1911 slide stop and thumb safety plungers

[bushmaster1313]

How do the slide stop and thumb safety plungers get into their little tubular housing

What keeps them from flying out

See items 49 and 51:

 

[Cyrano]

Note that the two plunges are different. Don't mix them up. They are inserted from the rear of the tube, and are kept in place because the spring is kinked. It takes some force to get it in the tube and the kink prevents it from coming out accidently.

 

[Frank46]

Nice Ithaca 1911A1 you have there. Frank

 

[WC145]

Flush that tube out now and again and remove and clean and lube the spring and plungers. Crud and rust can build up in there without you being aware of it and gum up the works affecting both the feel/action of both your thumb safety and your slide stop.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

When I built 1911's 35 years ago, all complete spring kits had the spring included. They were only about 1/8 to 3/16 inch longer than the tube when assembled. The two plungers have small "balls" on the inside ends that lock them into a small assembly, that really stayed together. Some of the GI springs were way over strength, and had to be trimmed to get the thumb safety to move off safe, these trimmed springs wouldn't have the correct last coil and would allow a flying plunger now and then. So be careful the first time you disassemble it.

Ivan

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

One of the questions the OP had was, How do the plungers get inside the tube?

The thumb safety slides out to the left, and that gives access to the open/rear end of the plunger tube. (The front end has a reduced opening and captures the plungers for ease of field striping.) However either plunger needs depressed when assembling the pistol (watch out not to make an "Idiot Scratch").

Ivan