Replacement 1911 barrel

M

MosinM38

New member
Well had a question.

When my 1911 went to the gunsmith for an Extractor job he "Helped" and recut the chamber, locking lugs,etc.

Anyway, I don't know what part he changed (IE: Messed up), but my High Standard (Armscor) 1911 went from shooting 3" groups, to shooting 7-8" patterns.

Finally had the time to go out, swapped barrels with a Springfield, groups shrunk from 7" down to 4" (Which is what the Springfield does).

So: it IS the barrel. Just giving a little background.

The question: What 1911 barrel should I look for?

I don't need a custom/high dollar barrel as it's going into a $400 Armscor. The gun seems excellent other than needing a barrel. What would be the best no muss, no fuss, no tweaking barrel? Just drop it in and replace the old one.

I look and most seem to be "Semi-drop in". I liked the Armscor because it worked out of the box, no polishing, feed ramp work, nothing.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Grant.
 
You can try "Cheaper Than Dirt", I bought one of their cheap barrels for one of my Rem 1911's and it dropped in fine.
 
Myself,I would say have a reason and a plan before you spend money.Example,my bbl muzzle floats around in the bushing.The bbl is fine,you need a new bushing.The breech end of the bbl floats side to side.OK,maybe hood clearance is excessive.How wide is the new hood versus the old one,and how wide is the notch in the slide? If the new bbl has the same hood width,you gain nothing.

The sights are on the slide.The bullet is launched out the barrel.They both need to point the same direction.Bushing,hood,barrel lug feet vs slide stop,top of bbl and lugs to slide.What does not fit right?

Study till you know"I need .oo7 worth of steel here" and ask questions before you buy parts.
Poke and hope gets expensive
 
Last edited:
I agree with HiBC. If you have a solid bushing, check the inside diameter, and the outside diameter of the barrel. Here is one that drove me wacky. A guy came in with an accuracy problem in a 1911. I couldn't find anything wrong. After that, the first thing you ask is if they reload. It turned out he was loading cast bullets for some kind new "Pin Shoot" that was starting to get popular in the area. If you are using cast bullets you must clean the barrel a lot. The lead will start to fill the grooves and affect accuracy.
 
With respect, If you are concerned with accuracy, My suggestion is to send the pistol to Bar-Sto in Twenty nine Palms California. They can and will fit a superb quality barrel and do it RIGHT. I currently have four pistols with Bar-Sto barrels. All are more accurate than I am. (In a former life, I was an NRA master in Bullseye competition.) The qualilty is unexcelled. Bar-Sto barrels are used by many of the top competitors in pistol shooting.

Roger
 
As noted, it may not be a barrel problem. (It might be a bushing issue, among other things.)

Until you've really diagnosed the problem, anything you do to fix it may be wasted money.

Got another gunsmith (beside the one who did the first work), who can look at it? JHave you talked to the original guy who worked on it?
 
I haven't. It took me several (4?) months to get around to checking it for sure. I had been concentrating pretty hard on using my Sig .40, so I thought I was just un-used to it.


I realize it could be the bushing,etc. But I don't think so because the day before I took it up to him, I checked it (to see if it still jammed) and got several 3" groups.

I checked it the day after I got the gun and got 7"....I doubt the bushing would go bad in that amount of time.


I am in the process of examining it very closely, but so far all tolerances are pretty tight, and I was looking ahead to when I get another barrel.
 
As far as I know, 1911 barrels really should not be treated as 'drop in' parts. Back in the USGI days, they could be. Today - not so much.

Bad barrel-to-slide locking lug fitment can ruin the slide, and incorrect bottom lug dimensions can cause cycling issues and broken slide stop pins or broken barrel bottom lugs.

Read thru this, paying attention to the 'Locking' sections: http://www.m1911.org/locking.htm
 
Another viewpoint

I'd take it back to your gun smith, what smith would do the lug work on a barrel and not check the barrel bushing, the lockup lugs, link and pin, bushing, somethings way wrong here !. take it back.
Now you never did mention why you had a new barrel installed either, why, was your old one shot out, small groups before ?...lots of questions for us gunsmith types.

Let us know what you find out please. Your gunsmith has a rep and his paycheck depends on this rep so it would be only fair to take it in and let him figure out what's going on here.

I went back and read your OP, why would he do anything to your barrel unless there was a problem, IMHO if it ain't broke don't screw with it.
 
Last edited:
Well the deal with the gunsmith:

I took it to him, figured it was the extractor. He didn't think it was. I don't KNOW....but I think he tried basically everything else before the extractor..:mad:

I'd take it back and say "You messed it up." but it was long enough before I actually tested it (around 5 months now)...I won't worry about it.

Doctrup: Thanks, I believe I might do that. Haven't heard of many in-accurate Armscors, so that would be the way to go!
 
I've thought of it, but this is a "beater". I've almost thought of picking up another RIA VS another barrel (hey, it's a good excuse :D), last gunshow still had a few selling for $375.
 
Barrel Woes

+1 Velocette!!! I routinley send sloppy 1911s to Bar-Sto. They're fast, superb and the gun works every time. I have done this (9) times and it is SOP for me with 1911s. You'll really be happy with the results.
 
Bar-Sto has a pretty complete line of gunsmithing and custom services. I haven't used them personally but haven't heard anything bad. Cylinder and Slide could probably help you out.
 
I have built a few 1911's and it can be real tricky fitting everything properly, having a background in machining it was still a challenge. I would as others have said either send it too Barsto, or send it back to Armscor. I am relatively sure they will not warranty it, but it may be a cheaper route than Barsto. You have to decide if you are happy with a 3 inch shooter than Armscor may be the answer. If you want a more accurate shooter than Barsto will be a better option.
 
Just as a point of reference, my Bar-Sto barreled match .45 1911 would give me groups of 1 5/8" @ 50 yds from a Ransome Rest using Rem 185 gr jacketed match bullets and 3.6 gr of Bullseye, Fed primers, Midway brass.
The barrel was fitted by Irv Stone.
The pistol was a GI frame, Colts NM slide and mostly GI parts, aside from the grips and sights.
I don't think that the pistol was special, just a good combination of good parts, well assembled.

The pistol still shoots good but I Use-ta-could.

Roger
 
WOW....1 5/8 at 50....I doubt I could do that at 25 :D

But yes, thanks for the suggestions, I'm looking into sending it to Barsto or Armscor and getting a new barrel installed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top