How Bill Wilson Maintains a 1911

[Amp]

From servicing the extractor, to when each spring needs to be replaced, here is how Bill Wilson (https://amzn.to/2PtBYQO) maintains his 1911.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW1pJvi5yIw

[Robinson]

That's a good one. I don't use the exact same process but try to accomplish pretty much the same things in my 1911 maintenance. I typically go longer between basic maintenance cycles than Bill W. though. I usually go about 500 rounds or so.

It's interesting to listen to the extra history and anecdotes Bill W. interjects.

[cheby]

300rd interval... With all due respect. What is this?? My average practice session is 600rd, more on weekends during the summer time. I do not have time to clean it for the next day practice either. I'd just re- apply some oil. It is common to shoot a multiple day match of over 500rds in one day. I just did it last Saturday. Nobody cleans anything. And I am talking about tight competition guns that are tuned to the maximum performance with very weak springs. If you need to clean a gun every 300rds, you need a different gun.

[Robinson]

That's a good one. I don't use the exact same process but try to accomplish pretty much the same things in my 1911 maintenance. I typically go longer between basic maintenance cycles than Bill W. though. I usually go about 500 rounds or so.

It's interesting to listen to the extra history and anecdotes Bill W. interjects.

To clarify the above, to be honest I lube my 1911s every 500 rounds or so. Cleaning actually happens much less frequently.

[M2CattleCo]

People need to realize that most everything Wilson puts out are infomercials.

[Tom Duffy]

People need to realize that most everything Wilson puts out are infomercials.

And they work! I just bought his chamber cleaning brush for $2.95, 75% off. 🥳

[Robinson]

People need to realize that most everything Wilson puts out are infomercials.

Which people? Granted most PF members won't learn much if anything from this video, but that doesn't mean the content is no good.

Maybe he should have demonstrated his maintenance process on an Ed Brown pistol instead.

[JHC]

300rd interval... With all due respect. What is this?? My average practice session is 600rd, more on weekends during the summer time. I do not have time to clean it for the next day practice either. I'd just re- apply some oil. It is common to shoot a multiple day match of over 500rds in one day. I just did it last Saturday. Nobody cleans anything. And I am talking about tight competition guns that are tuned to the maximum performance with very weak springs. If you need to clean a gun every 300rds, you need a different gun.

I hear ya. Two TRPs, an LB Operator, a full custom build Dave Sams .45 that is hard fit as a M'Fk'er just run and run and run with lube but much less frequent cleaning than 300. I don't actually know when they NEED to be cleaned as I don't see them manifest any related issues. I just clean them at some point of out principle. ;)

And my CQB Elite, fairly recent acquisition appears to be the equal to the above.

[ccmdfd]

Lord it's been forever but I want to say when I got my Wilson 9mm CQB, the instructions said not to break down or clean for the first 1000 rounds. Does need lube however.

cc

[MistWolf]

300rd interval... With all due respect. What is this?? My average practice session is 600rd, more on weekends during the summer time. I do not have time to clean it for the next day practice either. I'd just re- apply some oil. It is common to shoot a multiple day match of over 500rds in one day. I just did it last Saturday. Nobody cleans anything. And I am talking about tight competition guns that are tuned to the maximum performance with very weak springs. If you need to clean a gun every 300rds, you need a different gun.

Pay attention! Bill said nothing about his pistol needing cleaning every three hundred rounds. He said this was his cleaning routine he performs about every three hundred rounds. He also emphasized that lubrication is important, that a 1911 will run dirty if it's kept lubed.

[oregon45]

Pay attention! Bill said nothing about his pistol needing cleaning every three hundred rounds. He said this was his cleaning routine he performs about every three hundred rounds. He also emphasized that lubrication is important, that a 1911 will run dirty if it's kept lubed.

Exactly. He made that point a few times in the video.

[cheby]

Pay attention! Bill said nothing about his pistol needing cleaning every three hundred rounds. He said this was his cleaning routine he performs about every three hundred rounds. He also emphasized that lubrication is important, that a 1911 will run dirty if it's kept lubed.
Thank you! I forgot that I need to pay attention to this stuff.

[FrankB]

I spend 5 minutes cleaning each of my pistols EVERY time I shoot, whether it’s one mag, or 200 rounds.

[Robinson]

There's more to the video than how often guns should have a basic cleaning. It covers basic cleaning, deep cleaning, lubrication, and long term maintenance of the 1911 pistol. It's a pretty good starting point for people new to 1911 maintenance in general. People who've been doing it a while can develop their own habits based on needs and preferences.

Cleaning every time you shoot seems way excessive to me, but that's your choice and that's fine.

[Greg]

I confess to shaking my head when Bill and Ken described a class full of students who couldn't detail strip their 1911s.

C'mon! It's like replacing batteries in a flashlight. (OK maybe a teeny bit trickier)

[BigD]

Anyone remember Phil Hartman’s Anally Retentive Chef character from SNL?

Bill Wilson is the anally retentive gunsmith - doing a detail strip every 300 rounds even when he says it’s not necessary.

[Robinson]

Anyone remember Phil Hartman’s Anally Retentive Chef character from SNL?

Bill Wilson is the anally retentive gunsmith - doing a detail strip every 300 rounds even when he says it’s not necessary.

Based on what is actually shown in the video, that gun had gone thousands of rounds without a complete disassembly and cleaning.

[Robinson]

I confess to shaking my head when Bill and Ken described a class full of students who couldn't detail strip their 1911s.

C'mon! It's like replacing batteries in a flashlight. (OK maybe a teeny bit trickier)

Yes. I mean, a Series 80 can be a bit of a pain in the ass when you're in a hurry but still...

[BigD]

Based on what is actually shown in the video, that gun had gone thousands of rounds without a complete disassembly and cleaning.

It just a little joke.

Man, you 1911 aficionados are a serious bunch. I wouldn’t be surprised if you are a little...I’m drawing a blank. It’s a hyphenated worded meaning excessively fussy and orderly. It will come to me in a minute.

[Robinson]

It just a little joke.

Man, you 1911 aficionados are a serious bunch. I wouldn’t be surprised if you are a little...I’m drawing a blank. It’s a hyphenated worded meaning excessively fussy and orderly. It will come to me in a minute.

Sorry, I suffered a bout of humor impairment.

[BigD]

Sorry, I suffered a bout of humor impairment.

It’s all good. You kinda have to remember that skit to get the joke. (It’s from the 80s, probably.)

[Hambo]

He also emphasized that lubrication is important, that a 1911 will run dirty if it's kept lubed.

That goes for just about everything.

[boing]

I confess to shaking my head when Bill and Ken described a class full of students who couldn't detail strip their 1911s.

C'mon! It's like replacing batteries in a flashlight. (OK maybe a teeny bit trickier)

If they’re teaching classes about detail stripping the frame and “everyone of them has been a train wreck” when it comes time for the students to reassemble the guns, then it’s not the students who are wrecking that train.

[awp_101]

Man, you 1911 aficionados are a serious bunch. I wouldn’t be surprised if you are a little...I’m drawing a blank. It’s a hyphenated worded meaning excessively fussy and orderly. It will come to me in a minute.

https://live.staticflickr.com/7312/12882566734_8acb08c017_n.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/kCowgy)

[MistWolf]

https://live.staticflickr.com/7312/12882566734_8acb08c017_n.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/kCowgy)

Amateurs have OCD

[MistWolf]

If they’re teaching classes about detail stripping the frame and “everyone of them has been a train wreck” when it comes time for the students to reassemble the guns, then it’s not the students who are wrecking that train.

Ken isn't saying every student was a train wreck, just that there was a student or two in each class who were. I can personally attest that Ken Hackathorn knows how to teach.

[boing]

Bill said:


We end up going from student to student, putting their guns back together, almost every one of them, because they can't put it back together...

Maybe that's just hyperbole, but those are his words.

I got the impression that these classes are something they tried and gave up on. Maybe detailing a frame isn't enough of a priority skill to be worth investing the time to teach, when you can just hose the thing down with gun scrubber and be done, as Bill recommended. Plenty of other things would be more worth their time, and the students'.

[Greg Bell]

Ken Hackathorn is the greatest gun teacher I have ever seen. I have attended a 1911 class with LAV and him and the students were all fine. But you never know what happens when you teach a 1911 class up north or on the west coast. Plus it is probably just hyperbole. Or maybe they had a bunch of guys with series 80s crap. lol

[breakingtime91]

Try to get a class to put a new TRS in a hk variant..that would be way more of a head ache lol

[03RN]

Bill said:



Maybe that's just hyperbole, but those are his words.

I got the impression that these classes are something they tried and gave up on. Maybe detailing a frame isn't enough of a priority skill to be worth investing the time to teach, when you can just hose the thing down with gun scrubber and be done, as Bill recommended. Plenty of other things would be more worth their time, and the students'.

There were 2 people who broke parts during a S&W armorer course I took. I don't doubt there could be entire classes who couldn't reasemble a 1911, classic Sig, or a beretta. But I don't let others incompetence effect my choices.

No one would own a Winchester m92 if they had to reasemble it. Took me a year the first time.

[LSP552]

There were 2 people who broke parts during a S&W armorer course I took. I don't doubt there could be entire classes who couldn't reasemble a 1911, classic Sig, or a beretta. But I don't let others incompetence effect my choices.

No one would own a Winchester m92 if they had to reasemble it. Took me a year the first time.

I can tell stories about classic SIG armorer school....

Some people shouldn’t ever be allowed to go beyond field stripping a Glock.

[Greg]

I can tell stories about classic SIG armorer school....

Some people shouldn’t ever be allowed to go beyond field stripping a Glock.

Eurowieners like to make certain pistols a puzzle. (Looking at you CZ and HK)

[MistWolf]

...Or maybe they had a bunch of guys with series 80s crap. lol

Easy, now!

[Robinson]

Ken Hackathorn is the greatest gun teacher I have ever seen. I have attended a 1911 class with LAV and him and the students were all fine. But you never know what happens when you teach a 1911 class up north or on the west coast. Plus it is probably just hyperbole. Or maybe they had a bunch of guys with series 80s crap. lol

Having the Series 80 "crap" would be no excuse, since dealing with it can be easily learned. Disassemble and reassemble a S80 gun once and you've got it.

[HALO51]

Surprised in the video cleaning breech face pointing up introducing debris into firing pin hole. Always clean with breech face in downward position.

[Greg Bell]

Lol, I’m just joking. I have had several series 80 guns and it was no problem once I remembered what direction the duck faced.

[MistWolf]

Lol, I’m just joking. I have had several series 80 guns and it was no problem once I remembered what direction the duck faced.
I know you are. I have a couple of Series 80 Colts and I love them both. Just had to elbow you in the ribs a little- all in good fun! Hope I didn't bruise anything *snicker snicker*

[JonInWA]

I thought the video was pretty decent. I've personally been using Lucas Red "N" Tacky #2 grease ever since p-f member Clobbersaurus recommended it a few years ago on metal-on-metal reciprocation areas on pretty much all my pistols (Clobbersaurus had a couple of issues with his, so he may have moved away from it since, but I'm a convert).

The emphasis on periodic extractor and extractor channel maintenance is well placed; the amount of GSR grunge that can accumulate in those areas can be formidable.

I lightly lube pretty much all components and springs as a rust preventative measure when cleaning. A dry film lubricant can be excellent for this, particularly for non-load-bearing components. It'll provide lubrication and anti-corrosive properties, without attracting GSR.

Wilson's channel cleaning tool is on my list; historically, I've used Q-Tips, but his tool seems to be a more thorough solution.

Wile I agree in principle with the chamber cleaning brush approach, I've found that a normal bronze barrel brush (either in the specified caliber or in one caliber larger) works pretty well, particularly with use of a jag and doubled-over tightly-fitting patch in removing residues from both bores and barrels.

Best, Jon

[Greg Bell]

I too immediately picked up the channel tool. It is handy. I’m sure I could find something else for 50 cents but it is damn convenient.