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A customer's 1911 slide stop pin walked out during a test fire and I had to figure out why | Gunsmiths - Vivisector

A customer's 1911 slide stop pin walked out during a test fire and I had to figure out why

I was at my bench in the shop last Thursday, test firing a customer's old Colt 1911 after a basic clean and check. On the third round, the slide locked back way too early. I cleared it and saw the slide stop pin had walked out almost a quarter inch. My heart just about stopped. I took it apart and the pin itself looked fine, but the little notch in the frame that the pin's leg sits in was worn almost smooth from years of use. I didn't have a new frame on hand, obviously, so I had to get creative. I used a small round needle file to carefully deepen that notch by just a few thousandths, making sure not to change the angle. Reassembled it, function checked it a bunch of times dry, and then test fired a full magazine without a single issue. The fix held. Has anyone else had to do a micro-adjustment like that on a worn 1911 frame, or is there a better way you'd go about it?

4 comments

4 Comments

amyb565mo ago

Ever hear about the guy whose slide stop launched clear across the room? My buddy had that happen on an old government model. The leg notch was so rounded it was basically a ramp. He ended up doing almost the same thing, just a tiny bit of careful filing, but he also put a slight dimple in the pin leg with a center punch for a little extra bite. Worked like a charm for years after. How much material do you think you can safely take off before it's a real problem?

maxl935mo ago

My old gunsmith swore you could take off maybe five thousandths before risking a real drop safety issue.

harperr825mo ago

Wait, is your buddy talking about the slide stop or the sear? Because filing the leg notch on the slide stop is a whole different thing than taking material off the sear for drop safety. That five thousandths number sounds like it's for the sear engagement, not the slide stop notch. Messing with the sear is way more touchy for safety.

jessica9213mo ago

That reminds me of a buddy who had a 1911 where the pin walked out so bad it locked the slide back while he was shooting a match. He was so mad he just slapped some red Loctite on the leg and called it good for the day. It held for years but I always wondered if that was janky or genius.