Hi, everyone –

I have a new S&W 1911. The slide operation is nice and smooth, except it catches a bit when the slide moves over the disconnector.

I felt a friend's competition gun which is glass smooth, even when going over the disconnector. It got me wondering whether I could improve upon mine. Is it OK to polish the part of the disconnector that comes in contact with the slide, or is this somewhat "rough" for a reason?

Thanks...

You can do it. But then you'd deny yourself the pleasure of "hand" lapping the part by running 1 to 2K rounds through it to accomplish the task. A bit of roughness of the milling in the bottom of the slide that the disconnector falls into, smoothes itself out at the same time. Shoot Hell out of it!

You are most likely feeling the firing pin block. As you squeeze the grip safety, you will feel it more. Try working the slide, but don't press the safety. Does it feel different?

If you want to take it out just post and I'll tell you how.

Ooops? Sorry 500!,
I forgot about that extra pesky part you find on so many anymore?

quote:

Originally posted by Spotteddog:

I forgot about that extra pesky part

Don't sweat it.

Actually, the Kimber 1911s and their push rod design is much worse feeling then the SW1911s.
I don't like the firing pin blocks much, if they aren't adjusted just right they will cause misfires.

If you polish the disconnector, it will begin to get sloppy in the disconnector hole in the frame. When that happens, you'll get an annoying little tiny "click", everytime you start to squeeze the trigger. A lot of early NM guns were built and can be found with a lot of center punch marks around the disconnector hole in the frame, trying to peen it smaller to get rid of that click on match guns. Mccormick used to sell a disconnector that had almost a donut large section on the top that could be fitted to the frame properly, but they don't anymore and I haven't noticed anyone else selling anything like that available in the Brownell's catalog recently. So after that long winded explanation - no it's not recommended to be polishing the disconnector unless a part of the round sticks up above the frame. The only part above the frame should be angled and smooth so you get proper reset function.

Thanks for the replys, guys. I posed the question because a friend's gun didn't have the little glitch when the frame slid past the disconnector. What I failed to mention is that this friend is a nationally-known competition shooter in steel challenges and other forms of high-performance shooting. His gun, needless to say, is hardly typical.

It may be unrealistic, and even undesirable, for me to try to make this SW1911PC that smooth. I just thought I'd ask.

And, 500: I'll try your experiment and report back, but I'm pretty sure it's the disconnector.

quote:

Originally posted by mzimmers:
I'm pretty sure it's the disconnector.

You will need to detail strip the gun. First cock the pistol. Then remove the thumb safety. Lift up on the safety about half way, then wiggle it off the gun. Let the hammer down (DO NOT DRY FIRE with the slide removed). Push that pin thru on the bottom near the main spring housing. Slide the main spring housing off, sear spring and grip safety. Then push out the sear and hammer pins. Remove the sear, hammer and firing pin block lever and disconnector.
The trigger can stay in.
Inspect the base of the disconnector for burrs, take a stone and polish the base were it makes contact with the trigger bow. Clean up the trigger bow to make sure that it's smooth too.
Then go over the rest of it looking for burrs etc. Clean up the back side of the sear where it makes contact with the disconnector. Don't rub down the height of the disconnector, or the gun won't fire (as it will be too short to connect with the sear and trigger bow).

Here is a link to help you take it apart with pictures, if you never done it before.

http://www.m1911.org/full_striping.htm

Also, a good tip is to take pictures with your camera. Sure helps, if you forget which way parts fit together.

Real easy gun to work on. Good luck with it.

quote:

http://www.m1911.org/full_striping.htm

Thanks, 500...I just finished, and it's modestly better than it was. I didn't want to take a stone to it on the first pass, so I just buffed it with some fairly course rouge.

It was also a good learning experience -- took probably 10 times as long as it will the next time, but...I feel I know the pistol a bit better now.

Go to the 1911 forum for sweet do-it-yourself trigger job which includes polishing of pieces and polishing methods.

You're better off to not remove any metal, but if you put some Jewlers Rouge on a rag wheel and lightly polish it, it will show some improvemant.

Yeah, that's essentially what I did. I put a cloth polishing wheel in the drill press and used some black abrasive.

It helped...it's still not as good as my friend's gun, but...that might be setting the sights a little too high...

Hi mzimmers,
Another concern is a too short disconector can cause doubling or full auto condition.

I recently cleaned up a disconector in my old Argentine. I have switched to very light loads for shooting steel plates and wanted the old gun to be as slick as can be due to light loads and springs.
Even when I put a heavy trigger pull in it, it would run Full auto when I would take a slow deliberate trigger pull.
The disconector was minutely out of spec. I wish I could remember the dimensions.
I replaced it and the gun went back to trouble free operation and a nice trigger.
Hope this helps
Mike