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The question of why magazine catches don't function smoothly and easily are not uncommon. So, I thought I'd put together a simple pictorial guide to help folks out. It's the little things that make a difference and elevate your pistol above the ordinary. The magazine catch consists of three...

This post is not meant to address all aspects of performing a full trigger job. It is focused on setting up the sear spring to function correctly and safely. I N T R O D U C T I O N The sear spring serves multiple roles in the functioning of the 1911. The original JMB design of the sear...

This applies to 1911s that do not have an integral plunger tube cast into the frame. The original design of the 1911 specified that the left grip was to support the plunger tube to prevent it from dismounting due to a poor staking job. Manufacturers have long been known for not always doing a...

A year or two ago I fit a 9mm barrel to my 9x23 5" 1911. I needed a magazine to test my fitting job and wasn't interested in spending the big bucks to get a Wilson, Tripp, or McCormick so I picked up a Mec-Gar from Greg Cote. The pistol ran fine and accuracy was spot on even with the el cheapo...

This pistol has one of the best triggers I've ever felt in a factory 1911. Short take-up, zero creep, crisp let off, 3lbs on the button. Does anyone know if there are after-market front sights that will fit the front dovetail on this pistol? Note the fit of the mainspring housing and how the...

The top picture below is of a fully loaded magazine locked into the magazine well. The bottom picture shows a failure-to-feed of the first round where the nose of the bullet is jammed against the frame feed ramp. This malfunction is commonly known as a nose dive stoppage. Many folks will...

The normal operation of locking any fully loaded magazine into a 1911 pistol with the slide forward should require no more force than that which can be applied by pushing it into place using one thumb. If a ball peen hammer is needed to lock it into the pistol, you’re going to be at a serious...

Recently a fellow took his Dan Wesson Pointman PM2 to the range to have some fun. What he got instead was mangled brass and constant jamming. He posted a couple of pictures showing the cases. I looked at the pics and immediately diagnosed an extractor that was losing control of the empty...

It's not unusual for thumb safeties on out-of-the-box pistols to be less than optimally fit. The vast majority will actually block the sear correctly but may suffer from too small or too big a paddle, won't positively stop when pushed down into the fire position, or lack the preferred feel when...

I wanted to run standard CMI Government length eight round magazines in Officer's size frames so I bought a couple of their SBP Extended Bumper Pads which are used on their 10 round magazines to experiment with. The next thing I did was disassemble a standard eight round mag, cover the bottom...

This subject has been addressed many times and solutions include such things as replacing the magazine spring, bending the engagement tab on the follower outward, replacing the slide stop, using hotter ammo, replacing the recoil spring with a lighter one, and others. Today I discovered a...

This is a common question that everyone has asked at some point in their quest for 1911 knowledge. Nobody is born knowing this stuff. Even the highly esteemed 1911 ‘smiths on this forum had to learn it through diligent study and experience. The extractor is a deceptively simple, nondescript...