Replacing Main Spring Housing in a 1911

[Iron Glove]

I want to try out a flat housing on my Norinco 1911 to see if it fits my hands better than the existing arched one.
Do I have to strip the pistol down, i.e. remove slide, etc., etc., or is there a way to just remove the housing itself?
Thanks.

 

[just having some fun]

pin that holds the spring housing on is the pin at the bottom of the magwell

how hard it is to do i ?
have seen it done with a bic pen and finger pressure and i have seen other people resort to a punch and hammer

no disassembly required just the one pin holds it on

about 1min 50 seconds to video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoohXVsQ1NU&hl=en

 

[TGC]

Have you considered just using smaller grips?

 

[NAA]

Changing out a MS housing on a 1911.....

I prefer to remove a MS housing with the slide off the frame & also the grips removed [one slip with a tool can chip or scrape & ruin a nice pair of grips... ]

Make sure your hammer is in the uncocked position [i.e. hammer down] as this will take the pressure of the main spring.

You then drift out the retaining pin, usually doesn't take much to do it, if the tension is off the mainspring.

Change out the MS housing parts [if required], reassemble [make sure when you slide the new one on that the hammer strut engages in the concave detent in middle of the mainspring housing]. Put the retaining pin in the frame [detent side should be facing the same side as the mag release]. And you should be good to go.

NAA.

 

[tjhaile]

I think you would find it much easier to remove and replace the mainspring housing if you remove the hammer and strut first so that the strut isn't compressing the mainspring. It isn't that difficult to strip a 1911 frame anyway:

http://www.coolgunsite.com/disassembly/disassembly.htm

Just take care to put the sear and disconnector back in correctly when you reassemble it.

 

[NAA]

I think you would find it much easier to remove and replace the mainspring housing if you remove the hammer and strut first so that the strut isn't compressing the mainspring. It isn't that difficult to strip a 1911 frame anyway:

http://www.coolgunsite.com/disassembly/disassembly.htm

Just take care to put the sear and disconnector back in correctly when you reassemble it.

You can most certainly do it as described above. And perhaps is just as well IF you were going to completely detail strip the entire frame.

BUT, if you just want to change out the MS housing only, then there is no need to remove the hammer & hammer strut to do so. If the hammer is in the uncocked position, [i.e. hammer down] then virtually all the pressure will be off the mainspring. Removing the frame pin will allow the MS housing to be taken out of the frame & still leave all the other parts in it. The MS housing can then be swapped out & reassembled in the frame in a minimal amount of time.

I know all this because I have detail stripped, reassembled, including changing out numerous MS housings, 1911's literally hundreds of times in the past ~ 30 years.

NAA.

 

[Iron Glove]

Thanks for the help and advice - I'll give it a try tonight if I get the chance.
Re the comment about using thinner grips, tried that too and I'm just looking at all the alternatives.
The Norinco is sorta my "test" gun that I try out different ideas and parts on before I tackle any work on my more costly ones.

 

[SandRoad]

how hard it is to do i ?
have seen it done with a bic pen and finger pressure and i have seen other people resort to a punch and hammer

Just a note, I ended up using a punch and small hammer to drift the pin out of my Norc.

My preference is a flat, checkered mainspring housing. It also has an integral and removable magwell.

 

[BCRider]

I've been using my automatic center punch set to a low setting to push out the mainspring housing pin. Works well, doesn't jump up onto the surrounding surfaces and is a lot smaller than a pin punch and a hammer. To re-insert the pin it's done by hand.

 

[BCWILL]

The Norinco is sorta my "test" gun that I try out different ideas and parts on before I tackle any work on my more costly ones.

That's what I used to think........
Trouble is with abit of time and effort the Norc's soon replace the "more costly ones" as one's favourite shooters