what to do?

[hellbilly75]

Hey guys, I've got a m1991a1 I use for carry. It's a good shooter and I was thinking about adding some parts but I need some insight.  I want a beavertail grip safety and a commander style hammer(stock hammer sticks me in the ribs)  Here are my questions:

What mods would you recommend?

Can I do these mods myself?

are there any other sights that will fit the stock dovetail?

would I be better off trading it for another gun with the options I want already on it?(Im not crazy about the blued finish anyway.)

If trade, what might I expect to get for it?

Thanks in advance, I know its alot to ponder.

[Mikey]

Hellbilly:  you can always trade it off it you want to but there is a lot of this 'custom' work you can do yourself that should make you very happy.

For the hammer, you can get a hammer group from Chip McCormick that gives you the hammer you want, a sear and sear plunger, and a trigger - it's a nice setup and dropped right into my GI Springfield.  Nice trigger pull at about 3 - 3.5 lbs.

For the beavertail grip safety - get one of the no-gunsmithing beavertails from King - I've used that part on 3 different 1911s and you do not have to modify the frame to install it.

If you want different sights, you will have to have a front sight that matches the rear.  Most rear sight replacements will simply dovetail right in to the existing slot but you will have to match the new rear sight with the correct front sight or you will most likely be shooting high.

If the accuracy is not what you want after your modifications, get an Ed Brown drop in accuracy barrel.  My GI Springer shot 7 inches left and 7 inches high into a 6-7 inch group at 25 yds.  Nothing I could do, with either swapping older barrels and bushings I had would bring that dang thing to bear at 25 yds.  I installed one of the Ed Brown barrels and the first shot with ball ammo at 25 yds was 4" high, the next was 3" high and the rest of the box clustered into a 2.5" group exactly 2.5 inches high at 25 yds and dead on the money (to point of aim) at 50 - all with the GI sights.

Hope this helps.  Mikey.

[Henry Bowman]

This old fogie is a little confused and need some help with 1911 newspeak.
Springer was easy (Springfield) and from another site "ignition system" caused a HUH?but it was evidently a catch phrase invented by a net smith.
What's a sear plunger and how often shoud we plunge (insert big smile? a 1911?
Please lord don't tell me that Colt is using the GC sear system is all their 1911s?
Thank You!

[Mikey]

Howdy:  Yep, the 'Springer' was the easy part but I would have gone 'Huh' with the 'ignition system' lingo myself (like, when did 1911's start using spark plugs, huh?).

The gizzy I call a sear plunger is, by whatever name it is properly termed, that little part that sticks up through the frame and portrudes into the cutout in the bottom of the slide about halfway between the boltface and the hammer notch.  When that plunger is 'up', you can pull the trigger, engage the sear and the hammer will drop.  When that plunger is depressed, you can't.  

I understand that the Colt WWII 1911 repros do not have the series 80 trigger/hammer/sear block, so the trigger pull can be improved.  For my GC, when I saw the narrow sear the GC was using I replaced it with a full sized Chip McCormick sear and plunger and my trigger pull was very, very nice.  

Hope this helps.  Mikey.

[Bob_K]

The "plunger" is correctly called the disconnector.  It fits between the trigger and the sear, and allows the trigger to push the disconnector which pushes the sear out of engagement with the hammer notch.  The slide's movement to the rear pushes the disconnector down, freeing the sear to engage the hammer notch again.  When the slide goes forward into battery, the three-leaf spring (middle finger) pushes the disconnector up (if the trigger has been released), so it is again between the trigger and sear.

[Mikey]

Sometimes I'm not as techinical as I can be and I think Henry now has a better understanding of what those parts are and how they function.  When CRS sets it, even the big parts become 'thingies'.  Mikey.