1911 Bull barrel recoil system fitting

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  • Magnumite

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 17, 2007
    6,564
    Harford County, Maryland
    I have mentioned this pistol before. Shoots well enough with 124 grain and heavier bullets. I had the stock bushing barrel and a Kimber takeoff barrel fitted to this pistol. While the Kimber was a much better fit this pistol just did not group 115 grain bulk box acceptably…for me. I know the 115 grain blasting grade has a rep for indifferent grouping out of most guns. This one shoots a group of 9 shots but with 2-3 annoying fliers. The rest of the group is quite acceptable. The other Kart barreled 9 I built will put that bulk fodder into very nice groups. Call me spoiled or just plain lucky, I decided to fit a gunsmith fit barrel.

    A good buy on a Storm Lake presented itself about 6 months back so I jumped on it. Not my first choice but…

    After fitting the barrel and link I needed to get the recoil spring system fitted. A bushingless barrel, I chose the flanged or top hat type recoil spring plug with the barrel support lug. To do this I had first ream away the spring plug ridge at the back of the slide spring tunnel. I used a nonpiloted reamer for this. Needless to say, I could not completely cut away all of the ridge, only the top lateral parts of the ridge since the reamer wants to walk up into the barrel bore of the slide. That meant a file would be needed to file out the remainder of the ridge.

    The flanged recoil spring plug required about .085” of the rear of the recoil spring tunnel to be filed away. Machinist guys…I envy your tooling. Filing, checking,and measuring frequently to keep the rear square and perpendicular to the center line was done. I had an icepack nearby to cool off the calipers.

    When I got close..within thousandths, I taped off the front of the slide recoil spring tunnel and filed the much thinner ridge remaining at the back of the spring tunnel. When the recoil spring plug would enter the tunnel I marked the back of the tunnel and installed the plug. Then I tapped the flange forward to identify the high spots. I marked, tapped, filed, repeat lotsa times to get the interface square.

    So it was guide rod time..I had determined I wanted a full length guide rod. Looking in the parts box, I just had the original two piece Springer item and a one piece withOUT the takedown hole. So I tried the two piece. It worked, of course. But even on a temporary basis I couldn’t deal with the appearance. The amount it and the barrel protruded from the slide made the pistol look like a trigger actuated cattle prod.

    So like a good little tech who couldn't wait I shortened the front piece of the guide rod and slotted it with files. You can still see the remnants and machine centering of the allen wrench recess.

    Time to test fire. Hope the pics make sense. One pic shows the seam line between the recoil spring plug flange and the spring tunnel on the assembled pistol.
     

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    alucard0822

    For great Justice
    Oct 29, 2007
    17,643
    PA
    Impressive work, great walkthrough about the fitting process you followed too. Milling off the spring tunnel on the slide is kinda nerve racking, if it's not perfectly in-line you can get binding and jams that are tough to figure out.
     

    Magnumite

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 17, 2007
    6,564
    Harford County, Maryland
    Well, here is the representative result of the newly fit bull barrel. I had to relieve the top of the barrel behind the muzzle since first groups were not acceptable. Today shot it again and here is a representative result with MaxxTech 115 frain FMJ. The groups circled with 6 shots then 9 shots on same target. The upper holes were from a warm up group. I turned the target upside down since the pistol was shooting in the lower half of the bull. Conserving targets - saving trees. Standing, two handed at 25 yards.
     

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    Magnumite

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 17, 2007
    6,564
    Harford County, Maryland
    The Pistole’
     

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    Magnumite

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 17, 2007
    6,564
    Harford County, Maryland
    Well, it is s learning experience. I wasn’t completely satisfied with the previous results, things didn’t seem 100%. Kinda nagged at me. Couldn’t sleep nights. Hate getting beat.

    I was getting some slight stringing so I made some checks, specifically for barrel spring. So I pulled the top end apart. I left the barrel in the slide and inverted the assembly. Pushing down on the lower lug feet, the barrel seemed to rock a bit at the muzzle but didn't spring at the chamber end. I removed the barrel and found the slightest very symmetrical contact on the barrel. It was on top, from the beginning of the taper behind the muzzle about 1.5 inches back. Prettiest cone shape.

    I relieved the area with a smooth file then abrasive cloth. I marked it, reassembled the pistol and cycled it. Disassembly revealed still some slight contact in spots within the original area. So I relieved the contact area again. Then relieved it a few thousands more. Pattern checking indicated success. I then turned my attention to the muzzle end of the barrel, specifically the contact pattern when in battery. It wasn’t symmetric left to right and was uneven. I corrected that pattern. I polished all the relieved areas. I put the barrel in the slide inverted it and wha-la…solid, no movement. Homie got it right!

    Preliminary testing showed noticeable improvement. I selected a correct recoil spring. However, it sounded odd when it cycled…like a loose spring. Accuracy fell off. Maingy bottom of the firing pin stop separated from the mothership. It was a good unit, not mim or cast. Bag it and tag it.

    Fitted another slide stop. Took me a week or two to get it back to the range for testing. I can only say it is now shooting blasting grade 115 grain loads much better than with the two previous barrels. I can sleep at nights now.

    This is not a “Storm Lake bull barrel will fix the ailing blasting grade 115 grain inaccuracy”. It is a fresh properly fitted barrel will certainly improve accuracy over production or refitted take offs.

    I can also say the MaxxTech ammo I have been using is some pretty decent blasting grade stuff.

    The pics. All shooting standing off hand. MaxxTech 115 grain FMJ ammo. The preliminary outing before the firing pin stop broke is shown, 8 shots, labeled “Prelim”. This was 2 shots at each range of 8,10,15 and 25 yards. More of a trajectory test for steel plate shooting but I am becoming fond of this type accuracy testing.

    After the firing pin stop was replaced, all shooting offhand standing…
    Pic 9mm 1: 6 shots, two each at 9, 13 and 15 yards.
    Pic 9mm 2: same target, two more shots, a double, at 25 yards.
    Pic 9mm 3: same target, 5 more rounds at 25 yards.
    Pic 9mm 4: new target, 25 yards, 5 rounds of Federal American Eagle 147 grain TMJ.
    Pic 9mm 5: same target, 25 yards, 5 more rounds of AmericanEagle 147 grain TMJ.m

    Mission Accomplished…
     

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    Magnumite

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 17, 2007
    6,564
    Harford County, Maryland
    :D. Thank you! I think you build a comparable product.;) I'll use this one in a falling plate match this weekend.

    Will get to some load testing soon. Just from 10 round of the Federal 147 grain looks like its not a preferred weight. But I have a few hundred (bullets) for thorough testing.
     

    Rockzilla

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 6, 2010
    4,516
    55.751244 / 37.618423
    :D. Thank you! I think you build a comparable product.;) I'll use this one in a falling plate match this weekend.

    Will get to some load testing soon. Just from 10 round of the Federal 147 grain looks like its not a preferred weight. But I have a few hundred (bullets) for thorough testing.

    Try some 124's or 115's with some N310, wish I had the Ransom Rest here
    you could borrow it, for your load work, etc. Anyway let me know how it works
    out.
    the detail work / blending looks great, perfectionist(s) if It bothers me, I
    tend to walk away and come back later, beat myself up many times, and it
    does seem like forever....


    Been working Off & On capturing your build nfo in PDF form.


    -Rock
     

    Rockzilla

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 6, 2010
    4,516
    55.751244 / 37.618423
    Hmmmm…a follower! PDF away…
    I am coming up on test firing my last build before final cosmetic blend and finish. I had walk away from it last Friday evening. Brain freeze!

    Yes..sir..Follower of course you, can never have enough thoughts / takes on
    things. and how others see things.
    The more things you can compare to the better (open mind)
    Yeah man I know that feeling, sometimes I catch myself like staring at it.
    Lost in another train of thought. So it's stop time. What I call a "Duh" moment.
    But been there done that.

    -Rock
     

    Magnumite

    Ultimate Member
    Dec 17, 2007
    6,564
    Harford County, Maryland
    Sometimes during development, Ido like you. Just look at it from several angles. I’ll just check it under light, operate it, feel for smoothness or rough spots. I don’t want errors or substandard work in it. I guess I just develop it to what it can be in my mind’s eye. Get to that ‘just right’ point. I have come to the conclusion learning just where to stop is an art form.
     

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