1911 safety Plunger Spring / Slide Stop

G

Gregory Gauvin

New member
I know I'm not probably suppose to do this, but was wondering if any of you have had done this and/or the ill effect of doing so.

My thumb safety positively would lock on and off with a distinctive click, however, compared to my other 1911s, they seemed to be a bit more solid. Much more firm. I prefer a nice "click" on and off, rather than a meager click click. So, naturally, I'm probably going to get scorned for not replacing the plunger spring with a wolf / heavy duty or brand name spring.

What I did was measure the length of my plunger spring, and ever so gently gave it a bit of a tug and lengthened it just a bit. I reinstalled my thumb safety, slide stop and plungers, and have a very solid, positive on off click of my safety to my utmost liking.

Stretching springs is a no, no. But my results seem satisfactory. Is what I did OK? I didn't monkey stretch the spring. Anyone else perform this operation? Thanks.
 
Stretching a spring won't change the rated poundage, but it can put more pressure on the part it affects.
It will keep a mag with a weak spring working for awhile longer, too.
 
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It works now. Don't worry. Be Happy.

One 1911 type firearm had an ambidextrous safety that flopped around loosely - there was too much play. I peened it a bit and and then filed it ever so slightly so that the two parts were snugly fitted.
 
The only problem with stretching a spring is that they try to return to the original length if much pressure is put on them. Since that spring is not compressed significantly, the fix should be fine.

Jim
 
I'd get out the electric drill, and deepen the detent in the face of the safety. I've done it a half-dozen times on guns with indistinct on-off, and it makes a definite improvement.
Stretching a coil spring destroys its temper, and something like a mag spring will fail in short order, perhaps proportional to the amount of stretching, but a plunger spring isn't cycling much, so it still might last forever.
 
Yeah, stretching springs is no substitute for a proper fix.
Sooner or later the spring will return to the original shape and length.
Usually when it's least expected.
It can help finish out the day at the range, though.
 
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