joepistol
Well-Known Fanatic
Thought I should share something unusual that I recently learned, about working on a 1911.
Some months ago, I had noticed a Stan Chen Shooter Installed mag well on sale at his website.
I'd recognized his name from products I'd seen online, & believed that he makes very high quality parts..so I was interested.
It was a good sale, the product has great reviews, so ordered a few.
Put the 1st one in an blue STI Spartan 45 I own. It fit very well ,blended snugly against the frame, great fit!
Looks & works as intended, am very pleased with it.
The SS model I bought was goiong on one my favorite 1911's..my full-size, Springfield Armory Loaded target, chambered in 9mm.
Thought it would be as straight forward as installing it in the STI. , an easy drop-in part, & I was wrong.
Not recognizing the difference, I swapped out the pieces in the mainspring housing, & installed the new mag well..
it didn't work.
What ? After puzzling about it, took it over to my gunsmith /guru..Doug Jones.
He looked @ parts, & explained my issue(s), why it wouldn't work.
Seems Springfield Armory uses their own style mainspring housing, at least they do on this pistol,
( as mine was box-stock @ this point) The "mainspring housing pin retainer" was too short to work with this housing.
I had to get a "normal" sized one, then reassemble. I believe I was able to use the oem mainspring cap, & retaining pin.
After getting the correct part, I reassembled with correct pin. This mag well also blends perfectly to the frame, Looks great.
and it seemed to work as it should. I will emphasize, it SEEMED to work correctly..as my learning curve
with this mod is not yet complete.
Taken to the range for some use, I was shooting some of my reloads..a couple of boxes loaded with same bullet,
& powder charge, but different primers. Some had CCI sp primers, others the remainder of some Tula primers
I bought when SP primers were almost impossible to find.
Most rds. functioned perfectly, then I started to get a few misfires..look @ primers, there's almost no sign of
a firing pin strike. Some, have no mark @ all. Scratch head, wonder, what's going on ?
Reload the misfires back in the mag, & they do fire. WHAT ?
Humm.. I keep shooting & then, set aside any more misfiring rds, for closer exam. End up having only about another half dozen out of
box of 50, but eventually notice, they're all the Tula primers. All the CCI primer driven rds. were fired w/o incident.
Hum.. wonder ? Does Tula use thicker / stiffer/ stronger steel in their primers cups ?
I've read that some brand primers are softer than others. Federals are supposed to be the softest / easiest to fire,
I've read... now I Wonder, where Tula falls on the hardness scale ?
I post on a local firearm forum & some say that yes, Tulas have very hard cups..O.K.,
but they have been firing in my other pistols w/o any light strike incidents...
Off I go to talk to my Gunsmith / Guru,..Doug Jones , again.
After looking @ my cases, he makes a suggestion.
I should remove the mainspring & check it's length.
It seems that Springfield Armory uses a slightly shorter mainspring in some (?) of their 1911's.
At least they did in mine. Comparing the the Springfield Armory part,
it's about 1/8"- 3/16" shorter than a std sized mainspring. Shorter ms =less impact on primer.
Replaced the spring..I believe the problem is now fixed.
Hope this post helps someone that may run into this kind of issue in the future.
when swapping up parts, compare part sizes..closely!
Some months ago, I had noticed a Stan Chen Shooter Installed mag well on sale at his website.
Chen SI ''Shooter Installed'' Magwell
Stan Chen Custom is a high-end custom gunsmith and 1911 parts manufacturer based out of Durango, Colorado. His 1911 parts, including the Chen SI 1911 Magwell, Beavertail Grip Safety, Thumb Safety, Rear Sight, Mainspring Housings, and Gen2 Magwell, have been widely acclaimed and featured in...
store.chencustom.com
I'd recognized his name from products I'd seen online, & believed that he makes very high quality parts..so I was interested.
It was a good sale, the product has great reviews, so ordered a few.
Put the 1st one in an blue STI Spartan 45 I own. It fit very well ,blended snugly against the frame, great fit!
Looks & works as intended, am very pleased with it.
The SS model I bought was goiong on one my favorite 1911's..my full-size, Springfield Armory Loaded target, chambered in 9mm.
Thought it would be as straight forward as installing it in the STI. , an easy drop-in part, & I was wrong.
Not recognizing the difference, I swapped out the pieces in the mainspring housing, & installed the new mag well..
it didn't work.
What ? After puzzling about it, took it over to my gunsmith /guru..Doug Jones.
He looked @ parts, & explained my issue(s), why it wouldn't work.
Seems Springfield Armory uses their own style mainspring housing, at least they do on this pistol,
( as mine was box-stock @ this point) The "mainspring housing pin retainer" was too short to work with this housing.
I had to get a "normal" sized one, then reassemble. I believe I was able to use the oem mainspring cap, & retaining pin.
After getting the correct part, I reassembled with correct pin. This mag well also blends perfectly to the frame, Looks great.
and it seemed to work as it should. I will emphasize, it SEEMED to work correctly..as my learning curve
with this mod is not yet complete.
Taken to the range for some use, I was shooting some of my reloads..a couple of boxes loaded with same bullet,
& powder charge, but different primers. Some had CCI sp primers, others the remainder of some Tula primers
I bought when SP primers were almost impossible to find.
Most rds. functioned perfectly, then I started to get a few misfires..look @ primers, there's almost no sign of
a firing pin strike. Some, have no mark @ all. Scratch head, wonder, what's going on ?
Reload the misfires back in the mag, & they do fire. WHAT ?
Humm.. I keep shooting & then, set aside any more misfiring rds, for closer exam. End up having only about another half dozen out of
box of 50, but eventually notice, they're all the Tula primers. All the CCI primer driven rds. were fired w/o incident.
Hum.. wonder ? Does Tula use thicker / stiffer/ stronger steel in their primers cups ?
I've read that some brand primers are softer than others. Federals are supposed to be the softest / easiest to fire,
I've read... now I Wonder, where Tula falls on the hardness scale ?
I post on a local firearm forum & some say that yes, Tulas have very hard cups..O.K.,
but they have been firing in my other pistols w/o any light strike incidents...
Off I go to talk to my Gunsmith / Guru,..Doug Jones , again.
After looking @ my cases, he makes a suggestion.
I should remove the mainspring & check it's length.
It seems that Springfield Armory uses a slightly shorter mainspring in some (?) of their 1911's.
At least they did in mine. Comparing the the Springfield Armory part,
it's about 1/8"- 3/16" shorter than a std sized mainspring. Shorter ms =less impact on primer.
Replaced the spring..I believe the problem is now fixed.
Hope this post helps someone that may run into this kind of issue in the future.
when swapping up parts, compare part sizes..closely!
