Briley Barrel Bushing

[wizaussie]

I have a question on anyone who has a SW1911 PC that has a Briley Barrel Bushing. I have only had my SW1911 PC for a couple of weeks and this is the first time I noticed that the bushing inside the Briley barrel bushing rotates and swivels. It makes it difficult to reassemble the 1911 after cleaning as it tends to cock and jams when trying to slide it over the barrel. I was wondering if this is normal. I had it to the range twice and it has performed great. No malfunctions in 400 rounds.

 

[Bartman3562]

Normal. It moves so that it stays in constant contact with barrel. It is what makes it so accurate. It can be a pain to reassemble. Patience, not force works wonders. I usually put barrel in wrong way and use it to tilt bushing the right way for alignment. Them remove without moving bushing and insert from right direction. If aligned, it will drop right in. Patience again is key.

 

[SW CQB 45]

When I had my PCs.....my alloy CQB gave me many frustrating barrel installs. I would make sure the barrel and bushing were square with each other and if it would still not go in....I would rotate the bushing....re-square and try again.

Consumption of brewskis and gun oil on the barrel and bushing was always needed.

Good luck

 

[ESW]

Mine pivots but has never been an issue installing. Look in the Briley first to make sure it's straight and it slide right on. Maybe because I know it pivots and I've never owned another 1911, it did not surprise me in comparison to a traditional bushing.

 

[wizaussie]

The way I finally got it on was to work it on the barrel outside the slide. Then I installed the barrel in the slide. I still had to tap the bushing in the last 1/2 inch with a mallet. It moved freely after that. It finally worked.

 

[BLUEDOT37]

Briley Bushing

Ditto what Bartman & CQB said. Sometimes it goes right in, then others you have to fiddle with it, but DON'T force it. The tolerance is very tight. Take a minute & hold your mouth in different positions until it complies.

(I'm going to pretend I didn't read anything about using a "persuader".)

 

[WhitleyStu]

I use a light coating of grease between the slide & bushing, bushing & brass collar and collar & barrel. Assembly seems to go pretty smooth.

 

[vigil617]

I use Bartman's method when reassembling my PC Shortys. It works like a charm. And here I am, having been convinced I had come up with this method all by myself!

The Briley is a "spherical bushing," which means it is rounded on the outside instead of straight like a "normal" bushing. It sits inside a similarly rounded hole in the end of the slide and is "captured" so it won't fall out. It has a beautiful, Performance Center-worthy slide fit with the outside of the barrel -- which is why these models don't have the rounded "hump" on the end of the barrels as the production guns do.

A little gun oil, a light touch, and no "persuader" -- and it'll slip in there like it was born there. Which, of course, it was!

 

[Badquaker]

If you force it, you may bend the bearing. Then you have to get a new one. I learned the hard way. Luckily, Briley is just a couple miles from my house. Unfortunately for my wallet, Briley is just a couple miles from my house. They got nice stuff there.

 

[wlp624]

The way I finally got it on was to work it on the barrel outside the slide. Then I installed the barrel in the slide. I still had to tap the bushing in the last 1/2 inch with a mallet. It moved freely after that. It finally worked.

What do you, I mean how did you, why would you...? On second thought, I don't think I want to know.

 

[wizaussie]

Just to clarify something, I didn't force the bushing on to the pistol barrel. I got that to slide on easily after it lined up. Then I put the barrel and bushing into the slide. It goes in but is very tight inside the slide. This is what needed to be tapped in the rest of the way. That will probably loosen up over time and use. I have a Les Baer with over 2000 rounds in it. The tightest fit 1911 I have ever had. This also still requires a light tap to get the busing all the way in the slide.

 

[wlp624]

Just to clarify something, I didn't force the bushing on to the pistol barrel. I got that to slide on easily after it lined up. Then I put the barrel and bushing into the slide. It goes in but is very tight inside the slide. This is what needed to be tapped in the rest of the way. That will probably loosen up over time and use. I have a Les Baer with over 2000 rounds in it. The tightest fit 1911 I have ever had. This also still requires a light tap to get the busing all the way in the slide.

Your Les Baer doesn't have a Briley bushing, its a different animal and requires different handling. Did you remove the entire bushing, ie the 'housing' part which fits snugly into the opening of the slide, with the 'ring' portion of the bushing still inside? If so, you do not want to do that, you do not want it to loosen up over time. It is not like the bushing in your Baer, it is press fitted in place during manufacture so that it remains perfectly immobile when the gun is fired. That's the beauty of the Briley bushing. Also, there is really no need to ever remove the inner ring from the collar, just clean it in place with solvent. Replacing the barrel is quite simple with the bushing in place, just insert the barrel into the slide and forward till it reaches the bushing, and place your finger on the outside of the bushing ring. Since it is free to gimble, wobble it around with your finger tip to align it with the barrel until it slips in. No tapping required or desired, otherwise you defeat the purpose of having such a finely machined part in the first place.

 

[rbert0005]

I put my little finger onto the end of the bushing and rotate it accordingly.

Works just fine. It's like pointing your 2 fingers at each other.

Bob

 

[wizaussie]

Just read the latest responses. I have been out of town for a couple of days. I was really interested in what wip624 stated. I did remove the bushing assembly (outer and inner bushing) from the slide. Are you saying you can get the barrel in and out without removing the bushing assembly from the slide? That is what is confusing to me. You are right in that all my other 1911s have the barrel bushing so I have always removed the barrel bushing and then slid the barrel out through the front of the slide.

 

[wlp624]

Sorry, Didn't mean to confuse you, what I was referencing was the Briley set-up on other model Smith & Wessons. On the 1911, the entire bushing comes out, but there's no reason to remove the ring portion. When you replace the barrel, to get that ring to align properly, just gimble it slightly from the front until the barrel slips in. What I couldn't figure out from your initial post was your description of tapping the ring into place in its housing from the barrel side.

 

[wizaussie]

Thanks wip624. Sometimes I get easily confused. I will not even try to remove the inner ring from the bushing. Thanks to everyone for all the advice from this post. It definitely has helped me with my new PC.