Newbie 2011 owner "hammer falls" help

[marathonrunner]

Hi everyone

I have always received great tips here, I recently bought a 2011 pistol and with a 2.3lb trigger pull, when doing double taps I have a tendency to ride.the trigger. My finger never comes fully off with every shot.

Out of 100 shots, I have experienced an occasional stoppage where my trigger ended in the half cock position thus a stoppage.

Been told to avoid this you should take your finger off trigger every shot to avoid this. 100 rounds doing this method cured that issue

However it happened 2x in the 100 shots I was unable to flip the safety on even with the hammer cocked back. It was fully in battery so it was puzzling why I could not flip safety on. I then pulled the hammer back and then the safety was able to be applied.

I am wondering if I need to send this back to the maker

 

[dwh]

If we are talking about a 1911 platform. The hammer following the slide could be one of several things. The sear spring needs replacing or adjusted. Bending the long leg of the spring was an old trick to lighten the trigger pull. The hammer hooks are worn or stoned to the wrong angle again trying to lighten the trigger pull. The sear is worn or stoned to the wrong angle trying to lighten the trigger pull. With Trigger pull of 2.3lbs it sounds like someone took something too far trying to adjust the trigger pull. My personal preference for a 1911 trigger is 4-5lbs for carry and 3-4 for competition.

Ps. I’ve seen at least 3 home trigger jobs go full auto at the range. One happening during an IPSC match.

 

[marathonrunner]

Thank you very much for the insight pretty scary that if these triggers are too light they can go full auto. But the last time I take it to the range all the symptoms have gone completely away and the pistol functions perfectly so it now has 400 rounds through it maybe it just needed a break in but it seems to be working flawlessly now

 

[Alk8944]

Your pistol is exhibiting "hammer follow". This is a result of the trigger pull being too light. As others have said, for a service pistol the trigger pull standard is not less than 4 pounds.

Punch out the mainspring housing pin and remove the mainspring housing and grip safety. There are three legs to the trigger spring, bend the leg that engages the sear to increase trigger pull, that will probably fix the problem! I will bet that you reduced the spring tension to lighten the trigger pull, not understanding the problem causes for both function and safety!

 

[marathonrunner]

Thanks for the good tips I took it to the range and put another hundred rounds totaling 400 now and the problem seemed to have gone away so I will monitor it I do use this for USPSA so ideally I like the 2.5 lb trigger pull

 

[minconrevo]

Do not expect a 1911 style action to function 100% with just tweaking the sear spring arms to achieve a 2.5# trigger. Lots more to it, including sear breakaway, sear angle, hammer hook depth, mainspring power, hammer and sear material, etc.

 

[swamprat]

Google "1911 trigger bounce". If the rest of your trigger components are in good shape trigger bounce may be your problem.

 

[marathonrunner]

Google "1911 trigger bounce". If the rest of your trigger components are in good shape trigger bounce may be your problem.

It was probably not enough rounds to break in. It seems fine now

 

[H Richard]

Shooting a single action semi-auto is really totally different than shooting any revolver.
As several have mentioned, this is WAY TOO LIGHT a trigger for self defense or carry use. If you are an experienced target shooter, it could be useful on the range "only".

I am guessing this was a pre-owned 1911? If so someone has probably been inside and attempted to do a trigger job and it is too light.
I, some years ago, had installed a titanium hammer and sear. It initially was set to break at 4 lbs. After several years of use, the hammer and sear engagement surfaces wear reduced the trigger to 2.5 lbs and I had a couple of near A D"s so I removed then and installed a new steel set, which has been fine since.
Don't take chances. If used other than on a range firing line for bullseye work, make susre what is causing the problem. Accidents do happen.

 

[WR Moore]

Late to the party but I had a lot of time on the 1911 back when.

The advice to let your trigger digit fly forward was largely due to trigger work that required the trigger to move forward as the pistol recoiled due to excessively light trigger return spring settings. As folks have noted, 4 lbs is the general lower limit for a .45 1911. A carefully setup game gun can have a trigger in the 3 1/4 or 3 1/2 lb (Colt Gold Cup) area. Less than that is dangerous. Gold Cup settings are for game guns only used by highly skilled people.

When firing, the trigger digit should pin the trigger firmly back while you ride out the recoil. When the sights are back on target, you let the trigger go forward enough to reset it and then begin your trigger press.

I've got a feeling that the internal parts might not be in specification. Hammer hook depth and sear engagement being part, springs another.