The Art and Science of Keeping Your 1911 Running

[03RN]

I installed three of these on two brands of 1911. The two .45s worked perfectly after the initial tensioning. Not being as familiar with 9mm 1911s, that one took a couple of tweaks but that was it. They all fit nice and tight in the channel and worked with the original FPSs. No blending was necessary on the back of the extractor. All in all, pretty painless.

The 3 I've used before all just needed a tiny bit of a bend but I've been happy with their service.

The one I retensioned is holding on without any more issues.

[RevolverRob]

I wonder if a potential solution, if you've got some mags that hit the long 9mm ejector and some that don't, isn't to use a mag release that drops the magazine down a tad bit?

Dawson has some that drop the mag 0.01" lower and that's probably enough to prevent mags hitting the ejector. That shouldn't be enough to cause feeding issues with mags that already don't hit the ejector and should help with those that are too long.

Of course the easiest and best solution is probably to buy whatever mags work in bulk.

But if you're like me and have several dozen 1911 mags that work in all your guns already, you arrive at the point where buying different mags for each 1911 to work is not economical nor sensical. Plus a mag release is an easy part to change and usually requires small fitting if any at all.

You can also file/stone the top of the mag release shelf/ledge and it will drop the mag down, but you can still insert too far then and that's where I find the bigger issue is.

[Trooper224]

The 3 I've used before all just needed a tiny bit of a bend but I've been happy with their service.

The one I retensioned is holding on without any more issues.

It's been my experience that an extractor can be retensioned once, but after that it's an exercise in false economy. If it needs it more than once, it's heading south and should be replaced. This doesn't cover extractors that come from the factory with insufficient tension, of course.

[RJ]

@Shorikid gave me a link to this external post in the Garrison thread. I'm going to head down that rabbit hole for a bit, and do some more research on this. If I find anything worthwhile, I will post back.

https://www.1911forum.com/threads/st...itting.829865/

Just to return to Extractors briefly, the author of this thread, Steve in Allentown, suggests using aluminum bar stock, trimmed to size, as a method of determining the value of Extractor deflection. He aims for 0.010" deflection (Kuhnhausen doesn't list a value for extractor cam out, that I can find), but he also said other smith's use numbers both higher and lower. He cuts the stock to be 0.010" below the average cartridge rim diameter, and inserts it under the hook, as a go/no go gauge. If the shim stock (cut 10 thou under) just fits in the tensioning wall, one's extractor will have 10 thousandths of deflection when the cartridge is inserted.

Well I thought this was a pretty cool way to measure deflection, so I tried it out with some mild steel shim material I had left over from the RV hitch. My cartridge rims average 0.476" in diameter, so I trimmed mine to 0.466". I don't think I'll need to mess with deflection, since it appears the one I have is on the money.

[farscott]

an issue I had with 9mm mags was plastic base plates with stops.

Eventually the checkering acted like teeth and allowed over insertion.

I have a heavy hand and these were the older CMC 10 rnd mags.

They were hell to seat but ran 100%.

When I had a defensive 9mm 1911, the Ed Brown mags ran excellent.

Those images are one of the reasons I prefer banded checkering on the front strap. By cutting the diamonds all of the way down the front strap, the bottom ends up with the diamonds. Since the surface area for contact is very small, the pressure is much higher on the diamond points than it is on a non-checkered surface. That high pressure allows the diamonds to press into the magazine base. Eventually over insertion results.

The pistol below has the "banded" checkering I prefer.

[358156hp]

Any specific recommendations on 45 mag followers? I have a large number of stainless Colt mags that have CMC (Devel) followers. I keep them clean and have recently replaced all of my mag springs with Wolff "extra power" springs, but I've always had some misgivings about the CMC 8 round follower. I don't mind dropping to 7 rounds if needed.

[farscott]

Any specific recommendations on 45 mag followers? I have a large number of stainless Colt mags that have CMC (Devel) followers. I keep them clean and have recently replaced all of my mag springs with Wolff "extra power" springs, but I've always had some misgivings about the CMC 8 round follower. I don't mind dropping to 7 rounds if needed.

I like the Tripp Super 7 follower and spring kits in the Colt magazine bodies. As the name suggests, the capacity with the kit is seven. https://www.trippresearchinc.com/super-7-upgrade-kit/

[SW CQB 45]

I like the Tripp Super 7 follower and spring kits in the Colt magazine bodies. As the name suggests, the capacity with the kit is seven. https://www.trippresearchinc.com/super-7-upgrade-kit/

I used Tripp Super 7 in CMC mags for yearsssss for accuracy competition type matches.

Zero issues.

[Elwin]

Third vote for the Super 7 kit. Used a couple to refurb two Wilson 47Ds that finally quit after who knows how many rounds. They’re like new now.

[SW CQB 45]

but I've always had some misgivings about the CMC 8 round follower. I don't mind dropping to 7 rounds if needed.

I used CMC 8 Power Mag for yearsssss on duty, for training and plinking on my hard use MCOP. Never had an issue but the pointed follower signed my frame.



the follower impact crater had a raised area and I filed it down. It never caused any issues. I can't recall when I first observed the mark but it was well past 10K in rounds using CMC PMs exclusively.

I have since switched to WC ETM and Vickers to give them a try. CMC PM are my back up duty mags.