I had some koolaid and finally got a 1911

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Finally. After all the Glocks(which I still love), I bought the gun I was drooling over. SA double stack 1911. Fondled the new toy but can't shoot it

until Saturday. My son has a Rock Island and we compared the two side by side. Nearly identical except for the safety and the slide stop. On the SA,

when we both reassembled it, the slide stop would not go back in place

unless you hold the detent(?)pin back with a knife or screwdriver. Is that

something I can put a stone to and give it a better angle to slide on? The

pin is sticking out farther on mine. A spring, maybe?

Also I noticed while pulling the hammer back one click, two click then ready to fire. His only clicked once when pulling back. Curious on that one.

Thanks in advance for any tips.

[Guest RGL01]

Can't comment ont he reassembly problem. The two clicks is particular to SA, something extra in addition to the half cock notch. Colt's click only once also. You'll be happy. I started with a Glock 21. Bought my first 1911 a the end of '99 (Colt 1991 stainless). Sold the Glock in '04, and now own 3 1911s (2 Colts and a SA). Only type of semiauto sidearm I'll ever own for the rest of my life.

[E4 No More]

But it's a good-tasting KoolAid!

[DavidD]

Finally. After all the Glocks(which I still love), I bought the gun I was drooling over. SA double stack 1911. Fondled the new toy but can't shoot it

until Saturday. My son has a Rock Island and we compared the two side by side. Nearly identical except for the safety and the slide stop. On the SA,

when we both reassembled it, the slide stop would not go back in place

unless you hold the detent(?)pin back with a knife or screwdriver. Is that

something I can put a stone to and give it a better angle to slide on? The

pin is sticking out farther on mine. A spring, maybe?

Also I noticed while pulling the hammer back one click, two click then ready to fire. His only clicked once when pulling back. Curious on that one.

Thanks in advance for any tips.

Congrats. Yes the plungers seem to be very tight on the new SA's. I'd just continue to depress it when reassembling unless you want to take the safety off, remove the plunger and try and compress the spring some. It would definitely be a trial and error exercise. It may also loosen up a bit after some time just from constant wear.

BTW, around here, we say it didn't happen without pics. Give us some gun porn.

[timcalhoun]

You can take a stone/file to the slide release. Just go very slow and keep the angle while checking often.

You should hear one click and then one more to be at full cock on a 1911. Basically the hammer has two places the sear contacts and makes a click.

Congrats on the new purchase.

Here is a cool link that shows how everything in your gun works.

http://www.m1911.org/loader.swf

[Guest 6.8 AR]

I also noticed on the first click that while depressing the trigger the hammer would

drop, but not on the second click(half cocked?). It is exponentially easier to draw and

pull the hammer back while at the second click. I don't want to go off half cocked(pun unavoidable) unless it is safer to do so. I appreciate your input.

Gun porn to follow:D

[xd shooter]

On the assembly you can cock the hammer & set the safety to lessen the tention on the detent spring.

Then slow & easy push in the slidestop about half way, release the safety, pull back the slide to line up the notch in the sliet & finist pushing the slidestop in.

[Guest RGL01]

I actually had the same problem with my manual safety and ended up scratching the parkerizing pretty bad trying to when trying to remove it. The good side of it is I really like the very positive feel of the manual safety on my SA as compared to my Colts.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Thanks, Tim. That's what I was thinking, too. BTW, if you live near the tracks, I go through there every night making all the noise.

I'll work it a bunch, see if it wears a little and then probably do just that. The pin is sticking out quite a bit more than my son's Rock Island and I noticed the slide release

is blunt on mine and has a pitch on his.

[timcalhoun]

I also noticed on the first click that while depressing the trigger the hammer would

drop, but not on the second click(half cocked?). It is exponentially easier to draw and

pull the hammer back while at the second click. I don't want to go off half cocked(pun unavoidable) unless it is safer to do so. I appreciate your input.

Gun porn to follow:D

So there are 3 clicks in total???? That's weird if so. Could be a different hammer design I guess.

IMO you should either carry a 1911 in condition 1 or 3 and never 2. It is just too likely for an AD to happen while lowering the hammer on a live round to carry condition 2. Plus the "half cock" is not designed to be a safety in the traditional sense. It is there to help prevent a round detonation if the hammer/sear/sear spring relationship gets too worn or set up wrong and then malfunctions. Condition 1 is by far the most popular way to carry a 1911. For folks who are not familiar with the gun it can seem a little scary at first, but it is very safe. In condition 1 the sear could break in two or magically disappear and the hammer still could not fall and strike the FP.

[timcalhoun]

Thanks, Tim. That's what I was thinking, too. BTW, if you live near the tracks, I go through there every night making all the noise.

I'll work it a bunch, see if it wears a little and then probably do just that. The pin is sticking out quite a bit more than my son's Rock Island and I noticed the slide release

is blunt on mine and has a pitch on his.

Very cool!! What a cool job. I'm not close enough to hear ya but I have waited at the tracks for you to go buy many a time.

[Guest mustangdave]

was gonna ask what flavor but since its your first 1911...I figure it was CHERRY...

[Guest 6.8 AR]

I scratched the finish a little around the slide release, too. I guess someone makes a

touch up for that, don't they? Also getting the slide release is just as hard getting it out as it is putting in. Playtime for a while.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Definitely Cherry:koolaid:

[sigmtnman]

Congrats! Watch out, that kool-aid is strong... I wound up drinking some in Dec and have since picked up 2.

Waiting for those pics.

And now I understand you knowing about cabooses. lol

[Guest 6.8 AR]

I just told too much about myself. It's hard enough to rationalize being a union member, Republican and an Ayn Rand fan. Cabooses were easy:lol:

I already fixed that slide release. Easier than I thought. I put the part under some good light and found a burr where it should have been smooth and put the stone to it. Works like a champ, now. It would have taken a while to work its way down enough to easily click in place.

[sigmtnman]

Glad you found the rub (PI) and were able to resolve it. But still no pics? what gives?

[Guest 6.8 AR]

I took some and still working on it. Ah, there.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

I didn't take off much more than a bump on the release and rounded it. I sure didn't like that scratch it left those several times clumsily assembling it. Goes in almost easily. I'm going to let wear and tear do the rest and try to cover that shine.

[Guest Oaklands]

Enjoy the kool-aid. I am waiting on delivery of my 3rd 1911. I have become a 1911-a-holic.

[Magiccarpetrides]

This is a good and worthy Kool-Aid...drink up!

[Guest mustangdave]

was at the local gunshop at lunch...looking at CC guns...then my gaze fell upon all the 1911's ...wide range of prices too...from Rock Island to Kimber and all brands in between. Just "sippin' the kool-aide

[Guest 6.8 AR]

I try to stay away from gun shops because they put too much sugar in their koolaid.

I like sugar.

[Guest mustangdave]

This place has Nutra-Sweet and Splenda...and its spouse approved

[E4 No More]

was at the local gunshop at lunch...looking at CC guns...then my gaze fell upon all the 1911's ...wide range of prices too...from Rock Island to Kimber and all brands in between. Just "sippin' the kool-aide

Which shop?