Trigger Pull - 1911 - Part 2

There is a great deal more to mention when talking about the trigger pull on a 1911 pistol, we just scratched the surface. There is a myth that certain parts can be dropped in and you have an instant professional trigger job. There is NO truth to any of this when dealing with inexpensive generic parts, sure they can be made to work but let me go into some detail for you.

When you change a trigger in a 1911 pistol, the new trigger may or may not sit in the exact same position as the previous trigger. Now you install a new hammer and a new sear and new disconnector, all the geometry has just changed. Just follow me carefully for a minute, so now you install your existing thumb safety and your existing grip safety which used to work fine , but now they no longer work. When you put in other parts they may not interface with the safeties and you now have created other problems, it multiplies, it always does. Metric guns, thats a whole different story.

In the case of a Colt series 80 system (or other brands with a firing pin block safety system) just removing the parts is a "COP OUT", you can not do that for legal reasons that I will explain. After a shooting when the Grand Jury inspects the Colt series 80 pistol or the other brands with similar devices and the plunger is missing from the slide leaving an obvious hole, what are you going to say, your "FRIEND" or "SMITH" or "GURU" said you did not need it ???....... GET REAL, HERE COMES JOHNNY COCHRAN. Here comes CIVIL SUITS even if your shooting is justified and or you get NO BILLED BY THE GRAND JURY. Your life will never be the same. Kiss your assets goodbye.

Lets get back to parts. The sear spring must be put in and modified properly. I have not yet seen a sear spring refined at the interfacing area properly in a Baer pistol which is a high dollar production gun. Its critical that you have a good hammer strut, I do not like or use Brown, I like McCormick struts which I totally modify as I do every part that I install in a 1911 pistol.

ALL these things contribute to your trigger pull. I have never and would never use an 18 lb or 19 lb hammer spring in a street gun but that is what a lot of the experts use. There are so many things in a 1911 pistol that must be done to achieve a good trigger pull, there is not just installing a hammer and sear. Its all BS. Its a total combination of everything.

I ONLY WORK ON STREET GUNS FOR SERIOUS PEOPLE. I DO NOT WORK ON TARGET GUNS. I DO NOT GIVE PEOPLE 2 or 3 LB TRIGGER PULLS. I need to keep everything in perspective, what ever I do, the objective is to give my customer a handgun that will save his or her life. You want light trigger pulls, go some where else.
I can not afford misfires or some one calling me to say that a 1911 pistol that I worked on failed to ignite a primer in a social encounter. This is my main concern, street reliability.

I check all hammer and sear engagements using 30 power magnification, you can NOT detect a problem using opti visors with 2 or 3 power magnification. It takes a complete refinement of the following parts in a 1911 pistol to achieve a good trigger pull;
TRIGGER, HAMMER, SEAR, DISCONNECTOR, DISCONNECTOR NOTCH IN SLIDE, HAMMER STRUT, MAINSPRING HOUSING, SEAR SPRING, MAIN SPRING CAP, THUMB SAFETY, GRIP SAFETY, ETC, ETC, ETC.

This is not an easy job for some one that is not experienced. YOU ARE PLAYING WITH YOUR LIFE. This commentary has not even touched the reliability of the feeding and extraction system of a 1911 pistol. That is another story that I will cover in a future commentary. USE CAUTION AS YOUR VERY LIFE DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU DO AND THE DECISIONS YOU MAKE.

Authors Personal Notation: For those that continue to attack me verbally, Please go some where else. Go back to your forums where you can post your pictures and get stroked and everyone tells you what a great job you have done and the insults may come with the comment "NICE GRIPS", or "GREAT JOB", or say what ever it is to be PC. You keep thinking that your beautiful finish and checkering will make your pistol work better, its like putting a foxtail on the antenna of a car or installing mud flaps, IT RIDES SO MUCH BETTER, you older folks like me will know what I mean
I am only interested in helping and educating honest and sincere people that want truth and reality. These other Forums are set up for people to TROLL FOR WORK OR WHAT EVER AGENDA THEY HAVE.
I AM NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT AND I NEVER HAVE BEEN. I AM TOO HONEST.
I have made the big time already, I have nothing to prove to anyone. I have already had 60 articles written about my work, I no longer want any more and I do not do any more guns for gun writters, that part of my life is over. Go to GOOGLE and do a search on "TEDDY JACOBSON"........................ See for yourself...
I welcome those that are sincere and want the truth but to the others go back to where you come from and listen to the BS. My counter has been up about 3 + weeks and I have more hits that some websites get in 3 years.

Teddy Jacobson
www.actionsbyt.com
281 277 4008
tjacobson@houston.rr.com
www.actionsbyt.blogspot.com/