1911 assistance, please

[jdoane9724]

Everyone,

A friend has an Auto Ordinance 1911 (pre-Kahr Arms) that he did a "trigger job" on. He swapped the trigger, and performed other things suggested by the gunsmithing course he took.

At the range the other day, it jammed badly, requiring a rubber mallet to get it back to battery after a failure to extract. TODAY, he and I took it down to see what was going on. We found some minor wear and a bent hammer strut. When I re-assembled it, I used sparing touches of TW25B on the sear, hammer, sear spring at the points they touched the mechanism, and all pivot points and pins.

NOW, when releasing the slide simulating a re-load, the hammer occasionally ends up in "half-cock". We have not yet gone back to the range to see what it does under fire.

He feels I errred by applying TW25B on the sear/hammer contact points. Please note that wear IS apparent on those locations, but nothing a lay person such as myself would consider excessive.

Did I do wrong by applying that grease?

Thank you in advance for your replies.

[Skipper]

If the hammer "follows", it's a crap trigger job, not lube. Time for new parts.

[Loubot10]

Had a similar issue (no bent parts though) found that my sear spring needed tuning. Here's the pic that set me free:

[Alex$]

Degrease it for him, bet he has the same prblem.

If he has the original hardware swap it back.

[Gunsmith Dan]

First rule of tweaking is if it worked before the new parts then it should work with the old parts back.

This is why I always say goto a Gunsmith for trigger jobs because it is easy to mess one up ...... and Gunsmiths carry insurance in case something goes wrong

[jdoane9724]

update on 1911

Thank you all for your replies. Please note an error on my part in the description. No "trigger job" was actually performed; the trigger itself was replaced. All other parts are as-is when pistol was purchased second-hand.

Loubot10, could you please explain the significance of the numbers in your picture?

Thanks

[ouch]

This is my weapon. The hammer follow did not start until the sear and hammer contacts were greased. Also from my gunsmithing course, if I remember correctly, it states not to grease those contacts.

As for the "trigger job" I only dropped in a drilled light wieght trigger no work was done on sear/hammer area. Trigger has been fine for almost a year now with moderate use.

[Loubot10]

These are the three fingers of the sear spring. You'll note their position to the back of the trigger (flat metallic surface) and how they lay with respect to the sear.

The trigger, hammer, and safeties all come together at this juncture.

[wash]

Leaf #1 bears on the sear.

Leaf #2 bears on the disconnector.

Leaf #3 bears on the grip safety.

Make sure the back of your trigger bow is not conflicting with the sear or disconnector and that your sear spring is installed correctly with the leaves bearing on their proper parts.