Taking the 1911 to the shop...two questions

S

Shmackey

New member
(1) Call me crazy, but the feed ramp in my Kimber Classic looks like plastic. One of the things I'm going to do is get a reliability job, which includes "polishing the feed ramp." I suspect that they'll tell me I should get a "good" feed ramp; howcome I never see this part listed for sale anywhere?

(2) The other thing I'm going to get is a trigger job for bullseye matches. How low can I go here? I don't see why I can't go below 3# if it's strictly for bullseye (the Randall Fung grips would make this 1911 pretty hard to carry around...).
 
The feed ramp is an integral part of the frame. Actually that part is also called a bullet ramp, while there is also a portion of the feed ramp that makes up the entryway on the barrel, also called the "throat". I've never seen the sense in polishing it to make the gun feed better. After the first magazine or so it will be all caked up with firing residue anyway! What's more important is that the anngles are all correct, and that there is a small 1/32" gap between the top lip of the frame portion of the ramp and the bottom barrel portion.

As for triggers, I am so used to 6# and above GI triggers that the 4lb. pull of my Kimber feels excessively light. I don't recommend going below that, as there is a higher chance of the hammer dropping to half-cock during cycling with full-power loads. Light triggers are meant for guns shooting light target loads with their soft 10# recoil springs.
 
1) Call me crazy, but the feed ramp in my Kimber Classic looks like plastic. One of the things I'm going to do is get a reliability job, which includes "polishing the feed ramp." I suspect that they'll tell me I should get a "good" feed ramp; howcome I never see this part listed for sale anywhere?
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If you would have bought a Glock in the first place, you would not have to get a "reliability" job, and the "plastic" would already be in the right place!!! :D :p

2) The other thing I'm going to get is a trigger job for bullseye matches. How low can I go here? I don't see why I can't go below 3# if it's strictly for bullseye (the Randall Fung grips would make this 1911 pretty hard to carry around...).
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There again, with the Glock, the trigger job is a drop in part that costs about $20!! You can get as low as 3.5lbs!!!!

Why don't you dump that Kimber and get a Glock 36!!!:cool:
 
Polishing the feed ramp and doing a trigger job can be done by yourself and save you quite a bit of money.Get out the Dremel for the feed ramp and Brownells sells Nowlin drop-in trigger kits for very low competition trigger pull weights.
 
BULLSEYE ONLY

A great 'smith can get a SAFE trigger under 1lb, but I suggest around 1.5-2lb as best (for me, 'cause that's where my carry 1911 is -- thank you Nowlin parts.)
 
Shmackey,
Call me crazy, but the feed ramp in my Kimber Classic looks like plastic.
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Ok. . . You're crazy. Hey, you asked for it.

Seriously, how does it look like plastic? My Kimber classic looks like steel. . . don't see how it could look like plastic.

As other posters have stated, the feed ramp isn't a separate part, its part of the frame (or barrel).

As far as the reliability package, does it need it? Have you had FTF or any other failures?

Shake
 
Denfoote: If I wanted a Glock, I would've got one (well, I probably would've got a Sig). Actually, I think the Glock 20 looks like fun, but not for bullseye. I wanted a gun capable of sub-2" groups at 50 yards, and the Kimber is pretty close--stock.

As for the trigger...hey, you Glock folks have plenty to gloat about--they're very nice pistols--but the trigger on those things is not one of them.

WESHOOT2: Thanks, that's what I needed to hear. Although I'm surprised that you keep your carry trigger so low!

Shake: You're right, I probably am crazy. I don't have it in front of me, but perhaps, as DSK put it, mine was just filthy. Glad to hear it, actually.

Haven't had any FTFs, but I've had a few FTEs (see here and tell me if this is a true FTE). Could be as simple as a tweak on the ejector and extractor, but while it's there, I don't mind getting a reliability job--especially since the barrel's already throated anyway, so there's one less thing to pay for.

It really is a great gun, and the trigger is quite good out of the box. But I see the value of a VERY light trigger for bullseye, so why not?
 
IIRC, the minimum pull for matches is 4 pounds for the 1911, but maybe that is only for service pistol. Anyway, I consider pulls in the 1.5-2 pound range unsafe, even for a pure range gun. If you go that low on a carry gun, let me know what city you are in so I can avoid it.

Denfoote, your argument is ultimately self-defeating. If everyone converted to Glocks, you would have no one to preach to.

Jim
 
By Jim Keenan

Denfoote, your argument is ultimately self-defeating. If everyone converted to Glocks, you would have no one to preach to.
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Jim,
That would only mean that my work here would be done!!! :D
Converts to anything are the most dangerous...
 
WESHOOT2,

With a 1-1/2 to 2 pound trigger on your carry gun, I hope you also carry LOTS of liability insurance and have a good attorney on retainer!

Unfortunately, I don't foresee travelling to Vermont in the near future, so unlike Jim, your city of residence is of little concern to me.
 
1.5 lbs trigger pull on a carry 1911 is an accident/lawsuit looking for a place to happen... I have carried a 1911 as a LEO for over 25 years and I would never allow any of my Officers to carry something with a trigger that light. I have always shot 100% on our quals with a crisp 5lb trigger.

7th
 
Shmackey - I can get "sub-2" groups at 50 yards" from my Glock 20 and it is stock including the plastic sights and 5# trigger. It doesn't happen quickly, nor every time, but the gun is capable.

My Charles Daly can't do it even though it's a 1911.:p



I did see a guy with a Kimber Pro CDP and a Springfield TRP making ragged holes in his target at 25 yards. Very nice guns.:cool:
 
The minimum allowable trigger pull is 4 pounds for service pistol ("leg") matches, and you can count on it being checked at most major matches. For the .45 caliber match it's 3.5 pounds (never had that checked at a match but it's possible). Wouldn't want to be anywhere near somebody with a 1.5 - 2 pound trigger on a 1911!

md2lgyk
 
I sometimes wonder if people really know what a 1.5 pound trigger is like. For reference, the single action pull on most S&W revolvers is pretty consistent at just about 2 3/4 pounds (unless they have changed recently). Nearly every inexperienced person who handles one of mine calls that a "hair trigger".

Jim
 
For the record...I finally did a proper field strip and cleaning; of course the feed ramp is steel--and an integral part of the frame. Those who called me crazy were correct. Far as I can tell, the only plastic part on my Kimber is the mainspring housing, which could be made of wood for all I care.

By the way, BreakFree is really good.
 
FORGIVE ME FOR PISSING ON ALL THAT EXPERIENCE

A RCBS trigger-pull scale might help me weigh my trigger(s), so that's what was used.

As for "Oh My! Too Light! Accident Waiting! Crazy Bad Man!" give me a flaming break LOL! You all sound like a bunch of (insert choice here). I have a small amount of experience with my gun(s), and have trained myself to only touch the trigger when firing (novel concept, eh?).
I did not, nor do I ever, recommend anyone else own a carry gun with as 1.5-2lb trigger, although I suggested that weight for Bullseye competition. (Please consider the trigger pull on Olympic pistols.)
I did not, nor do I, recommend anyone else do what I do. I'm crazy (but armed, and with a dangerously light "hair trigger").

ROTFLMAO.........."Hey look! I gotta gun and it's DANGEROUS!"

ps I compete with LE's regularly (used to manufacture their training ammo) and I completely agree on light triggers for them. My carry Witnesses run 5lb for one, and a lighter-feeling but heavier 6lb on the other. My wheels are ALL over 10lb DA, and my always auto is about 12lb. My "always" always is an NAA, and I've never bothered to weigh it.

pps Had an M20 with a 3lb perfect trigger, but hated the rest of the gun.

ppps You have no idea how much liability insurance I carry LOL.

pppps Does anyone else here really KNOW what a perfect crisp 1.5-2lb trigger feels like? Really KNOW?

(Still laughing.........."sight alignment trigger control")
 
TO MY FELLOW TFL'ers..........

Please read the above post with the understanding that it was meant in a humorous fashion (no panties in bunches please) but I'm serious about two things; those pulls are weighed pulls, and I mean "sight alignment trigger control".

Still laughing...........and oh, I really have tons'o liability ins.
 
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