First .45 1911 Cleaning & Disassembly

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schwantz

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So I jumped on the Canada ammo Norinco.45 and ammo bandwagon and now have my first 1911. The firearm is covered in the Chinese mystery oil and requires cleaning. After watching the various YouTube videos, I was able to remove the slide, barrel assembly no problem. I've removed the less than stellar grips and have a nice set of wood grips to install after the cleaning. The only issue is that I don't feel confident in stripping the frame of the trigger, hammer etc and being able to put that back together properly. My question is would it be OK to dip the frame with the internals installed into a solvent type degreaser to try and remove some of the oil or would it be better to wait until I feel confident to take it completely apart?

On another note, the firearm seems to be in good shape. Not too many sharp edges or burrs and looks good for a inexpensive .45 1911. Other than the change of grips, I will probably be shooting it basically stock unless there is some mechanical need to change parts.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post.
 
The solvent I have is basically engine degreaser and seems to work well. I also have some brake clean and could spray that in the frame to try and remove some of the shipping oil as well from the internals. I didn't want to take it completely apart and screw things up trying to put it back together.
 
My Norc 1911 was my first 1911 as well and i was in EXACTLY the same place you were when I first got it. I used youtube to figure out how to field strip it, then I soaked EVERYTHING (including the grips) in a 50/50 mixture of simple green and boiling water. Then wiped anything I could get to with paper towels down (it will dry very quickly because the water was boiling when I started). Then, I used brake clean to spray the frame out liberally... then soaked everything is gun scrubber (leaves a light oil film) and wiped off the excess. I fired over 500 rounds with it after that process and it worked fine.

THEN, I bought a new trigger from Dlask... which required a COMPLETE strip down. At first, it was pretty intimidating. The hardest part IMO is getting the thumb safety to slide out and release the grip safety. There are really only 2 "small" pieces that are in any way difficult to put back in and there are LOTS of diagrams online that will help you orient them properly. But overall, it is NOT hard to strip it completely and its a very educational experience. This is the perfect gun to learn on also, since its cheap and durable.

On a side note, when I DID strip the whole frame down, I found almost no residual grease left over from my initial cleaning. Very small amounts in the tightest cracks and corners but all the parts were perfectly clean, even the ones I wasnt able to get to with the paper towel. So I guess the cleaning process worked.

To answer your initial question, soaking every part of the gun in degreaser will not hurt anything. The whole gun is metal... no rubber or light plastic to break down. So go for it.
 
Yes, go for a complete disassembly. As others have said, it is very educational and after you've done it a couple of times, you'll chuckle at yourself for your hesitency. The biggest thing I would say is look at & note very carefully the sear/disconnector orientaion to one another before taking them out so that you put them back in correctly, otherwise not that much to worry about, at least that what I found.
 
I have filled a disposable pie plate with gasoline and swished the slide and frame around in it for awhile. That worked. I have also squirted the parts with brake cleaner and wiped with paper towels. That also worked.

The oil on there is fairly light and comes off easily, unlike cosmoline.
 
Thanks for all the responses. I'll carry on and get it ready for the range. Quite looking forward to trying her out! Might be the start of a 1911 fetish, who knows?
 
^^ It was an eye opener for me. Didnt think id like them, but figured, for the money, why not. Now, I REALLY like them and have 2. The norc and a nicer one.
 
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