~ What’s with this slide? . . .

[6hold]

.

This is my Colt 1911, that has a “step” (depression?) in the slide that I haven’t noticed in a number of others of the same type Colt. There is no such step on the other side of the slide. Why would this be here and how do you suppose it got there? It functions fine in all aspects. A buddy of mine did some work on it and I’m wondering if he may have “tightened” the slide to frame fit by doing this, he never mentioned that he did. I never really noticed if it was there before he did the work or not. He’s not available to be asked so I’m just throwing this out there because I know there’s many on NES that are far more knowledgeable about this than I am. Thanks for any help.​

 

[Sir_Macadoo]

if he tightened the slide, he may have chucked the slide up in a vise - the location is proximal to where you would lock it up in a vise if you were tightening the slide. The jaws *may* have done what you see there.

WAG.

 

[TheRoland]

That's bizarre. At first, I thought "Hey, cool place to put a Hi-Power-style slide bevel!" but if it's only on one side, it sounds like a defect or a piece of TheRoland style hack-gunsmithing.

 

[terraformer]

I have 4 colt 1911s and have never seen that.

 

[one-eyed Jack]

I've tightened 1911 slides in a vice but have put pieces of aluminum between the slide and the vice jaws. looks like someone used smooth vice jaws. Is the slide nice and tight? Jack.

 

[ptanks56]

some people i heard of actually felt they had to grind off the GOVT PROPERTY stamp on some poor 1911s for them to be legal,
maybe that has something to do with your piece?

 

[45collector]

Make a story out of it!

"My grandpappy carried this piece in WWI. One day while squatting in the trenches, A German stormed the line and came right at grandpappy, swinging a sword at him. Grandpappy deflected the sword blow with this 1911, then promptly put a hole in the German's head. See this mark on the slide? That's where the sword made contact."

There ya go.

 

[6hold]

some people i heard of actually felt they had to grind off the GOVT PROPERTY stamp on some poor 1911s for them to be legal,
maybe that has something to do with your piece?

Nope, it's not ground down it's definitely bent in. The bend is right at the end of the 1911.​

 

[6hold]

Make a story out of it!

"My grandpappy carried this piece in WWI. One day while squatting in the trenches, A German stormed the line and came right at grandpappy, swinging a sword at him. Grandpappy deflected the sword blow with this 1911, then promptly put a hole in the German's head. See this mark on the slide? That's where the sword made contact."

There ya go.

Good one!​

 

[bfm]

Nope, it's not ground down it's definitely bent in. The bend is right at the end of the 1911.​

Are both sides exactly the same?

 

[Fixxah]

Thought it was another of your illusions, my bad.

 

[6hold]

Thought it was another of your illusions, my bad.

When I first saw it I was hoping that it was an illusion!​

 

[6hold]

if he tightened the slide, he may have chucked the slide up in a vise - the location is proximal to where you would lock it up in a vise if you were tightening the slide. The jaws *may* have done what you see there.

WAG.

I also thought he may have done this but why wouldn’t it show on the other side of the slide?​

 

[6hold]

That's bizarre. At first, I thought "Hey, cool place to put a Hi-Power-style slide bevel!" but if it's only on one side, it sounds like a defect or a piece of TheRoland style hack-gunsmithing.

I don’t believe it’s a defect seeing that it functions okay. As for the “hack-gunsmithing, I’m not quite sure.​

 

[6hold]

I have 4 colt 1911s and have never seen that.

Nor have I seen anything of the sort on any 45’s, first hand or in photos.​

 

[fbirdquik6]

That looks like the doing of a bench vise.

 

[6hold]

I've tightened 1911 slides in a vice but have put pieces of aluminum between the slide and the vice jaws. looks like someone used smooth vice jaws. Is the slide nice and tight? Jack.

Well Jack, here’s the long and short of it, as I can remember:

The fellow that did the work for me, many moons ago, was a friend but had moved a couple states away. When he found out I purchased an old 45 he offered to set it up for combat type shooting for me, all I had to do was buy the parts and send them to him and he would install them and set it up. (He had opened up a gun-shop/gunsmithing business)

After he had all the parts I told him he had plenty of extra time to do it but he said it would be ready by such a date so that’s how it was left. After a month or so he stated that he’d have it back to me in less than a week. It didn’t arrive so I let it go another week, or more.. This kept happening time and again with the “NEXT WEEK”. Finally I just said please send it back with what I owe you for labor and if it isn’t right I’ll just give it to a gunsmith down here if I couldn‘t get it working myself, no hard feelings just send it back, please.

That’s when he admitted to me that he couldn’t get the gun back together again after installing the parts I‘d sent to him! (lessen learned: a reputable gunsmith is a good thing) I was trying to help him out a little by letting him work on my gun seeing that he wasn’t getting much work. In turn he was going to cut the labor cost to me. Live and learn, he never really became a profitable gunsmith and had to abandon his business eventually.

When I finally received the gun it was in pieces of course. I tried to assemble it myself a few times and had no luck at all, but noticed he didn’t have a lick of oil on anything. I oiled it up and gave it another try. It went together but it took much too much effort and force to do it. I removed the oil I put on it and then worked the hell out of the slide and frame for weeks, hoping to wear it in a tad before giving it a range test. Using dummy rounds and working the action it fed fine and ejected okay too, but how will it do at the range?

Man, it looks like I’m turning a one question thread into a book here! What the heck, NES is the forum for this sort of thing, right?​

I was more than a tad apprehensive, let me tell you, when I raised that anchor 1911 up to fire the first round. It worked fine, as far as I could tell. I must have shot a couple hundred rounds through it that day and again the same or more rounds a couple days later. I’ve had no problems with it except when I try to take it apart to clean, it’s still real tight. Getting it back together is a battle, I believe the barrel bushing is too tight because it’s a war trying to get it locked in. I don’t know how gunsmiths do it but I’m thinking of getting some emery cloth, wrap it around a wood dowel with some kerosene and lightly remove a bit of the bushing at a time till it isn’t quite so tight. Is this a decent way of doing it?

Now that I think of it . . . I’m wondering if he put one of those “springy” barrel bushing in there. If I remember correctly he mentioned that the Colt Gold Cup used that type bushing and it works as well as one of the “solid” ones that’s fitted for the gun by a gunsmith. It’s been a long, long while since I’ve had it apart. Just now ( 5:45AM) I snuck up and grabbed the 45 in question without waking the loved one. I also grabbed the box of Silica Gel out of the gun cabinet, two of the three circles have turned pink. Time to reactivate that sucker in the oven for a few hours.

As you can see in the photo above, the bushing is indeed the “springy” (tension?) type. I’m pleased to say that it disassembled easier than it ever has, perhaps it’s breaking in, finally.

I must have ordered and sent him up the wrong ejector part because it seems a bit long and protrudes behind the slide. It also has a shiny tip on it where it must have been rubbing something. It doesn’t seem to be hitting anything now though. I’ve got to get the old anchor to the range sometime soon to see just how accurate it is. I don’t remember how accurate it was when I tried it out after having the work done on it . . . just happy that it functioned properly I guess.

 

[6hold]

That looks like the doing of a bench vise.

You just might be right on that but why is it only on one side? Perhaps he placed a block of wood or something where he wanted it to tighten up and used a full wood block on the other side so it wouldn't tighten that side. Lord only knows. I haven't been in touch with him for ages so can't find out right now.​

 

[TomH]

Whoever did this is no gunsmith...

 

[Jamie]

You just might be right on that but why is it only on one side? Perhaps he placed a block of wood or something where he wanted it to tighten up and used a full wood block on the other side so it wouldn't tighten that side. Lord only knows. I haven't been in touch with him for ages so can't find out right now.​

That appears to be exactly what happened given the photograph.

 

[Jamie]

Whoever did this is no gunsmith...

What he said...

 

[Another_David]

he offered to set it up for combat type shooting

Oh that explains it then. It's clearly a tacticool feature--the benefits of which can only be fully understood by wanna-be operators

but seriously, thanks for the detailed post. It's a good read.

 

[Gammon]

Well Jack, here’s the long and short of it, as I can remember:

The fellow that did the work for me, many moons ago, was a friend but had moved a couple states away. When he found out I purchased an old 45 he offered to set it up for combat type shooting for me, all I had to do was buy the parts and send them to him and he would install them and set it up. (He had opened up a gun-shop/gunsmithing business)

After he had all the parts I told him he had plenty of extra time to do it but he said it would be ready by such a date so that’s how it was left. After a month or so he stated that he’d have it back to me in less than a week. It didn’t arrive so I let it go another week, or more.. This kept happening time and again with the “NEXT WEEK”. Finally I just said please send it back with what I owe you for labor and if it isn’t right I’ll just give it to a gunsmith down here if I couldn‘t get it working myself, no hard feelings just send it back, please.

That’s when he admitted to me that he couldn’t get the gun back together again after installing the parts I‘d sent to him! (lessen learned: a reputable gunsmith is a good thing) I was trying to help him out a little by letting him work on my gun seeing that he wasn’t getting much work. In turn he was going to cut the labor cost to me. Live and learn, he never really became a profitable gunsmith and had to abandon his business eventually.

When I finally received the gun it was in pieces of course. I tried to assemble it myself a few times and had no luck at all, but noticed he didn’t have a lick of oil on anything. I oiled it up and gave it another try. It went together but it took much too much effort and force to do it. I removed the oil I put on it and then worked the hell out of the slide and frame for weeks, hoping to wear it in a tad before giving it a range test. Using dummy rounds and working the action it fed fine and ejected okay too, but how will it do at the range?

Man, it looks like I’m turning a one question thread into a book here! What the heck, NES is the forum for this sort of thing, right?​

I was more than a tad apprehensive, let me tell you, when I raised that anchor 1911 up to fire the first round. It worked fine, as far as I could tell. I must have shot a couple hundred rounds through it that day and again the same or more rounds a couple days later. I’ve had no problems with it except when I try to take it apart to clean, it’s still real tight. Getting it back together is a battle, I believe the barrel bushing is too tight because it’s a war trying to get it locked in. I don’t know how gunsmiths do it but I’m thinking of getting some emery cloth, wrap it around a wood dowel with some kerosene and lightly remove a bit of the bushing at a time till it isn’t quite so tight. Is this a decent way of doing it?

Now that I think of it . . . I’m wondering if he put one of those “springy” barrel bushing in there. If I remember correctly he mentioned that the Colt Gold Cup used that type bushing and it works as well as one of the “solid” ones that’s fitted for the gun by a gunsmith. It’s been a long, long while since I’ve had it apart. Just now ( 5:45AM) I snuck up and grabbed the 45 in question without waking the loved one. I also grabbed the box of Silica Gel out of the gun cabinet, two of the three circles have turned pink. Time to reactivate that sucker in the oven for a few hours.

As you can see in the photo above, the bushing is indeed the “springy” (tension?) type. I’m pleased to say that it disassembled easier than it ever has, perhaps it’s breaking in, finally.

I must have ordered and sent him up the wrong ejector part because it seems a bit long and protrudes behind the slide. It also has a shiny tip on it where it must have been rubbing something. It doesn’t seem to be hitting anything now though. I’ve got to get the old anchor to the range sometime soon to see just how accurate it is. I don’t remember how accurate it was when I tried it out after having the work done on it . . . just happy that it functioned properly I guess.

This guy didn't do you any favors. The extractor is a normal custom part which is oversized to allow fitting to the pistol. I doubt if the shiny bit is due to rubbing, it looks like your "gunsmith" filed it down to aid in installing the slide.

Collet bushings are OK, but they are no substitute for a fitted, solid bushing.

 

[Gammon]

This guy didn't do you any favors. The extractor is a normal custom part which is oversized to allow fitting to the pistol. I doubt if the shiny bit is due to rubbing, it looks like your "gunsmith" filed it down to aid in installing the slide.

Collet bushings are OK, but they are no substitute for a fitted, solid bushing.

Sorry, I meant ejector, not extractor. Also the extended slide stop is not a popular mod, it can do more harm than good. I would replace it with a stock part. The sight installation is unique it reminds me of bullseye guns of 30 years ago.

 

[6hold]

Sorry, I meant ejector, not extractor. Also the extended slide stop is not a popular mod, it can do more harm than good. I would replace it with a stock part. The sight installation is unique it reminds me of bullseye guns of 30 years ago.

Thanks for clarifying some things for me Gammon. I think he, the gunsmith, would have chosen deferent parts for “combat” type shooting. I chose the parts and, having shot bull’s-eye for so many years, leaned toward what I knew I guess. I probably would have chosen differently today I believe.​

 

[Karl]

Crushing the slide was a old school gunsmithing technique. My dad used to carry a 1918 black army during his time on the cops. The gun was tricked out in the late 60's to early 70's. One of the things they used to do was crush the slide just enough to to tighten up the tolerances between the slide and the frame. This being said, I now have the gun and there's no line like the one in the picture. This could have been sloppy gunsmithing or the mark is from something else. Has the slide been reblued?

 

[Greg Derr]

OK- just got a chance to look over this thread. The slides on the 1911 WWI guns have always been considered "soft" by smiths. You don't see many bullseye guns built on them since they will not "hold" a squeeze and peen fit. I can't tell if that slide is squeezed, but done right, the squeeze is just on the rails at the bottom of the slide. The ejector is OK, just needs to be properly fit. They come oversized for the smith to trim for a smooth match with the back of the slide. The rub is OK as long as it is not causing excess drag on the slide. The collet bushing is the first thing to go in a BE build. A good 1911 smith can cut you a new one. Back to the slide, If the marks are just on one side- it just may be a manufacturing flaw- this was a war period gun right? It very well may have just been a small enogh cosmetic flaw to get through inspection at Colt. I've seen other flaws in the same era guns. Best way to check for a bend is to use a surface plate and an indicator.