1911 Plunger tubes and thin grips

First post here, I have read a lot and enjoyed the knowledge of this forum.

My question is on plunger tubes and thin grips for 1911's. I just picked up a new Les Baer UTC and it has the thin grips that offer no plunger tube support. Is this a real worry as far as the tube coming loose and locking the gun up? Or will I be safe by checking its tightness on a regular interval?

Thanks and a picture of the gun:

http://i673.photobucket.com/albums/v.../unnamed-4.jpg

Sweet looking pistol! I'm jealous! I wouldn't worry too much, but checking tightness would never be too bad of a thing to do. If it bothers you, you could buy some different panels, but I think those look pretty nice as is :)

Checking the plunger tube regularly is good but many 1911s come with plunger tubes that are not properly staked IMO. I like to see the holes flared or chamfered on the inside of the frame, the studs should be long enough to reach the inside of the frame and then staked. I put a little loctite on the studs before I stake them too.

Many 1911s come from the factory with holes that aren't chamfered or studs that aren't long enough to reach the chamfers. If you stake (flare) a stud that is in a hole with parallel sides, you've only created some tension to hold the plunger tube in place instead of a mechanical fastener like a rivet. Sooner or later it will come loose.

I've even seen some where they missed the stud completely and staked the frame next to the hole.

What he said. I have seen the same things. Another option that I have done in the past is to silver solder the plunger tube in place. But that requires refinishing the frame.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dave Berryhill

Checking the plunger tube regularly is good but many 1911s come with plunger tubes that are not properly staked IMO. I like to see the holes flared or chamfered on the inside of the frame, the studs should be long enough to reach the inside of the frame and then staked. I put a little loctite on the studs before I stake them too.

Many 1911s come from the factory with holes that aren't chamfered or studs that aren't long enough to reach the chamfers. If you stake (flare) a stud that is in a hole with parallel sides, you've only created some tension to hold the plunger tube in place instead of a mechanical fastener like a rivet. Sooner or later it will come loose.

I've even seen some where they missed the stud completely and staked the frame next to the hole.

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Absolute truth.

I've got a $6.4k 1911 from a "holy grail" 1911 "builder." No extractor tension and only one foot of the tube is staked. And the grip bushings are very poorly staked. Not to mention, most tubes have feet too small in diameter so they will fit crappy frames.

I like welding them on. Tubes, that is. But a tube stake is only $30 or so.

Thanks for the help all that replied, I threw some VZ normal grips on in for the first 150 rounds and then shot it for a 100 with the slims. I will use the slims and keep an eye on the plunger tube.

Fox, go Royals. As an aside, a plunger tube on a badly abused Kimber came loose on me during my CCW qual. This caused the slide to lock back prematurely. I still finished first on the qual, no points down. Just as a way of saying it's not the most catastrophic failure.