1911 reassembly question

UncleWalther

UncleWalther

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I am very new to 1911s. I like shooting them, but really dislike disassembling them and putting them back together.

I've got an STI Ranger II 9mm, and I'm having a tricky time getting the slide stop back into place when I reassemble the gun. When I push the slide stop in, it hangs up on the slide stop plunger. The plunger is so tight, that no matter how hard I push on the slide stop, I can't get the stop to snap back into place. I've been having to depress the plunger with a tweezer, while holding the slide back, and pushing in the slide stop. I damn near need four hands to do it.

Is it normal to have this much trouble popping the slide stop back in when reassembling?
 
UncleWalther said:
Is it normal to have this much trouble popping the slide stop back in when reassembling?
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Only when the tolerances are tight as you are experiencing.

In the sloppy ole GI models the slide stops generally pop in with no fuss, no muss. :D

Just be careful you don't give your frame the "noobie scratch".... ;)
 
This is where the "idiot scratch" comes from.
I have learned to line the slide stop up against the plunger, and whack it with the plastic end of a screwdriver to drive it home rather than sliding it up and scratching the frame.
You can't hurt it no matter how hard you hit it and it won't scratch the frame.
 
even my old colt does this from time to time- or gets stuck in the notch between fully home and just inserted- the only way i can correct this is with a jeweller's screwdriver- as for the idiot scratch, i just tell myself it was there to begin with , as both 45's are second hand - one's a usgi- as the old top used to say"designed with nimrods in mind"
 
If the plunger protrudes too far in the slide stop won't lever it out of the way, and banging on it won't help. You can continue to use a small screwdriver (or whatever) to push the plunger in, or you can dress the plunger down a little, or you can dress the angle on the slide stop to permit it to cam the plunger out of the way.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. I reassembled a few times today, using a credit card to press the plunger, and at the same time using the card to funnel the slide stop into place. Worked well, and no scratchy.
 
The "newbie scratch"...

prproulx said:
It's a right of passage. I put one on a brand new Gold Cup once.:redface:
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Paulinski said:
I push the plunger with small plastic tool. I also scratched my STI Trojan (it was my first 1911) :(
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I have to say, in all the years I have owned, shot, disassembled, cleaned and reassembled 1911's I have never put a "newbie scratch" on a frame. I have acquired a few that already had them, however...

That said, the tragedy will be that the one day when I finally do it myself I will be far from a "newbie" and then in my case it will truly be an "idiot scratch".... :redface:
 
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