Is there any point to this 1911 modification?

I had a Clarke Heavy slide from the 70's that had that modification. That was so I could use a very lite spring and lite loads with a lite 165 grain bullet. Darn near would fire a squib load.

I used is some but could only get down to a 9 pound spring, inertia of the slide to overcome. I can see it as a training thing if you want to start low and scale up to higher loads, or maybe in you are at a short range and want to shoot what is essentially gallery loads.

That ain't new, that is a bullseye shooters mod. In regular shooting it is absolutely irrelevant. When you slow cycle the slide you can feel that bit of hesitation, Who cares? With the recoil pulse of a full power round you probably will never feel it.

If it is the thing that is causing a malfunction then there is something wrong with the gun, or you are limp wristing and need to pull your panties around straight and grip that like a man. LOL
 
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garryc said:
With the recoil pulse of a full power round you probably will never feel it.
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With ANY recoil impulse at all you will never feel it. The disconnector goes below the slide when the trigger is pulled.

It's amazing how many people don't understand how the disconnetctor on a 1911 works, even with the slow motion video links in the first couple of posts.

Cyclic rate of a 1911 is about 15 rounds per second. You can't release the trigger fast enough for the disconnector to rise back up into the slide's path.

The only time that the modification has any effect at all is when the slide is manually released to load the first round.
 
The disconnector goes below the slide when the trigger is pulled
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No,that is not what happens when you pull the trigger.The sear spring keeps the disconnector up unless the slide center rail pushes it down.
The disconnector is what connects the trigger to the sear and when the pistol is in battery pulling the trigger presses it back onto the sear,neither up nor down.
 
"It's amazing how many people don't understand how the disconnector on a 1911 works..."

Well, that is true.

Polyphemus is correct; the disconnector (really should be called the connector) is pushed up into the notch in the slide allowing the connection between the trigger bar and the sear; the slide moving back in recoil pushes it down to break that connection and allow the sear to reset.

I have not done any math, but considering the mass and speed of the slide, it seems to me that the tiny amount of resistance from the disconnector is pretty insignificant, whichever way the slide is moving. Unless the disconnector is out of spec, a big effort to "fix" it is like scraping chewing gum off the road to keep an 18 wheeler from getting stuck. Just another useless "fix" sold to 1911 fans to correct a non-existent (or the wrong) problem.

Jim
 
45_auto said:
The disconnector goes below the slide when the trigger is pulled
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polyphemus said:
No,that is not what happens when you pull the trigger.
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Ok, where do you think the disconnector goes when you pull the trigger? Do you doubt that it goes below the slide?

Pulling the trigger pushes the disconnector which pushes the sear which releases the hammer which strikes the firing pin which strikes the primer which ignites the cartridge which propels the bullet down the barrel which causes the slide to recoil which pushes the disconnector down which means that the disconnector goes below the slide when the trigger is pulled. ;)
 
Ok, where do you think the disconnector goes when you pull the trigger? Do you doubt that it goes below the slide?
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Two questions,
I don't need to think about the first one,I know that the disconnector moves rearward.
The second one is even easier to answer,the disconnector happens to be up in the half moon recess and that is why the chain of events you describe can take place.I don't doubt that "it goes below the slide" I know that it doesn't.
 
In any case, other than what I cited, which is a special case, that resistance is insignificant. Only when you cut everything down to minimums does what is already minimum start to become significant.

I imagine that with the 7-9 pound spring that part could prevent the gun from going into battery so they relieved the resistance. Normal spring on a 1911 is about 16 pounds I believe, no way it has any effect at that level.
 
Ok, where do you think the disconnector goes when you pull the trigger? Do you doubt that it goes below the slide?

Two questions,
I don't need to think about the first one,I know that the disconnector moves rearward.
The second one is even easier to answer,the disconnector happens to be up in the half moon recess and that is why the chain of events you describe can take place.I don't doubt that "it goes below the slide" I know that it doesn't.
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The disconnector moves both rearward and downward. Pulling the trigger moves rearward the half of the disconnector that is below the sear pin, and the movement of the slide depresses the disconnector into the frame, "below the slide".
 
While the disconnector does "go below the slide" since it is always below the slide, I think you mean the disconnector is pushed down level with the top of the FRAME. The longer explanation is (with that exception) correct, but the "short version" is subject to considerable misunderstanding.

Jim
 
The disconnector has a square pivot hole and this allows it to travel horizontally and vertically.The question was about the direction when the trigger was pulled
not when the slide pressed down on it.
Apparently there is confusion here because vertical trvel takes place within hundredths of a second after the trigger motion releases the hammer but the point is that it is the slide and not the trigger that moves it vertically.
This is analogous to saying that the empty case is ejected due to the trigger being pulled.
 
If the disconnector is too long, or if that square pivot hole allows the disconnector to move upward too far under pressure from its spring leaf, the disconnector can rise to the point where the straight (untapered) portion is above the frame and interferes with the forward motion of the slide in firing or in loading the first round. The solution is not to spend a lot of money having a groove cut in the slide, but to fix the disconnector or replace it with a correct one.

Jim
 
When the 5 inch 1911 is fired, the slide retracts fully to eject the empty brass. At the point of full retraction of the slide, the disconnector is exposed in a full size 5 inch 1911.
The face of the breech is about .020” behind the disconnector head in the 5 inch 1911, when in full retraction.
A commander or officer size 1911 does not expose the disconnector head when fully retracted, therefore the disconnector does not rise and there is no need provide for camming it down.
The trigger is still held back holding the disconnector from fully rising as the top of the disconnector paddle is stopped against the lower sear legs.
The disconnector has been pushed up about .025” to .030” above the flat of the frame. About half way from full up.
At half way up only the angle cut of the disconnector head is exposed. This provides a lead angle for the lower edge of the breech face to cam down the disconnector when the slide closes.
The square opening in the disconnector has nothing to do with holding the disconnector at this point.
The purpose of the angle slot cut into the lower leading edge of the slide rail is to cam down the disconnector head smoothly.
Master Gunsmith Bob Marvel saw how this small cut would smooth out the action of the slide closing.
To compare Bob Marvel to any kitchen table internet gunsmith is ignorant
This Marvel angle cut also helps to cam down the disconnector when dry firing the 1911 and the trigger has been released before the action is cycled when the disconnector is allowed to rise fully to about .050” to .060” above the flat of the frame.
 
This Marvel angle cut also helps to cam down the disconnector when dry firing the 1911 and the trigger has been released before the action is cycled when the disconnector is allowed to rise fully to about .050” to .060” above the flat of the frame.
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This Marvel cut doesn't help the 1911 do anything and even less when dry firing it.
 
We always have experts who will invent something that doesn't need inventing so they can sell it to people who don't need it. At least the Marvel ramp doesn't do any harm (that I can see), unlike some of the 1911 "improvements" that made the gun less reliable.

Jim
 
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