Pencil test/lubing the slide

[yocan]

Ok did a pencil test got 12" was reading on the 1911 forum and that seemed on the low end, is it unnacceptably short? I have no idea.

so take apart the slide to clean everything, the holes were filthy, re lube, put it together and now I get 11.5" So umm how am I supposed to lube the firing pin/extractor?

What type of height should I be expecting on my RIA 1911?

[ranburr]

If the pencil shoots out, it has enough force to bust a primer. Do not lube the FP or extractor.

[yocan]

Originally Posted by ranburr

If the pencil shoots out, it has enough force to bust a primer. Do not lube the FP or extractor.

the entire extractor? or just the ends? When I took it out, it was covered in grease, cleaned it off, and greased the internal parts of it and cleaned the hole it came from 4 pipe cleaners later it got re-inserted. Should I take it out and totally run it dry?

FP is not lubed, but if I put a smidgen of lube on the firing pin spring is that bad? should I take that back out and wipe it clean as well?

Thanks for all the input.

[ranburr]

Do not lube any part the FP or the extractor.

[charlie.45]

Originally Posted by yocan

Ok did a pencil test got 12" was reading on the 1911 forum and that seemed on the low end, is it unnacceptably short? I have no idea.

so take apart the slide to clean everything, the holes were filthy, re lube, put it together and now I get 11.5" So umm how am I supposed to lube the firing pin/extractor?

What type of height should I be expecting on my RIA 1911?

yocan this is just my opinion so please do not get angry but I have a feeling as well intentioned as you may be doing all these tests and stuff on your 1911 looking for a problem, that you may unintentionally mess it up. My advice would be to leave it be except for basic field stripping after shooting sessions get some experience with it and then start slowly getting into it a bit more. kinda like the old addage if its not broke don't try to fix it.. again JMO. enjoy it, shoot it, and eventully when your alot more comfortable with it dive a bit deeper into it. And again congrats on your first 1911.

[yocan]

Originally Posted by charlie.45

yocan this is just my opinion so please do not get angry but I have a feeling as well intentioned as you may be doing all these tests and stuff on your 1911 looking for a problem, that you may unintentionally mess it up. My advice would be to leave it be except for basic field stripping after shooting sessions get some experience with it and then start slowly getting into it a bit more. kinda like the old addage if its not broke don't try to fix it.. again JMO. enjoy it, shoot it, and eventully when your alot more comfortable with it dive a bit deeper into it. And again congrats on your first 1911.

Charlie I appreciate that, and its pretty much what I'd tell anyone else. Except I had some issues right when I got it. One light primer strike (granted the primer was a smidgen lower than the others) but I wanted to be sure, I was using cheap wolf ammo. And I had a serious trigger reset that made it so 3 times out of 50 I didn't release the trigger enough, pulled the trigger and nothing, had to pull again. Then I took it apart and just cleaned it, and the middle tine of the sear spring wasn't put in just right and it didn't work.

I'm fairly certain I have everything fixed now. I thought I was getting irregular firing pin strikes then I realised that the firing pin was just digging into the pencil (lol) but I did after cleaning it increase the pencil jump by 40% so I think that one round would go off now.

Fixed the sear spring. and cleaned out everything and it feels dramatically better now. I know a decent amount about guns, just not 1911s the ammo price scared me away as did the single stack. now I have a 1911 and a ruger P90 bought in the same week.

Only bad thing I have left is the sides of the trigger won't clean off I'm going to leave that one alone for a little while. My sigs getting polished first.

[nickb]

Sorry... thinking of another kind of pencil test. Carry on.

[ranburr]

Your not messing anything up. Tearing it apart and figuring out how it works is the only way to learn how to run the platform. Just keep in mind that a litle lube goes a long way and it only goes on a few moving parts.

[yocan]

Originally Posted by ranburr

Your not messing anything up. Tearing it apart and figuring out how it works is the only way to learn how to run the platform. Just keep in mind that a litle lube goes a long way and it only goes on a few moving parts.

yuppers I use my AP brush, the small end has 8 bunches of bristles, I only use the very last bunch to apply grease.

There is nothing wrong with it now. the trigger pull sucks, but thats not wrong, just not desired. and at 12.5 yards I can hit 7 out of 9 rounds into half cds sized targets. and the other two were off by 3 inches or so.

I mean ideally I'd get a slightly larger main spring housing, shorter trigger pre set and not a full length guide rod, but those aren't needed to get shooting so off I go. Thanks everyone for all the advice its helped me out a ton.

[charlie.45]

Originally Posted by yocan

Charlie I appreciate that, and its pretty much what I'd tell anyone else. Except I had some issues right when I got it. One light primer strike (granted the primer was a smidgen lower than the others) but I wanted to be sure, I was using cheap wolf ammo. And I had a serious trigger reset that made it so 3 times out of 50 I didn't release the trigger enough, pulled the trigger and nothing, had to pull again. Then I took it apart and just cleaned it, and the middle tine of the sear spring wasn't put in just right and it didn't work.

I'm fairly certain I have everything fixed now. I thought I was getting irregular firing pin strikes then I realised that the firing pin was just digging into the pencil (lol) but I did after cleaning it increase the pencil jump by 40% so I think that one round would go off now.

Fixed the sear spring. and cleaned out everything and it feels dramatically better now. I know a decent amount about guns, just not 1911s the ammo price scared me away as did the single stack. now I have a 1911 and a ruger P90 bought in the same week.

Only bad thing I have left is the sides of the trigger won't clean off I'm going to leave that one alone for a little while. My sigs getting polished first.

Thats cool man lol like I said I just didn't want anything getting messed up on your new 1911. I've known people who could never leave well enough alone and ruined perfectly fine guns. Glad to hear you got the issues worked out on it. As far as the trigger not sure how you would get it cleaned all of the way I have a short solid GI trigger on mine works fine for me, but as you have sigs and other handguns I can see how the trigger would definately bug you. And thanks again for not taking what I said as an insult as it was in no way ment to be that.