Colt 1911 Goverment advice
- Thread starter Maxx_Ammo
- Start date
MaxAmmo said:
If you are referring to which trigger group parts to purchase, the Series '70 parts and earlier would be the type of part you want for a standard government model frame and slide. A Goldcup style hammer has a slightly different hammer strut pin hole position to make trigger work easier to do, but unless you are going to do trigger work or unless you want a lanyard hole for dry fire cocking via a cord, or unless you are installing a beavertail grip safety design that interferes with a standard hammer's spur, there are other places you could put your money than the hammer to get more bang for your buck.
George Nonte pointed out there are really two kinds of accuracy work, mechanical and practical. Mechanical is mainly the barrel fit up work and the slide fit work; it's anything that would make the gun shoot better from a machine rest. Practical is the sights and trigger work and grip panels and any other modification that makes the gun easier for the shooter to operate it to best advantage.
I always get the mechanical accuracy of a 1911 together first, or the rest you do most likely won't improve results to a degree you can really see on paper. Be aware that if you replace only the barrel link with a long link to improve lockup, you can cause subsequent damage if you don't know how to check and correct the barrel lockup timing. Battered locking lugs in the slide is a common outcome from doing this incorrectly. Worst case, the barrel won't lower fully into the frame cradle in counterbattery and feeding is compromised and actual interference with the slide pulling back can then also occur. Also, using a long link to improve lockup is not as repeatable or accurate as welding up and fitting the barrel link lugs together with it, because it still allows some lateral rocking and position variation because of the narrower perch on the slide stop assembly pin it provides. It also puts more stress on that pin. It is done and you can try it, but is not best practice from a durability standpoint and does not typically achieve the gun's full accuracy potential.
You should read the books, Kuhnhausen in particular, and it's not a bad idea to read Hallock and Nonte for simpler and more old-school descriptions to help you get your brain wrapped around what all can be done and how. Mainly, like a doctor, you first want to do no harm.
You may also find you want to install an adjustable rear sight or file down the front sight. When you get the barrel locking up high in the slide, it will be angled down more in battery than it was originally. This will lower bullet point of impact, typically a few inches at 25 yards. But you need to try this to test it in your particular gun.
For the above reasons, unless you do a weld-up or buy a new barrel with extra metal on it, I think F. Bob Chow's technique of fitting a shim to control the locking engagement depth is better than messing with the link. It'll keep the barrel angle low. Basically, this concept accepts that the lockup is already adequately engaged (or the gun wouldn't be working) and that Colt leaves about 0.015" of extra room in their tolerance stack for you to fill. All you need to do, then, is stick a roughly 0.015" shim up in the rearmost locking recess of the slide that will take up the extra space and stop vertical barrel play.
There is a good description of the method in the fifth post in this archive.
That arrangement makes your existing link and link lug profile correct and you don't have to mess with them. Since you have a mismatched slide and frame and barrel, you want to double-check for the correct shim thickness. You could do that with automotive plastic shim gage material stuffed into the recess, then removed and measured after letting the barrel close into it. Another method is to get some brass or soft steel shim stock you can cut trim easily into small pieces and You can hold the gun upside down while you try dropping trial layers of shim material in and noting how the back of the slide and frame line up when it closes on them. Once the shim fills the space, the slide will start backing up with additional shim, and you can pick then select the shim thickness so the slide and frame back up a hundredth of an inch or so, leaving is room for the new arrangement to settle in.
I would not count on being able to just put in a hammer.
I say this because once the hammer and sear relationship is established,then the thumb safety is fitted.Odds are good you will have to put in a new thumb safety.(If you put the safety on,pull the trigger,release the trigger,then pull back the hammer while watching the sear,the sear must not move)
I am a rookie with 1911's.Some may disagree,but after wasting parts,time,and effort,I have come to the conclusion ,for myself,order a Cylinder and Slide matched hammer,sear ,disconnect kit,a thumb safety,(an OEM Colt is not a bad idea),if you think you may want a longer trigger or a different grip safety,get it NOW.
All that stuff gets fit in order,and changing a part can make everything downstream wrong.
I say this because once the hammer and sear relationship is established,then the thumb safety is fitted.Odds are good you will have to put in a new thumb safety.(If you put the safety on,pull the trigger,release the trigger,then pull back the hammer while watching the sear,the sear must not move)
I am a rookie with 1911's.Some may disagree,but after wasting parts,time,and effort,I have come to the conclusion ,for myself,order a Cylinder and Slide matched hammer,sear ,disconnect kit,a thumb safety,(an OEM Colt is not a bad idea),if you think you may want a longer trigger or a different grip safety,get it NOW.
All that stuff gets fit in order,and changing a part can make everything downstream wrong.
Looks like you have an Argentine Colt Hartford built pistol. "Policia Federal" refers to Buenos Aires Police.
Argentina contracted with Colt in 1927 to purchase 10,000 pistols for the Argentine Army. (Later (ca. 1946-47), Argentina got license to build Colts in Argentina, which are labeled "Sistema Colt.")
This particular Colt was NOT part of the 10,000 pistol order in 1927, as it falls into the "C" serial number range, making it part of a special order for the Buenos Aires Police. The 1927 order was in its own serial number range, 1-10,000, and frame numbers are actually stamped under the mainspring housing.
To be honest, even though it has been Parkerized, you have a fairly scarce variation of a Hartford built Argentine Colt, since it has the Buenos Aires Police markings. Personally, I wouldn't be replacing anything on it that would entail a permanent change. If you want to install a new barrel, that's not a problem, but replacing sights, etc. will mean permanent changes and a reduction in value of the gun.
Argentina contracted with Colt in 1927 to purchase 10,000 pistols for the Argentine Army. (Later (ca. 1946-47), Argentina got license to build Colts in Argentina, which are labeled "Sistema Colt.")
This particular Colt was NOT part of the 10,000 pistol order in 1927, as it falls into the "C" serial number range, making it part of a special order for the Buenos Aires Police. The 1927 order was in its own serial number range, 1-10,000, and frame numbers are actually stamped under the mainspring housing.
To be honest, even though it has been Parkerized, you have a fairly scarce variation of a Hartford built Argentine Colt, since it has the Buenos Aires Police markings. Personally, I wouldn't be replacing anything on it that would entail a permanent change. If you want to install a new barrel, that's not a problem, but replacing sights, etc. will mean permanent changes and a reduction in value of the gun.
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Wrong. The "spot" in front of the P in Policia is the Argentine national crest.
"Interarms" (now defunct) was the importer of the gun, as required by U.S. law and regulations.
Most of these guns had a fairly rought life in Argentina and so were refinished there either by Parkerizing or rebluing.
ANY Argentine Hartford Colt is a fairly scarce item, this one all the more so since it was a very small special order for the Buenos Aires Police and not part of the original 10,000 gun order for the Argentine Army.
As it stands, although some originality is lost because of the refinish and importer's mark, anything the OP does to further modify this gun is only going to reduce it further in value.
Maxx_ammo, if you want to make a "cool shooter," sell this gun to a collector and buy yourself an RIA and have money left over to buy your accessories.
If you ruin this Argentine, you're only going to lose money, as you will never get back your investements for whatever changes you make to it.
I think Gyvel is right. I enlarged the "weld spot" and see feathers or leaves around the edge. It looks like it lost sharpness due to the Parkerizing, but it not a weld. The serial number is low enough to be the real thing, too. Hasty call on my part.
I'd take his suggestion and see if you can find a collector. You may come out ahead on this deal.
I'd take his suggestion and see if you can find a collector. You may come out ahead on this deal.
You can strip the Parkerizing off easily enough, but the folks who applied it probably abrasive or bead blasted the metal first, taking off the original polishing and reducing the depth and definition of the stampings. If you are talking about restoring the gun to original condition some polishing will likely be involved and the markings will likely thin out even more. Unless you like collecting, I would leave that expense to the next owner so you don't have the money invested and putting yourself in the position of having to get a higher price to recoup the investment, which may be harder to do.
The Parkerizing is part of the history of the gun. Investing $200-300 in a professional reblue just doesn't make economic sense. It is money that you will never recover.
Check on Gunbroker to see what the market is bearing. Just remember to look at ONLY sold guns, not some guy with an unsold gun and an unrealistic price.
Check on Gunbroker to see what the market is bearing. Just remember to look at ONLY sold guns, not some guy with an unsold gun and an unrealistic price.
