More Parts and Tools

WELCOME TO THE NO BS ZONE OF TEDDY JACOBSON

STILL WAITING FOR MY TEFLON TRIGGER TO BE RETURNED TO ME AS PROMISED. New commentary will be written within a day or so.


By now most of you know "I MEAN WHAT I SAY AND I SAY WHAT I MEAN". I am now back on track giving you solid honest information about the very things that you come here to read and learn about. I have no agenda but the truth. I want to first discuss a few things about various parts where I get so many inquiries daily.

If a MIM part is made right with no air bubles its a decent part and I would use them for the repair in a $500.00 handgun. In my opinion they do not belong in a custom high value and well made 1911 custom pistol. I have many broken poorly made MIM (Metal Injection Molded) parts on my table. Most of them came out of high dollar Kimber pistols. I never BS myself because then I would deserve what I get. In my custom 1911 pistols I have always installed the very best parts money could buy. I no longer make any custom 1911 pistols.


There is no way you can just drop in parts in a 1911 and expect to achieve the kind of trigger pull that are on my custom 1911 pistols or any of the factory pistols I have done, it can not be done. CMC make a decent drop in trigger but does not have the refinements one of the triggers I install regardless of whether its a King trigger or a Greider trigger or a different brand. I have gone to great lengths to learn how to refine the parts in every single handgun I have ever worked on and its like a swiss watch internally, sadly I no longer do the quantity I used to, but I have explored every possible way to make a persons handgun better and better using the best of parts and using the very best tools that could be made in a local machine shop by my friend Bubba.


Many years ago there were a lot more very good tools and jigs that were available and sold through Brownells but many of them are no longer made and some very good jigs were made by Tom Wilson of Arkansas and they too have been gone for years. If you have the opportunity to look through some of the old Brownells catalogs you will see them. I have been a customer of Brownells for at least 40 years. At this point in time I buy less parts and springs but when I do need something I buy the best products money can buy.


I still prefer to buy Snap On hand tools and most of what ever tooling I have commercially purchased has been from Snap On. I have never looked for bargains in the tools and or parts and what ever products I used. I have many specialty tools that people still want which are no longer made. I have two friends that may start making these tools very soon for select people. I will keep you posted on this project if it developes and I decide to let it become a reality. There are specialty items that make it a whole lot easier to work on these hand guns using these tools. These people that just work on a 1911 pistol have specific requirements where my scope of parts and tooling are far beyond what they use and need as I have always worked on most any handgun. This was certainly not very easy for me. The people in these "CHAT ROOMS" are still fighting the 1911 wars, and still think they know it all.


There are master machinists like Chuck Rogers that do beautiful work on the 1911 pistol. Chucks exterior work is very nice indeed, I really like it. I am quite friendly with some top names in the pistolsmithing business that are full time professionals and they do nice exterior work. My work was always internal. I was always more interested in the internal parts that were fit flawlessly. My interest always was to give you the edge in a social encounter so you would get to go home at night and the bad guy would sport a nice toe tag in a freezer. I still feel the very same way and nothing has ever changed my mind. NO ONE CAN EVER DO THE QUALITY OF REFINEMENT IN TWO HOURS THAT WOULD TAKE ME THREE DAYS TO DO. It would be like comparing a Nash Rambler to a Lincoln Town Car. Never believe the BS of a quick job.


I see more and more work done on Browning Hi Powers that are just not right. I am of the opinion that this is JOHN BROWNINGS best design in a handgun. A while back I installed a C&S hammer in a BHP and it worked very well. C&S hammers have improved. The BHP comes fitted with a 32 lb. hammer spring and I can remember how strong that very spring is as the hammer once cracked one of my fingers. I have jigs for most every handgun I have ever worked on and if it was not sold commercially I had Bubba make what I need to do a superior job.


I do not like or use an India stone for trigger work, that is a stone best used by amateurs. If you doubt me get a piece of steel and use your favorite India stone and stroke the steel a few times and then look at it using at least 20 power magnification and you will be horrified. A person that does internal work must know what kind of stones to use when working on critical parts of any kind. I consider stones a tool that is critical for doing internal work. I use Cobalt stones and Aluminum Oxide and Silicone Carbide and many others depending on what steel I am working on. I am able to cut hammer hooks exactly 90 degrees using my stones and its super smooth with no radius. Always remember that different steels cut very differently and if I am stoning Stainless Steel, I use an entirely different stone than on Carbon Steel.


Having Diamond stones is very important when working on very hard steel. I have always had and used diamond files and plates because they cut very quickly and cleanly. Industrial diamonds is what they use that is bonded to the steel. Some are better than others and some wear out quicker than others. I have tried them all at various times and on different steels. It is a very superior way of sharpening tools and knife blades if you use the correct diamond plates, with the correct grit. When shapening on mylar made by 3M it is graded in Micron sizes.


Lets get back to the selection of 1911 parts before I wrap up this commentary. The very selection of a sear is critical as well as the hammer and disconnector. I was told the do-nut disconnector was discontinued which is no great loss as there are better selections. I think it all depends on the repair or improvement you are trying to make. I have used most every hammer at one time or another and most of the ones I bought for years were nice castings sold by Caspian. I never had a problem with them. Of course they were not a drop in part and had to be refined and all the hooks must be cut 90 degrees and the height is your decision. Selecting the disconnector was important and each one must be measured for length. It has to be refined and most people do not know how. A sear can not be cut unless you know the very height of the hammer hooks. Its really not that easy. I have my own way of doing this as I have a set procedure in a select order.


When my tools wear out, I just replace them with another premium tool. Everything wears out and that is a given. I will be glad to answer any of your emails but I do not teach gunsmithing and I like to avoid the CHAT ROOMS as that is where all the BS runs rampant.


This commentary as well as all my previous commentaries are my personal opinion and my personal viewpoint. If you have a specific topic you would like me to discuss in detail please let me know. I want to thank all of you for your support and I am pleased to see so many people read this blogger daily, as my counter has only been operational about 6 or 7 months.


Teddy