Got this beauty recently. Cleaned and prepped then applied FireClean. Fired 300 rounds with one FTF at about 200 rounds as the gun was extremely hot. By then the trigger had smoothed out somewhat. I found the gun to be accurate and much fun to shoot. That being said, i got the dreaded hammer bite. I also found the steel trigger to be somewhat wiggly. Also i think the arched mainspring housing isn’t for me.
My plan is to install Harrison Designs bobbed hammer, a Colt Flat Mainspring housing and probably a medium length aluminum trigger. The idea is to keep the gun as close to stock while making it more shootable to me.
Any thoughts regarding having the OEM hammer bobbed vs. one from Harrison, aluminum trigger vs. stock and straight vs. flat mainspring housing would be greatly appreciated.
Nice series 70, I have several. I like the minor changes you mentioned. If you bob the oem hammer you don’t have to worry about fitting a new hammer which should usually done by qualified 1911 smith as should the trigger. Only thing I would add is a more useable rear sight (Harrison retro would be a great option).
Also, invest in some decent mags and make sure the extractor is tuned and it should treat you well.
Look into Hilton Yam’s extractor test posted on MSW in reference to rush’s comment. I do prefer the flat MSH which seems much more common. As for the rest, I’m all about having a professional smith doing any type of work on the 1911 - especially trigger work. I have added a few parts to my CRG, most of which were “drop in,” but still feel they don’t live up to their full potential until fitted by a professional.
I installed the Harrison bobbed hammer as a complete ignition kit. Didn’t realize the thumb safety would need adjustment. Its with the smith now. The trigger pull seemed to come down to about 4lb. No hammer bite now but the grip safety’s sharp edges on this model is also uncomfortable. I didn’t notice that before because i was focused on my bleeding hands. I understand now why most 1911’s have the round hammers and beavertail grip safeties. Money may not be everything in life but it is in the 1911 world.
I have never gotten hAmmer bite even on old
Long hammer spur 1911’s no matter how much I choke up on the grip. I prefer the look of the spur, and could never figure why people went to all the effort of fancy hammers and beavertails when bobbing the hammer was a much simpler route. It is not like we are thumb cocking these things like in the old days.
If the gun is hitting where you want and is reliable some times the worst thing to do is give it to a gun
Smith. That is unless it is someone who really knows 1911’s
I could not agree more. I have prior to your post had the new hammer removed and the original replaced. I did however change the OEM 16lb recoil spring with an 18# from Wilson Combat. I added band aids to my range bag. I noticed that with the new recoil spring i had a lot fewer bite issues. Band aids worn prior to the shooting season eliminated the problem altogether. I felt really uncomfortable with the thumb safety having to be adjusted to make the new hammer viable. I might have been ok with it if Ted Yost, LAV, etc were the ones doing the work.
Back to stock plus 18.5 lb recoil spring. Shot another 300 rounds half Magtech half Federal white box. No issues. The trigger is very crisp now-at least compared to the Glocks and M&P’s i have been shooting during several year hiatus from the 1911 platform. As a side note, i left the platform due to my experiences with Kimber, the original S&W 1911 and a loaded Springfield. The one Colt i had was “customized” and returned unreliable. I should have stuck to Colt and left it alone. Im full circle now. BTW I’m using the stock 7 round mags plus a third Colt from Brownells. Im happy.
The future may include new sights, a flat mainspring housing, aluminum medium trigger and beveling of the magwell. Probably the new Vickers mags. But not necessarily and not this year.
Nice. I like the logo on the grips. Thirteen/Autums did you adjust the thumb safety yourself when you installed the new hammer? I see that its a different safety from the original so I’m assuming you kept the OEM hammer and thumb safety? Also the flat mainspring housing seems blended to the frame. Was that you also or is that an original Colt FMH that just matched? Tell me about the trigger also. Your configuration has caught my attention.
thumb safety is a Wilson Combat and did have to be re-fit after the new sear and hammer, which was done by myself. I also keep original parts incase I sell firearms. The mainspring housing is EGW and was also installed by myself but no serious blending done… Pretty much a drop-in installation if I can remember correctly.
basically whole firearm is a Series 80 with the below added parts. I have been shooting and pretty much dedicating my handgun learning/shooting to 1911s for close to 8 years until no BS like a week ago I bought a Glock 21 for a bedside HD/suppressor platform. I can fit/install anything that doesn’t involve machining, and that is all due me learning via the internet and reading/understanding the mechanics of the 1911 for the past ump-ting years.
10-8 Performance medium trigger (has to be machined to fit (haven’t had a trigger that hasn’t), or you have to be really good with a file (I hate vertical slop in 1911 triggers so machined they always are)
CS sear and hammer (TR sear jig (new hotness) or ED Brown jig works fine)
CS sear and hammer TiN pins (no noticeable difference from regular non-TiN pins but the gold color matched by Colt medallions on my grips ;))
EGW oversided firing pin stop which I also put a small radius on (fit the FPS to the slide then the extractor to the FPS)
WC extractor (claw geometry is almost pretty much drop-in but again I am anal so I do a little filing to the claw / you also have to worry about claw distance from the breach face)
WC thumb safety (haven’t bough a new one that didn’t need to be fit to the sear / 10-8 Performance 1911 armorers block makes this easy just time consuming)
EWG mainspring housing
Nowlin barrel bushing (I always have the inter-diameter reamed via machining lath)
WC flat-wire recoil spring and shok buff
Another trouble free 300 rounds. No bite whatsoever using the 18# rsa from Wilson. Amazing what a change of recoil spring can accomplish-at such little cost. The wiggly trigger still bothers me somewhat. The difference is more noticeable when compared to a SA TRP and even Colt’s Rail gun i tested at my local shop. I’m getting used to the arched MSH. These things may be mass produced but compared to my Glock’s they really do seem to have a soul.
