Hi all,

Just traded some reloading stuff for a S&W Lew Horton 3" PRO 1911. Had her out to the range and ran about 300 rounds of factory ammo through her without a hiccup -- stout recoil, tho', when compared to my full-size S&W 1911 but not unmanageable. Used Wilson Combats, Chip McCormicks, Tripp Research Cobras and the factory ACT-Mags, all without any problems -- YEA! Did a field strip to clean my mess and found that the recoil spring was still "backwards" (i.e., open end of the spring was against the back plate of the recoil rod, not inserted into the muzzel end of the slide) but she still functioned beautifully (I know about ending sentences with participles, but I'm old and I don't care).

Now to my question. Got a set of slim VZ Elite Tacticals in Black Cherry and the bushings/screws for the slim grips. Took off the factories and started to try and remove the bushings -- boy were they tight! Do I need to use some cutting oil or something before I strip the bushings out? Or do they not adhere to the "righty-tighty, lefty-loosey" system of things? Inquiring minds want to know before brute force causes irreparable damage (sounds like dialog from "Spartacus", eh?).

Many thanks, in advance, for your suggestions and helpful hints,
"Point Blank" Frank
8-)

I hope this little .45 just might replace my Mod. 24-3 for CCW. Lew Horton does good work, methinks.

Not sure how Smith does it,but they may have thread lock on them or they may be peened on the back.

Brownell's sells a collared tip for their Magna-Tip screwdriver sets for the bushing.

Seems to me that they have a left hand thread, but I could be wrong. You should be able to tell by examining the new ones.

Colt traditionally staked the grip bushings. You should be able to tell by examining the backside of one of them. Hit them with a torch or heat gun until the frame is hot (not smoking) to break loose any LockTite that S&W may have used.