For perspective, I own a Springfield GI model. I see it is pretty easy to push in the recoil spring plug and rotate the barrel bushing as needed by hand.
Do the more expensive 1911 pistols not allow the bushings to be rotated by hand and require a wrench?
I see many references to barrel wrenches for sale.
Along these lines, when I see reference to bull barrels, does that mean that the barrels diameter is much greater and that the corresponding bushings ID must be much greater as well? I assume the front hole in the slide is adjusted accordingly.
Some, but certainly not all high-end 1911 makers do sell their pistols with bushings tight enough to require a wrench. Sometimes, however, the bushing wrench is needed, not because of the tightness of the bushing's fit, but because the gun uses a full-length guide rod (FLGR). These gizmos use an open- front plug, to mate with the bushing, and pressing this thing in with a finger may be possible, but it's not all that pleasant... would you like to thumb- press this plug?
A bushing wrench, to keep it in while you turn the bushing, can be very handy.
Now, about barrels... Usually, when you read "bull barrel", it's safe to assume that there is NO barrel bushing. The outside diameter of the barrel matches the diameter of the openning in the slide - which is the same diameter as a 1911 with a bushing. Here's one:
While this is a competition pistol, the bull/cone barrel setup is often used on compact and subcompact 1911s. If the barrel length is reduced below about 4.25 inches, the bushing starts interfering with the barrel lugs, so pretty much everything under 4 inches comes 'bushingless'. The old Colt Officer's came with a specially configured bushing for its 3.5" barrel, though.
There is one exception to the "bull barrel" reference. Nowadays, the diameter of the slide's opening, for the bushing or bull/cone barrel, is always [more or less] the same. And if a bushing is used, the barrel's OD may vary a little, but not much. This wasn't always the case. When Colt first started making 1911s in calibers other than .45 Auto, the barrels were thinner, and the bushings and slides were configured accordingly. This applies to 1911s in 9mm, .38 Super, and some .38 Special Wadcutter models/conversions.
More recently, Colt decided to use barrels with the same OD in all calibers (assuming a bushing is used, because in some compacts, it isn't). This undoubtedly pleased gunsmiths no-end, because tracking down the early sub- caliber barrel bushings was a pain... Colt, in its nomeclature, refers to these (usually .38 Super) new 1911s as 'bull-barreled' pistols, to separate them from the early models with thinner barrels and smaller bushings.
Here's a picture of a current-production Super .38 Colt Special Combat Government, with a "bull barrel" (picture is from Hunter's review in the E- zine):
Apart from this, rather specialized reference, you can assume that a 'bull- barreled' 1911 is a bushingless 1911 - which, obviously, doesn't need a bushing wrench!
A metal wrench will be required to remove a bushing from a Les Baer gun.
quote:
A metal wrench will be required to remove a bushing from a Les Baer
gun.
Not necessarily, mine haven't, I use the supplied plastic wrench on them.
I can turn the bushing on my Baer TRS by hand, but I have to push the slide out of battery to do it.
My Dan Wesson CBOB, oddly enough, absolutely requires a wrench.
The TRS is the more accurate gun.
One of these days, somebody'll make a gun where bushing installation & removal will require heating the slide nose to a dull cherry and chilling the bushing in liquid nitrogen...
...and they'll sell like hotcakes!
I broke two plastic wrenches trying to turn the bushing on my TRS when it was new & had to buy the nice aluminum wrench that Brownells sells. I made a slurry of some oil & JB Bore Paste & lapped it in 'till I can just start it by hand when the slide is out of battery. I still need a wrench to move it all the way but now a plastic one will suffice. There hasn't been any change in the accuracy of the gun that I can tell at my level of shooting skill.
I'd say yours were quite a bit tighter than mine, and I thought mine were tight.
FWIW, I've never needed a metal bushing wrench on any of my Les Baers. Plastic has worked just fine.
That's not too surprising for any mortal's level of shooting skill. Mathematically, an extra 0.0005" of slop between the bushing and slide in a 5" gun will see the group size enlarge a bit less than 1/4 inch at 50 yards or a bit less than 1/32 inch at 7 yards.
You couldn't tell the difference even if shot from a Ransom Rest!
IMHO, bushing wrenches are something needed only by M1911 Bench Rest Association members.