Hard to remove 1911 bushing

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Any thoughts on the gripwrench for match grade bushings? My bushing needs to be tapped out with the barrel after its stripped. Think this wrench is any good?
 
I do not see how any bushing wrench would not work. I have commercial bushing wrenches and have made my own...they all work.
 
I agree that any bushing wrench should work; but only to turn the bushing, not to extract the bushing. I think the OP has a gun with a nice tight fitting bushing, and that it'll loosen over time with each field strip and cleaning. Tapping a tight bushing out with the barrel was actually recommended in one of my 1911 manuals, probably Les Baer.

It may also help to manipulate the bushing, with the wrench, through its range of motion a few times to wear it in a bit.
 
My DW Guardian 9mm has an extremely tight barrel bushing. The gun came with a large, thick bushing wrench. By tilting the wrench slightly, rotating the bushing and pulling at the same time, the bushing will come out. Most of the time. A couple of times, I've had to tap it gently to remove it. It is getting less tight with use.
 
Question,
Is a super tight bushing to barrel fit really necessary for a good shooting 1911?
Or is more of what the customer expects in an expensive pistol?
Some 1911s I've owned seemed to be able to hit 3" size targets at 50 yards even though the bushings could be removed by hand - no tools needed.
Curious minds want to know.
 
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Is a super tight bushing to barrel fit really necessary for a good shooting 1911?
Click to expand...

The answer depends on the level of accuracy you want from the gun, if you want to cut Xs at 50 yards then the answer is yes.

I was taught that to gain all the accuracy you can, you need a good quality barrel that is hard fit.
Hard fit equates to locking up like a bank vault at both ends, a tight barrel bushing is part of that equation.

I remember years back a gun shooting 3 inch groups at 50 yards was consider good enough, not so today, 1.5 inch groups at 50 yards is the norm today, those that shoot tighter are the guns in the winners circle.
 
Some thoughts. There is no point in having the barrel a tight fit in the bushing if the bushing is not a tight fit in the slide. Also, the barrel/bushing fit needs to be tight only while the bullet is in the barrel, that is while the barrel is recoiling straight back. When a tilting barrel begins to unlock (link down in the 1911), the bushing has to be loose enough to allow the barrel to move freely. If it does not, the barrel can actually bend or distort/break the bushing and hurt accuracy.

Jim
 
Problem details

After breaking my oem bushing ( 3k rounds) I fitted my new bushing as tight as possible. I carefully removed metal until the slide would operate without binding and everything worked as it did prior. Then I was happy, until I tried to remove it for cleaning. Guess I wanted match grade performance. Thanks for all the advise!
 
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I have found that if you sometimes will push the slide back about an inch, the bushing will be easier to remove. Some manufacturers make the barrel and bushing in one process to make that mating really tight. Typically, the barrel is a little smaller in diameter a little ways back from the muzzle, and the bushing becomes easier to remove away from the muzzle.

YMMV
 
Interestingly, the purpose of the bushing is not to allow the barrel to be made tight in the slide. It is there only to allow access for the tools that machine the locking cuts and breech face in the slide. In many guns, (e.g., Radom, BHP) it is not removable and most owners don't even know it is there.

Jim
 
If the barrel bushing isn't sufficiently tight, folks who spend thousands on a custom pistol will feel they haven't gotten their money's worth.
 
I replaced the standard loose bushing Colt normally puts on their Government models with an EGW angle bore model. Even though I had to work it in a bit due to its tightness, it has helped my groups at longer ranges. The stock bushing had .003" of play between the slide and the bushing, plus another .003" between the bushing and the barrel.

As I didn't have any rubbing compound handy, I mixed up some gun oil and toothpaste and took a plastic bushing wrench to work in the bushing to the slide, which now is finger tight in fit, yet doesn't require a wrench to disassemble.

And my bullets now have fresh breath and pretty smiles:D
 
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