I decided to do a little at home precision (yeah right, LOL) gunsmithing. I had an old beater .45 that I wanted to rebuild with new springs and pins. I also discovered the old barrel had 3 cracks on the lands of the rifling just past the chamber. What an opportunity to spend more money I thought! So I got a Kart EZ Fit barrel and started filing away to make it fit.
Couple o' questions now.
1) I think I filed a little too much off the back of the barrel hood. The instructions said that clearance here was to be .001" - .002" between the front of barrel hood and slide. Mine is about .006" - .007" clearance. I am wondering if i screwed myself here in terms of headspace.
2) I am filing down the pads of the barrel lugs. Using the machinist blue, I can see that the barrel lugs are locking up correctly. But I think I need to file more off because when I assembling the gun, the barrel is pointing slightly upward, which makes getting the barrel bushing in impossible unless I push the slide back a faction of an inch (this allows play in the barrel so it I can get the bushing in place).
Call Kart. Trust me when I say Kart has someone sitting at his, or her desk waitng to help you.
I recently fit a 6" Kart barrel on a 1911 for use with a suppressor. Kart's time estimates to do this work are a bit optimistic. Better to go slow than to buy another barrel. I have a Hobbs custom gun, STI slide with a Baer frame and a Colt barrel. It shoots like a dream.
One thing I noticed after looking into the usual 1911 sources there is no terminology for some parts of the barrel and frame.
After doing all the instructions suggested and still not haveing the barrel drop into battery properly, I investigated other potential causes of tight lockup. I found that there was a very tight fit of the lug assembly into the frame slot. Light stoning the tight areas revealed with the blue stain made the fit easier. They do not state it but from the K book, I learned that you should break the sharp edges of the barrel lugs with light (I said LIGHT) stoning of the edges. I then used some lapping compound from Brownells in the barrel lugs area of the slide and worked it by hand. Once the slide would unlock properly, the fit was still tight. I then shot it to break it in.
Fitting the match bushing was also fun. I did not find anything in the instructions about doing it so I worked the inside of the bushing with fine crocus cloth until it fit but was still tight. I shot it that way with adequate lubrication and it worked fine.
The gun is a bit more accurate but shoots high. I will wait until the threading is done to see how it affects the accuracy with the can.
Originally Posted By 1911smith:
Call Kart. Trust me when I say Kart has someone sitting at his, or her desk waitng to help you.
+1
Frank Kart took the time to talk to me years ago.
Very nice
Originally Posted By Not_Infringed:
I decided to do a little at home precision (yeah right, LOL) gunsmithing. I had an old beater .45 that I wanted to rebuild with new springs and pins. I also discovered the old barrel had 3 cracks on the lands of the rifling just past the chamber. What an opportunity to spend more money I thought! So I got a Kart EZ Fit barrel and started filing away to make it fit.
Couple o' questions now.
1) I think I filed a little too much off the back of the barrel hood. The instructions said that clearance here was to be .001" - .002" between the front of barrel hood and slide. Mine is about .006" - .007" clearance. I am wondering if i screwed myself here in terms of headspace.
2) I am filing down the pads of the barrel lugs. Using the machinist blue, I can see that the barrel lugs are locking up correctly. But I think I need to file more off because when I assembling the gun, the barrel is pointing slightly upward, which makes getting the barrel bushing in impossible unless I push the slide back a faction of an inch (this allows play in the barrel so it I can get the bushing in place).
For 1), it won't hurt any. I've seen worse gaps on USGI guns. You should be fine. If you're ultra-paranoid you can see if you can get a replacement, but...I think you'll be fine.
for 2), you should have the bushing in place and on before the slide is on the gun.
In your naked stripped slide: Place slide on table upside-down. Insert barrel, put on bushing, twist to lock. Put your spring guide on the bottom (top, as the slide assembly should be upside-down now) on barrel, then slide barrel all the way forward, capturing the spring guide in the slide dust cover. (note - this is assuming you have a USGI-type spring guide setup!!) Pick up slide assembly, and right-side-up slide it onto the frame, all the way back. You might have to jiggle the barrel a little but the slide link should flop down and be just about perfectly aligned with the slide stop hole. Put in the slide stop, push the slide forward to closed (stopping along the way to fully insert the slide stop), insert spring and plug, and twist down the bushing to lock it all in place...
Course, that's just how I re-assemble it..
That should avoid any and all bushing-related problems..
Edited to add- if it's still horrifically tight or if there are binding/other problems, then check the lugs and all that again...but, even if the bushing is a little tight, it should be ok...
