Yep, the Dremel or equal will work, BUT: I humbly submit that unless you are very experienced with power tools, you need to keep the power in the case. Without knowing it, you could hit a soft alloy and wind up with a groove rather quickly. Sometimes even Dremel buffer wheels get hungry. Using a dowel or stone will sorta help keep the surface linear for you. Also, as suggested above, watch that the angle is not changed.
Gotcha, Done some machining(every industrial maint shop includes a "mig" welder,a mill and a lathe)Good advice! I'll try to reign in my enthusiasm and leave the power tools in the shop ( on the first one )
Well I think all will agree with this small bit of advice . Clean it lube it and shoot it for 100 round minimum before you even think about altering anything . If you wanna do anything based on how it looks change a trigger or a mainspring Housing NOT sand/polish on a feed ramp . Keep practicality in mind , if you buy 1 box of hollow points for grins and giggles and they jam yet you're one of us who thinks hardball is perfectly fine for defensive use who cares if it jammed with the hollow points just as long as she runs 100% with the ball you intend to use . Also remember there are stoppages not related to the ramps such as a fail to return to battery , with these the the round is 95% or more home and the slide isn't quite closed . This can be caused by something as simple as the extractors tunnel being filthy , it incorrectly tensioned "Usually too much tension" or simply needing a tad bit of tuning/reshaping on the hook of it . One last word on the dremel usage , in the video I have from Wilson's when the guy throated the barrel and polished the ramp he had the parts in a padded vice and he quite literally touched the parts with the dremel for perhaps 3 seconds and he was done with it . Even though you got it at a great price you don't want to turn it into a paper weight or an $800 project . O and one last thing I forgot to mention , in that video Bill Wilson was asked what was the biggest thing that caused reliability problems with 1911's . He didn't say unpolished feed ramps , or unthroated barrels , poorly fitted barrels or bushings . He said extractors , most makers do not correcly tune their extractors at the factory before selling the guns , if it were coming from just me I'ld say take it with a grain of salt but Bill Wilson hass been in the game quite a long time and I have a feeling he knows what he's talking about .
Thanks again I see the round gets pushed up into the extractor not just snapped over the rim.and yes I believe in ball in.45. Here 'tis fresh off the dealers shelf: Without my weapon I am useless; without me my weapon is useless; There are many 1911a1's, but this one is mine... $282 w/1nickel mag/tax Whooo hoo!
I got a gut feeling you got a great deal there Tango , she looks like she hasn't been modified at all which I would say she ran just fine for the previous owner/s . Only noticable wear looks like simple holster wear , no scratch from the slide stop being installed so who ever owned it took the time to make sure he got it right everytime he installed it . The FedOrds I saw came with those slightly extended controls and modest beavertail grips . If I'm seeing correctly that mag looks like it has the same symbol the MecGars have on them if so it should be a good mag then , I have a few MecGars and they work fine .
Mag says"meggar"on it,yeah having fondle time it looks clean the fed ord logo in the diamond on the slide looks a little thin I wonder if it was polished for a refinish? "Proof of the pudding is in the eating" barring a major snow storm I'm gonna run out to a public wildlife area tomorrow and setup a target or at least walk a 5gallon bucket around.(minute of man is acceptable,but looking at it I am expecting better)I'm sure we're gonna be very happy with each other..I bid on a bianchi belt holster on feebay...I like brown leather and I need an open carry rig before investing in an iwb.the feed rampslook like my old issued one not blatantly shined up at all and gander mtn guarantees it for a year any way! any problem the smith will fix it...may have to go for an electroless nickel finish sometime(uh-oh, it's started the 1911 madness.)
If you are going exposed carry, go dropleg holster. LOTS more comfortable, you aren't banging your elbow on it all the time, and it is not in the way when driving.
Things that make you go hmmmm....never tried one of them.(though I try to cultivate the fisherman/sportsman jsp image when armed in the backcountry)
Aight, went out to a woody spot,didn't have a real good backstop so I founda high point on the trail and shot downward into the "ditch"at a 5gal bucket with the paper target clamped to it.; had logging in the area so I only ran about7 hasty mags through at only 7yards... firstmag ran fine, just didn't lock the slide back; Fed fine ejected fine,then I ran into extraction problems once or twice a mag the case would get about half way out then get jammed up with the next round; once or twice it left the empty in the chamber.last magazine went seven rapid straight no problem; other than the slide not locking back. I didn't disassemble clean or lube it before trying it, there was some funk in the extractor slot,so that didn't help. Found some extractors online for $17.00 up to $50.00(wilson), I'll probably just clean and lube the whole gun up real good,maybe tweek the extractor a bit.before just ordering another,Gotta tweek the mag follower where it raises the slide stop.So neither of us is ready for the big show...but it shows promise: only 7 yards out, off my hind legs, ctr hold;( I see trigger pulling(horizontal stringing and a called flyer:my fault Should i just throw the extractor away and get a new one or is ita matter of tweeking?Know what(?) the extractor is kinda dirty for as little as I shot it, perhaps the tunnel IS full of crap that moves around?? I read dropping the slide on a chambered round is bad for the extractor? I probably did that, the first time it left one in the chamber that wouldn't drop out on its own, I thought the extractor looked a little bent in the woods but it looks better on the table at home now.
Wish you were close , we could go to the range and I'ld let you use my assortment of mags which includes some new Wilson 47D's O well . Take her apart and start scrubbing , use some Gun Scrubber and remove the grips and shoot out the innerds and hit the disconnector tunnel the bast you can . Remove the extractor and use a 22 rimfire brush and clean it real good and dry with Q-Tips till they come out clean . Clean that extractor with a brush and hit the breach face real well also , as long as you're at it remove the firing pin and do that tunnel . Also remove the grips and shoot all of that area out and lube with Breakfree . I would keep it as is for now and keep the extractor . Lube it up well with some Breakfree inside and out and go shoot it a bit more . I would grab at least 1 more mag before testing it more , I suggest either a McGar or a Chip McCormic "I have heard good reports on the Chips" . If you don't have a good source for magazines locally give CDNN sports a try http://cdnnsports.com/ they have some McCormics listed at $10 and Novaks at $16 Honestly I am not a big beliver in blaming magazines for anything other than the premature slidelocks your having , my old Colt ran fine with $5 surplus magazines once the Smith made it right and your gun may also even with elcheapo $8 mags . While dropping the slide on a chambered round isn't good you will see if damage has been done because the tip of the extractor will be broken off from snapping over the rim of a cartridge .
Hey big001: Ha-kay mid 30's and sunny got the beast out again after a thorough scrubbing and liberal dousing in beakfree: only about 7 mags(Snowmobilers all over the trails, the local range doesn't open until may.). It ran alot better, not 100%,yet but better, first mag100% function and slide locked back on empty, afterwards I had maybe two failure to extract and the slide wouldn't lock back on its own half the time; but I noticed when it didn't the follower was "jammed up,stuck just short of the top. So a top quality mag should cure my ills .."MOSC" accuracy ( minute of soup can accuracy at 10 paces was awesome, tearing 'em up. Must still have some grit in the mag. just orderred two chip mccormick 8 round stainless mags I trust they'll work in my full sized govt clone..
Sounds like you're well on your way Tango . The Chips will work in any full size frame gun including a Commander clone UNLESS they are designed for an officers model and it would state this somewhere "I hope anyway LOL" on the website or packaging . As far as the mags followers not locking back the slide due to incomplete travel pull em apart and use some wet/dry and sand the inside of the body as far as you can and edges of the follower . You said the mags had "Meggar" on them , sounds like cheap nock offs that with some luck the just didn't finish real well and left some burrs or other rough spots that can be eliminated . Spray the mag springs with Breakfree and reassemble , make sure you don't reverse the spring because this will cause problems as a matter of fact they could be reversed now and be the whole problem I'll look for a pic of a correctly position spring to post for ya . A few fails to extract eh? Did you pull the extractor and clean the tunnel yet ? If not get on it and also clean the part well might want to put a tad more tension on the extractor by bending it just a little . Put it inside the slide about 1/4 way and just use thumb pressure to bend it a bit , put the pressure on the middle of the part as you do this so you don't break it . Have you tested the extractor , here's how . Proper tensioning of the extractor is vital to reliability. Too much tension and chambering will be severely impeded or prevented. Too little tension, and extraction and ejection will be weak or non-existent. An old gunsmith trick to test the tension of the extractor is to remove the slide from the pistol, and push a round of ammo up under the extractor from below. With proper tension, the round should be held in place regardless of how the slide is turned, yet when the round is moved downwards from its center position about 1/10 of an inch, the round should drop off. Tension is adjusted by removing the extractor, reversing it in the extractor hole in the slide, and pressing sideways one way or the other to increase or decrease tension. The depth of the extractor’s protrusion into the case area is controlled by removing a slight amount of metal from the inside of the rounded protrusion just back of the extractor claw with a file.
Thanks, scrubbed the extractor hole AND it passed that test after I put it back in the slide.Igot the follower out and found out the tango way the mag spring only works for 7rounds (7 round mag) when it's put back in in one particular way. So far I like it...feels good to run through 7 rounds nonstop..doesn't punch my wrist like a 357maggy. Yet I know there's enough snort for my purposes.
Now this was after the seconding outing with it or before ? If before you still need a bit more tension on the extracor if after simple cleaning may have fixed to problem , only one way to find out . Did you lightly sand/polish the breach face and the extractor itself so the cartridge travels smoothly ? Sound like you're a heartbeat away from having a 100% functioning machine there . Good Luck .
