel to make her Angelina Jolie.

A precision 1911 has to be hand fitted all the way from the ground up. The frame dimensions are trued to spec, the slide is fitted to the frame, and the barrel is then fitted to the slide. A well fitted 1911 barrel in lockup has a three point support at the back: the lower barrel lugs rest on the slide stop pin and the upper barrel lugs are just touching the top of the slide. The front of the barrel is just snug in the bushing.

If you really want one, you can get this kind of fit from STI, SVI and Wilson. Mass made guns can be improved some if you want to throw enough money at them.

[redcliff]

A Colt Series 70 is a fine starting point for accurizing. Before STI and SVI and Wilson marked frames it was all we had and they turned out great.

I'd check out Bar-Sto precision www.barsto.com

[ar15barrels]

If you push on the barrel hood when the gun is in battery, does the barrel move at all?

You might be amazed at what just a bushing and an extended link will do.

[brassburnz]

Do you want to make the gun more accurate or do you want to shoot more accurately?

Most shooters can't outshoot the accuracy of their guns. If you have a stock Series 70 Colt, your sights are probably the culprit in the accuracy department. Those tiny GI sights are tough to work with. You also might be fighting a heavy trigger. You could have a new barrel and bushing fitted to your gun, but I wouldn't do that first.

[bornproud]

All remarks are good. The 2 previous marks are pretty much dead on. Sights, bushing and trigger will improve your accuracy ten fold. The ammo you use also makes a difference. Consistency=Accuracy! Believe it or not, but most of the time a barrel only accounts for 10% of the guns accuracy.

[Kruzr]

I'd start with a new bushing. Measure the slide ID (which will be the bushing OD) and the barrel OD. Send those dimensions to EGW (Evolution Gun Works) and they will make a bushing for you that should be tight in your gun.

Unless you understand barrel link down timing, I would stay away from a longer link. It's a good way to break the lower lugs or slide stop if the timing is off. On the other hand, if you are comfortable checking to see the barrel links down as it should and the stop is resting on the lower lugs, then you can experiment with longer links.

[buggsb]

All remarks are good. The 2 previous marks are pretty much dead on. Sights, bushing and trigger will improve your accuracy ten fold. The ammo you use also makes a difference. Consistency=Accuracy! Believe it or not, but most of the time a barrel only accounts for 10% of the guns accuracy.

++1 There are a lot of custom features you can add to a 1911...and a lot of money you can spend...however, the above advice will most likely give you plenty of accuracy improvement. All for probably less than 100 bucks...

[crob241]

1911

Some of the most important things you can do for accuracy are checking the barrel bushing, link and lockup and proper barrel lugs. Unless the barrel is worn out or bad it does not need to be replaced. The other thing is the proper springs, recoil, hammer and the sear spring as well as slide tightness. Get Jerry Kunhausen`s book number 1, it will go through these things in detail.

[PzKfW]

Actually, I beg to disagree here with the people who say "accuracy is just all you". That is assuming you have an intrensically accurate firearm to start with. I would differ with anyone who would say that the original stock colt s70 is a particularly accurate gun out of the box. I have not just my own personal colt S70, but another factory example I can look at in detail and shoot to confirm this (and I have confirmed it).

BOTH guns that I have access to have factory barrels that are filed way too much at the bottom lug feet, and therefore do not lock up in the 3 point manner. With a standard bushing both barrel hoods can be pushed about 1/16th of an inch down with finger pressure. The only remedy for this is to weld up the barrel lugs and then refit.

Not only that, but the barrels have horrible barrel hood fit. Both barrels can be rotated about 10 degrees back and forth. Again, the only remedy is to weld up the barrel hood and refit.

Not only that, but both factory extractors were absolutely unfitted from the factory (the depth engagement pad of the extractors were not filed down at all to get hook engagement correct and the extractors could therefore not hold the round on extraction). You can file down the pads and get the tension right to fix this.

That is quite an indication in my book that stock colt s70's A) relied on a collet finger bushing to "lock up" the barrel rather than correct hand fitting and B) extraction was problematic at best.

I'd say that you should either buy some parts and fix the things that Colt should've done right from the factory or do some gunsmithing (or have it done).

Slide to frame fit is overrated. As long as the barrel returns to the same location in relation to the sights, the gun will be accurate. Therefore the barrel fit, barrel quality, and trigger pull are 95% of the colt's accuracy improvement areas. I really like the Nowlin drop in barrel kits and action kits, and the wilson bulletproof extractor.

[Colt]

+1 to Barsto. Irv does great work and is a great guy to deal with. If you want a full going over and maybe not need a new barrel but still end with a really accurate Colt, you may want to send it to John Harrison or to Don Williams (the ActionWorks) for one of their packages. These involve both reliability and accuracy work.

[Grumpyoldretiredcop]

+1 for better sights - the stock sights are pretty hard to pick up quickly.