1911 firing pin

I seem to recall the titanium firing pin being there as a drop safety. Could be wrong.

Titanium can be made either soft and pliable or hard and brittle. Maybe they've advanced some, but I'd rather have steel.

Not sure why you don't just drop the new firing pin in and see how it runs. Minimal clearance helps keep primer flow from happening.

Josh
 
Been shooting 1911's since mid 1960's Uncle Sams and my own . I have several Colts 1941,1951, and newer ,Dan Wesson and American Classic . Not one time ever broke or needed to change a firing pin.

I suggest you spend money on ammo more mags and range time . Not on not needed items .

Biggest problem with a 1911 . People can't leave them like they came from factory. . My 02 as a old man. :D
 
Makes sense. I am only changing what I feel is neccessary. I feel it is a good move to try the new steel firing pin, will do that this weekend. Just ordered Wilson Combat Bullet Proof extractor so I can practice tuning extractors for these pistols. I am pretty good at doing all my own gun work. I don't have a local smith so I have to handle everything my self which has worked out just fine for the last 10 years.
I get plenty of range time...maybe too much. Money isn't an issue (not trying to sound moronic) so ammo and mags are plentiful as for the ar department. 2 rifles and a metric crap ton of ammo. I love to shoot so I go through at least 300 rounds rifle and 200 on pistol every weekend, and thats only if I go once, I usually go twice. I am lucky since I have a place about 25 min drive where I can be in the woods with all the room I want no body and no houses for miles and miles. Awesome for running drills and having fun. Good hunting too when deer season comes around.
 
Gunslick,

Where do you live? If Indiana, I'd be happy to go over any of this in person. I'm not an authority like some here, but I do enjoy the platform and used to do quite a bit with it.

You remind me of myself when i had the knowledge but not enough experience yet to be fully confident.

Regards,

Josh
 
Thanks Josh I appreciate the offer, I wish I lived anywhere but the state I live in now. So I bet you can guess where I reside at the moment...

Hey Josh I have a question for you if you don't mind. What parts in a Springfield 1911 are MIM? My goal for this pistol is replace every last one of them. If I could put all Wilson or Ed Brown internals in my 1911 I would be stoked.
 
Gunslick said:
What parts in a Springfield 1911 are MIM? My goal for this pistol is replace every last one of them. If I could put all Wilson or Ed Brown internals in my 1911 I would be stoked.
Click to expand...

MIM can be done well. The idea that all MIM is bad is IMO outdated. The hammers and external controls of HK pistols are MIM. They see plenty of use. Many manufacturers these days use MIM and the parts function just fine. I do understand the appeal from a perceived quality standpoint of a 0% MIM pistol, but consider if you're buying actual performance/insurance or just spending money (a very easy thing to do in this industry). Again if you want to do swap all parts as a learning experience go for it, but I'd argue it's not needed.

I know you want something solid for self defense, but I think you're going a bit overboard. A pistol really doesn't require a complete part swap to be dependable. Also I still stand by the idea that I would not want to be using my tinkering gun as my self defense gun. I know you shoot a lot so you have the time and money to be testing as you go, but swapping of multiple parts involves testing each part and then the interaction of those parts. Just be sure you don't end up at a point where a pistol not fully tested could leave you out of commission when you need it most. Sometimes issues don't present themselves until hundreds of rounds later.
 
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I personally don't feel a spare firing pin is needed. Never had one fail even on old 1911s made in 1916. If for your taste to replace mim that's ok its your opinion and gun. But Spingfields are great as are Colts and others too. But spares are over doing a part which will do fine for many many shots.
 
Great advice. Thanks guys. So MIM is ok then? I was always told ALL MIM IS BAD! I know Glock uses MIM extractor and striker now as well. I guess they are getting many thousands of rounds though still.
 
The SA that I shoot the most is holding up well with a 3.75 lb trigger job on the factory MIM hammer, sear, and disconnector.
It did get a Colt sear spring and Wolff coil springs throughout.

I had to replace the soft extractor with an EGW.
 
Most parts in the Springfield are MIM.

This is true for most non-custom 1911 pistols. This keeps them affordable.

Forged, milled, machined is my personal preference, Gunslick. I do it to feel good and because I like to know what's in my pistol.

In truth, I do run one MIM piece in my defensive pistol, that being a Wilson hammer of all things, because I was curious about his budget stuff. It's held up fine..

The only things I would do to that 1911 right off the bat is fit a square bottom firing pin stop snugly to increase dwell time and keep it from falling out if the FP sticks for some reason, and replace the titanium FP if it is indeed titanium. (I'd go ahead and put the Brown in since you have it.)

Otherwise, buy a lot of good magazines, reloading supplies, and shoot the about out of it.

My carry 1911 is perfect -- for me! It's also ugly as sin. I've fitted about three different grip safeties to it, numerous ambidextrous thumb safeties, etc. I spent a small fortune finding exactly what I want. A new, clean build is in the planning stages.

Shoot it. If you want something to feel different, make a note and research the mod before doing it.

Regards,

Josh
 
Thank you Josh good post. The Ed Brown firing pin I have like I said is only .003 bigger than stock-it DOES go through the breech face just fine-but since it is bigger I am hesitant on putting it in..doesn't really make sense huh, it fits but I am hesitant...im weird sometimes. How difficult is it to fit a trigger kit, which one would you recommend, (tool grade steel obviously..) I am not going to just go changing stuff willy nilly but I do HAVE to have spare parts of every kind just in case. I am that kind of person. Every firearm I own or have owned I have enough parts to rebuild the gun on a whim if needed no matter what at all times. I am stoked on my Wilson BP extractor that is on the way. Allegedly I only need to fit it as far as tension goes but thats "allegedly".
 
Okay..so I just ordered the C&S Duty trigger kit. A lot of reviews says it is pretty close to drop in as it gets, I like the spur hammer. My Springfield A1 did not come with the ILS thank god, so I may use the 23lb spring the trigger comes with for I am uncertain what my pistol has stock as far as mainspring weight. Also what does longer dwell time give me with a 1911 pistol? (flat firing pin stop). Thanks guys.
 
QUESTION

is it normal for the hammer strut on Springer 1911a1 to be a littl3 loose...I'm not talking about the pin I mean like hammer strut has slight side to side play.
 
I suspect you might be looking a bit too hard at the gun, a 1911 with zero defects of any kind would be very expensive, and shortly after shooting the first round new defects would accumulate. But that's only for those guys who take macro closeup photos of a scratch inside the slide forward of the front locking lug, which is so small they have to draw a red circle around it so people in the forums will see what they are talking about.

I'm not saying you are that bad but they are out there, and are a nightmare for even the best companies to deal with.

If my carry pistol had a weak extractor I'd do exactly what you did though, and watch it for poor heat treating softness. BTW, I hate MIM with a passion, having had only one part ever actually break while shooting a handgun, it was,,,,,

MIM!

As a machinist I like either forged and machined or machined from barstock parts. DW sells only forged and machined from bar, as for the rest, I don't know, if I have to pay near or over $1K it had better have real steel, not cooked powder.
 
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