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Replacement/fix/maintenance 1911 kit

2K views 16 replies 12 participants last post by  WC145 
#1 ·
What do you guys recommend to have on hand for maintaining and fixing 1911s, for high volume shooters?
 
#2 ·
Well for maintaining it I'd say some basic stuff: maybe a bushing wrench, a small brush, a brass bore brush, good lubricant and cleaning agent, and recoil springs for replacement. As far as fixing.....well that's a different story. Depends on what's wrong and what you refer to as fixing. I've sold guns, lots of them, to buy tools to fix 1911s so there's a lot of depth to that particular pool.
 
#3 ·
For general use recoil springs.
When I travel to a match, if I don't take a 2nd gun, I have a fitted ignition set and sear spring. and recoil springs.
Honestly they don't go down very often.
Proof the pistol and then don't concern yourself with it.
Clean it, lube it and change the recoil spring occasionally.
 
#4 ·
Add to the above, in my bag I have

  1. extra extractor
  2. extra fibre optics, with clippers and matches to replace the front sight if need be
  3. pretty sure I have extra firing pin stop and pin though ive never need either
  4. I use wolff recoil springs so that means each comes with an extra firing pin spring
  5. hammer and squib rods
 
#7 ·
My primary go-to tools (in no particular order):

  • Screwdriver with interchangeable tips.
  • Small ball peen hammer
  • Wheeler Universal armorsB block
  • Steel AND brass pin punch sets
  • Needle nose pliars
  • Weigand extractor tensioning kit
  • Lyman Trigger pull gauge
  • Digital micrometer
  • AVID 1911 Smart Wrench (bushing wrench)
  • Sear / Trigger alignment block
  • Chambers 1911 alignment tools
  • Various spooge tools (Pachmayr, 10-8, noname brass flat blades)
  • Black & Decker Workmate Bench Vise (#79-025, Type 1)
  • Ball end hex wrench sets (English and metric)
  • Files, files, files
  • Stones, stones, stones
  • Empty plastic mainspring housing
  • Small set of jewelers screwdrivers (flat blade and phillips)
  • Multiple bent paperclips (bull barrel disassembly tools)
  • Hoppe's No. 9 (cleaning solution and oil)
  • Birchwood Casey Aluminum Black, Cold Blue, etc.
  • Renaissance Wax
  • Lint free cloths
  • Zoid's Miracle Polishing Cloths
  • Dykem
  • A few sharp knives

I am sure there is something that I am forgetting.
 
#11 ·
I'm really new to working on the 1911. And while I haven't really bought a lot of tools yet, I've managed to accumulate a few. Out of everything I've bought so far the pin gauge set I bought has proven to be most valuable.

When I installed the beavertail on my first build i used smaller pins to keep the BT in while determining how much material to take off the tangs. Once I had the small pin free in the holes I would install the larger pin until I worked up to the thumb safety itself.

And being able to tell if a frame hole is drilled to the right size is invaluable. On my Nighthawk frame the hole for the sear pin seemed way too small, like .006 too small. I used the biggest possible pin I could install, .103? And then pushed it trough with a brass hammer. A big chunk of drilling remnant pushed out with it. Then a .104 and so own until I got close to the correct size.
 
#15 · (Edited)
I've seen more extractor failures/breakages than anything else by a large margin.
Well.....except for squibs!

For me, 'in the field' or at a match:
Squib rod.
Spare tuned extractor.

Of course back at the shop I got a LOT of stuff.

Other 'not so common' parts failures:
Colt factory 45acp slide stops. The inner lobe breaks off.
First generation cast Ed Brown thumb safeties. Break a bit behind where the shaft meets the plate.
Colt factory firing pin stops. High round counts. Usually crack but rarely totally fail.
 
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