replacing a main spring in a 1911

[rogdigity]

I was always told not to disassemble my frame but the guy who sold me the springs insisred it is easy to work on 1911s.

I have a bit ofexperiance with assembling, disassembling, and cleaning pistols. is this something I should be able to do myself?

also im thinking of taking my 1911s in for ramp jobs as well.

info please?

[ojisan]

If by mainspring you mean the recoil spring below the barrel, this is easily done.
If you mean the hammer spring, this is also not too hard.
This does require you to hold the housing, compress the spring, and install the retaining pin all at the same time.
Note this may require 3-4 hands at the same time until you are familiar with how to do it (or clamp the housing in a vice).
However, when the hammer spring housing is removed, the rear leaf spring will come out and it must be put back in correctly.
Not too hard, just be patient.

[Kruzr]

I only takes two hands and a few minutes to change the mainspring in a 1911 mainspring housing. Detail strip the gun and remove the MSH. Drive a finishing nail into a piece of wood. Hold the MSH upside down and put the mainspring cap on the finishing nail. Push the MSH down and remove the cap retaining pin. Lift off the nail and turn upside down. Remove the plunger and cap from the spring and put them in the new spring.

Turn it upside down again and push the cap down on the nail. Insert the retaining pin. You're done. Reassemble the gun.

[rogdigity]

oh ya, sounds simple... (sarcasm)


ill give it a try I guess. thanks guys

[rogdigity]

another question, can I take off the main spring housing without having pieces falling/shooting/diving/jumping/or otherwise escaping? and do I have to disassemble anything else before I can take it off?

[Black_Talon]

another question, can I take off the main spring housing without having pieces falling/shooting/diving/jumping/or otherwise escaping? and do I have to disassemble anything else before I can take it off?

You certainly can. Just make sure the hammer is not cocked when you drive out the crosspin.

[rogdigity]

does it need to be forward or in the half cock (giggity) position?

[Kruzr]

Put a stong rubber band around the grip safety holding it in before you remove the MSH. Otherwise, the sear spring will slip out of place when you remove the MSH. You'll know this after you reassemble because the hammer won't cock. The upside is that you will learn how to detail strip the rest of the rear of the frame.

[rogdigity]

Put a stong rubber band around the grip safety holding it in before you remove the MSH. Otherwise, the sear spring will slip out of place when you remove the MSH. You'll know this after you reassemble because the hammer won't cock. The upside is that you will learn how to detail strip the rest of the rear of the frame.

nice. thanks

[bigcalidave]

Take the entire thing apart. Then learn how to put it back together.

Best way to do anything !

[the_donald_]

Disassembly vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEBrkF0sMgI&feature=quicklist

Reassembly vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Bh6K5rNenc&feature=quicklist

Animation of reassembly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P4XJTKzKEU

YMMV

[edwardm]

Go here

One of the best 1911 resources on the 'net:

http://forums.1911forum.com/

The info in this thread is more or less accurate, though the rubber band on the grip is a bit of a Bubba Shortcut (I'm not putting down, I've done it myself in a pinch.)

However, I recommend that you detail strip your 1911 to a pile-o-parts at some point in time. It's a good education, and really a 1911 isn't that hard to assemble from scratch. Remember, we're talking a John Moses Browning design.

[rogdigity]

what about a ruger p85? any easier?

[Kruzr]

Easier? A 1911 is one of the easiest guns to completely strip. You don't need any tools and there is only about 53 parts.

[rogdigity]

hell my makarov has about 1/3 tthenumber of parts and disassembles in about 90 seconds.