The Art and Science of Keeping Your 1911 Running

[Leroy]

My primary training gun is a DW Valor with thousands of rounds through it. I noticed that the head of the plunger was worn down from friction against the safety. This once it progressed significantly impacted the feel of the safety operation.


I contacted Keith Lawton at DW and he told me it was it was a common issue on high use guns. The safety receives the ferritic nitrocarburizing treatment (Duty Treat) and the plunger does not due to it's size. The hardness difference between the two results in wear on the head of the plunger. I replaced the plunger and all was well.

Same with mine, I replaced it, no issues since. I think the plunger was a bit soft, I maybe cycled the safety 300 times before it became really annoying.

[farscott]

If you have money and time and are married to that specific slide, there are quite a few gunsmiths who can fill the dovetail, weld it up, and re-cut it to be in spec. Evolution Armory is one that immediately springs to mind, but there's quite a few more out there that I've seen do it, on 1911forum and 1911addicts.

Otherwise, there's nothing wrong with ordering a new slide from Remsport, Caspian, or JEM and having a new top end fitted...?

Again, it entirely depends on how deep your pockets are, how much time you're willing to spend on it?

Chuck Rogers is famous for solving this exact issue by silver soldering a dutchman to the slide, machining the dutchman to the slide profile, and cutting a new dovetail. I am not sure of his current workload (I assume he is booked solid based on his web site), but it cannot hurt to ask as it is your duty gun.

http://www.rogersprecision.com
928-775-4964
RogersPrecision@gmail.com

[Evil_Ed]

That was one of the first things I tried up above:

I'm clearly having a senior moment Sigh...thought I read that, oh well.

Yeah, if it's not something in the recess in the thumb safety itself, then replacing the detent(s) is an inexpensive and easy way to fix it.

[HeavyDuty]

I'm clearly having a senior moment Sigh...thought I read that, oh well.

Yeah, if it's not something in the recess in the thumb safety itself, then replacing the detent(s) is an inexpensive and easy way to fix it.

Lol. I figure it’s a cheap start. I still need to find pipe cleaners, though - the plunger tube is much too small for qtips.

[CSW]

Find a Michael's craft store, <or>
I bought a very cheap and small brush [looks like a mini bottle brush] used to clean radiator fins.
It fits all kinds of tiny stuff.

[HeavyDuty]

I ordered some from Amazon earlier tonight - saves the running around. I saw those little brushes there, I was thinking about how they’d be a bitch to clean.

[Caballoflaco]

@HeavyDuty it sounds like the plunger is probably the culprit. But, if you haven’t checked it make sure the plunger tube has zero play. A slightly loose plunger tube can cause similar symptoms.

[HeavyDuty]

@HeavyDuty it sounds like the plunger is probably the culprit. But, if you haven’t checked it make sure the plunger tube has zero play. A slightly loose plunger tube can cause similar symptoms.

Checking the plunger tube for security was part of my initial checkout (years ago I had a Colt knock one loose) but I should look again to be sure.

[HeavyDuty]

I noticed my DW ECP has a reassembly notch on the slide stop that depresses the detent - this makes reassembly much easier and minimizes the risk of a slip leading to a classic frame moron mark since you press straight in instead of at an angle. I’m thinking about adding this notch to the slide stops on my other two 1911s. Am I behind the times, is this a common feature these days?

[D-der]

I believe it's becoming more common, I've done a couple,
easy enough to do with a needle file and touch up with cold blue.
Certainly saves time and aggravation reassembling a tight pistol.