Slide to frame fit

[koldt]

Has anyone tightened up the slide to receiver on a 3rd gen 5906?

I've seen guys do different things with 1911s, ie. stipple the frame rails, squeeze/bulge the frame rails, but I've never done that type of work.

Anybody done it? Anyone tighten the fit? How?

I've got a stock 5906 pistol that's seen a lot of rounds. It's sloppy and I can't just send it back to S&W as I live on the north side of the north border, so import/export stuff is a pain.

 

[koldt]

Has anyone tightened up the slide to receiver on a 3rd gen 5906?

I've seen guys do different things with 1911s, ie. stipple the frame rails, squeeze/bulge the frame rails, but I've never done that type of work.

Anybody done it? Anyone tighten the fit? How?

I've got a stock 5906 pistol that's seen a lot of rounds. It's sloppy and I can't just send it back to S&W as I live on the north side of the north border, so import/export stuff is a pain.

 

[john traveler]

If it was my pistol, I would simply leave it alone. Of the several approaches to accurizing semiautomatic pistols, tightening the flide-to-frame fit contributes the least to improving accuracy, and the most to reducing reliability.

I've accurized several M1911A1 pistols and been involved with repairing several others that were botched in amatuerish attempts to tighten up slide-to-frame fit, including cracked slides and rails.

If improved accuracy is your main concern, a quality aftermarket barrel might be for you. It likely will involve some minor fitting of the breech "hood" to the slide, and replacement of the barrel bushing. Try doing a google search for S&W accurizing products.

Sorry to hear of your Canadian import/export problems. Yeah, the tightening up of firearms shipments across the international border is a real pain in the ass. I used to do business travel frequently to Canada, and bringing home antique guns and accessories was a breeze. No more.

 

[koldt]

I agree it isn't the only way/best to improve accuracy. I find if I can tighten up the hood/chamber movement makes quite a difference. I've done a couple factory barrels by simply building up the bottom of the ramp where the take down pin/slide lock lever sits under the barrel. Makes a noticable improvement. I've got to stick with stock parts to shoot this gun in a certain competition. Can't replace it with an aftermarket barrel.

I just hate the amount of movement I've got.

 

[SW CQB 45]

a buddy once had a sloppy fitting (slide to frame fit) 4506.

the gun had many rounds through it and was very "ruff" lookin

he went up against a bunch of tight fittin 1911's on a local LEO pistol match (PPC out to 50) and whipped them all.

since you are limited to what you got, can you get the trigger tuned to a smooth pull, better sights for your type of competition and some serious trigger time to enhance skills with this gun.

I too am anal retentive in the area of slide to frame fit, but have learned to accept that only a small % make up the gun's potential accuracy from the slide to frame fit and only a ransom rest can tell...

but I do recall yearssssss ago of an article where they tested a ransom rest vs Ayoob and IIRC, Ayoob won.

 

[etech]

I hand picked a 5906TSW from 40 other 5906TSws that has no perceived frame to slide play unless the slide is retracted. It has the best slide to frame fit I have seen in any 3rd gen non PC pistol. It shoots no better than any other 3rd gen I have had. I think the barrel fit is not tight enough for better than service duty accuracy. The barrel crown looks good on mine but I have thought of recrowning it to see if it would make any difference.