Trigger Job Question

[kkeetr]

I have owned a SA 1911A1 for nearly 10 years now.  I always heard that I needed to get a trigger job for it but I never had enough money.  I tried shortening some springs but I didn't know what I was doing and it didn't seem to have any effect.

Now I am wondering how much I should pay for a trigger job for my gun.  I still don't have a lot of money but I recently shot a friend's 1911 that had been worked on and it was more fun to shoot than mine.

So, how much?  Thanks for your advice!

[Mikey]

kkeetr:  I don't know what you mean by 'shortening some springs', unless you are talking about that dinky little spring they used with Colt Gold Cup sears (if your Springer has one), and if that is what you did it sure won't help much.  

There are a number of actions you can take to smooth out the overall trigger pull of a 1911 system as well as some you can take to reduce the pull itself.  In this regard you need not spend the money, and it might not be much, to get a satisfactory trigger on your 1911.

I would first stone all the hammer/sear/trigger parts, including the trigger rails - take any and all burrs or sharp edges off those parts.  I would make certain the interface between the sear and the hammer is as smooth as it can be, without burrs or sharp edges.  Also, if you have one of those dinky half sears like they use (d?) in the Gold Cup, get rid of it for a set of Chip McCormick parts, they work better.  

If you have an aluminum trigger, buy a Chip McCormick trigger and stone or file or sand it smooth top and bottom and make certain there are no sharp edges on the trigger bars.  You may also wish to contour the trigger to your grip/finger - most of these things are square across the front and have grooves in them for a positive finger grip (er whatever you want to call it) - I ground those off mine, and ground the edges down so it is smooth all around - it feels better to me.  

Last, I would get a couple of mainsprings (the 3 pronged flat springs that sit behind the grip safety.  The center spring bar puts tension on the trigger and just by relieving some of that pressure (bend the spring out a bit until the trigger pull lightens up) you can significantly lighten up a trigger pull.

This is what I usually do with my 1911s - I know there are a bunch of guys on this forum who have their own tricks and techniques and maybe they will kick in with some better advice.  HTH.  Mikey.

[Savage]

Mikey,
You got it goin on son! I bet your 1911 pulls are light and safe.
kkeetr,
Mikey's method is not for someone who doesn't know his way around a 1911. I would suggest you order a trigger kit from Brownell's and have a smith install it for you if you are not comfortable doing it yourself. These kits come with parts that are mated to give you a light, crisp, and SAFE trigger pull. Those of us who have been tinkering with this platform for a long time tend to assume that everyone knows the pitfalls of changing sear engagement  and angles. If you do your own work at least do a few simple safety checks like, cocking the hammer, engage the safety and pull the trigger, hard! Release the safety, the hammer should not fall. Now push on the hammer spur with your thumb as hard as you can. Again the hammer should not fall. All this with an unloaded gun of course. When you go to the range load two rounds and fire them slow fire to make sure the hammer is not folowing the slide into battery. If this happens the gun will fire full auto. Thus the reason for only loading two rounds. If it passes these tests, congratulations! You're home free!!
Stay Safe,
Savage

[dclark]

For the cost of buying the equipment to do a proper trigger job on a 1911, not counting the time to learn what to do, you can have a good pistolsmith do that job for you.  And any reputable smith will stand by his work if any problems arise, which probably won't happen.  There are a large number of good smiths in the country, many of which specialize in 1911's and some for specialties, ie. bullseye, IPSC or defense.  Each of those disciplines have different demands and a good smith with know the differences and get you the job you should have for your purposes.

Hope this helps.

dclark

[Jim n Iowa]

I have a Colt series 70 gov model and was having feeding problems when I started shooting any thing other than ball. Ihave had the throat and ramp worked on and the ejector port enlarged. At the advice of a fellow shooter I contacted Rick McDowell in Osceola,IA who specializes in 1911's. He looked the gun over said it was worth keeping and the former smith that throated it must have used a dremell tool. For a $100 he slicked up the trigger to crisp 2.5Lb pull (carry gun) polished throat and ramp (shines like a diamond) replaced the springs and its a great gun that got better.
Jim

[kkeetr]

Everybody,
Thanks a lot for all the info.  It really gives me a good starting point.  I just bought a whole new trigger for my 10/22 so the 1911 is next!  Thanks again!

[Alice Cooper]

i shoot various revolvers and pistols every week.the kimber 45 with the really good trigger shoots far and away better and easier that the others with better sights and longer barrels.the original high standard citation 22 has an even better trigger than the kinber, and it too shoots smaller groups.i've come to the conclusion that, for me, the trigger is 80-90%of the accuracy equation. at least for me.

[perklo]

kkeetr,

The 1911 is one of the best guns to learn to do a trigger job on, IF you can afford to have it go into "timeout"  until it's fixed if you muck something up.

1) There are stacks and piles of good information available.

2) There are stacks and piles of good factory and custom parts to replace the ones in your pistol or ones you muck up - in a wide variety of prices.

3) There are a wide selection of reasonably priced tools and fixtures to help you attempt this work.

4) There are enough experienced persons on the web that - if you ask the right questions - they can talk you through about anything on a 1911.

Best 1911 books: The Jerry Kuhnhausen 1911 Shop manuals.

The Tom Wilson 1911 stoning fixture is a good buy for the beginner, although the series one from Power Custom is a better buy in the long run. It costs about three times what the Tom Wilson does, but can do about a jillion other guns with the inexpensive adapters.

Using a stoning fixture on your first few triggers of a particular model of firearm allows you to see the angles done correctly, and you can then learn to cut them by hand.

I learned by taking my Springfield Custom Shop 1911 apart and simply measuring and observing the polished areas, angles, trim lengths on the high dollar Wilson and Brown parts I had sent them to fit. Then I CAREFULLY tried to do the same - just a hair at a time - until I had as great an action on my Springfield Compact...

Since then I have done so many I can do a good trigger job and cut for a beavertail tang (without polishing and bluing time) in about 60 to 90 minutes.

Just never be too ashamed to ask for help if something turns out wrong; or be in such a hurry that you won't put it aside for a few days and THINK about a problem.

My 2 cents - perklo

[T.J. McSuds]

If money is a concern, don't worry about buying new trigger, sear ECT. A good smith can give you a decent trigger using the stock parts.