Best "drop in" solution for a heavy, gritty, SA Milspec 1911 Trigger?

[Sprout]

I bought my dad a SA Milspec 1911 last Christmas. It's a great gun, and he always wanted a Milspec 1911, but the trigger is quite heavy and somewhat gritty.

What is the best no gunsmith, drop-in solution? One of the C&S kits? Any advice appreciated.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Old Fuff]

Your problem trigger may be caused by some gritty dirt in the wrong place. I was looking at one in a gunshop today, and it had an exceptionally good trigger pull, especially considering the very reasonable price. There are a lot of variables that can effect a trigger pull, and some sort of "drop-in" kit may or may not solve the problem. I suggest you save the money you were going to spend on the kit, and instead return it to the manufacturer with a request they work on the trigger. Or you could send it to an EXPERIENCED pistolsmith for a trigger pull job.

One last possibility - I have heard that the safety device in the mainspring housing can effect the trigger pull. If, and only if this is causing the problem exchanging other parts won't help you.

 

[Coltdriver]

Since you are looking at taking it apart to drop in some replacements I have a suggestion based on what I did with mine.

Detail strip the gun.

Using only flitz or chrome polish and cloth cleaning patches polish up every part in the trigger group. Hand polish only, no dremel or power tools.

Then get a little bottle of molyfusion. Treat everything, lightly oil and reassemble. Don't forget to clean and treat the cuts inside the frame where the trigger "bow" rides on each side (that is probably the primary source of your grittyness).

The whole process is a pleasant evenings effort.

The grittyness will be gone.

If it is not smooth enough for you or you don't like the remaining creep in the trigger the next best thing to do, after you have cleaned and moly'd everything, is to get a hammer and sear precut from one of the reputable houses. You can drop in these parts (now that you are experienced at detail stripping the gun) in a few minutes and the "break" you will get from the trigger will be very light and pleasant.

There are a few other things you can do but it would lead to a real long post. Once you have taken one apart and you see how easy it is to do you will like the gun even more. It is downright addictive to be able to see the results of your efforts.

Let us know what you do and how it works out.

 

[cratz2]

I would suggest first replacing the ILS internals with non-ILS parts. If only good retail ammo is going to be used, I could safely go down to an 18lb hammer spring. I have them in all but two of my Springfields and have never had a misfire or slow fire.

And I hate to go against your question but for pretty little green, you could have a trigger job done with the factory parts and it will almost certainly turn out better than any drop in parts will. More than likely cost less too. Plenty of places around LA would be glad to do something like this.

 

[ocabj]

Changing out the ILS MSH internals have varying results, but should drop the trigger pull.

Brownells' Parts #s:
969-262-180 WOLFF 18 LB., HAMMER SPRING $4.29
965-011-162 R16BS MAINSPRING CAP STAINLESS STEEL 2.35
965-011-164 R16CS MAINSPRING PIN RETAINER S/S 2.35
965-011-166 R16DS MAINSPRING CAP PIN S/S 2.35 <- optional, for "looks"

I did this modification and dropped the pull from 6lbs 1oz to 5lbs 4oz. It's not much, but it's better than 6lbs. I'm waiting on my Tactical 4lb trigger pull set from Cylinder and Slide. Going to replace the sear+hammer which is what you should be looking into to modify your trigger pull. Tweaking the sear spring will also give you low cost trigger pull customizations. But if you're looking into dropping serious trigger pull like I am (2lbs+ from stock going from 6 to 4), then you should definitely look into a new sear+hammer or have a smith do a trigger job for you.

Be sure if you decide to do the ILS MSH internals replacement, to make sure the grip and slide safety still work. Always check for proper functioning safety mechanisms, especially after you alter action components in the weapon.

 

[M1911]

What is the best no gunsmith, drop-in solution? One of the C&S kits? Any advice appreciated

Honestly, I think a trip to any decent gunsmith would fix this for less cost than parts changing. You should be able to get a trigger job for $100 or less.

 

[Sprout]

Thanks everybody for the great advice.

I guess I'll start by cleaning everything thorughly, and try out the Militec free sample when it arrives. I have the Kuhnhausen shop manual on order, so when that comes, and I've read it a few times, I might be brave enough to venture into polishing.

If none of the above is satisfactory, the C&S trigger kit sounds like the way to go for me. The trigger isn't bad enough that I feel that Springfield should fix it free, and shipping it to them will probably set me back good chunk of change anyway (Isn't S&W's free service and shipping great!). Maybe I'll call them and ask their opinion.

As for the gunsmith: I'm going to be moving to the Bay Area to take the bar, and for my new job in about a month, so I'd love to know of good smiths up there, but this gun is sort of a father-son-son project, so kitchen-table gunsmithing, if effective, would be preferred.

Thanks again everybody. You are all an enorous help.