Hi, is the pin which connects the strut to the hammer supposed to be a hammer in squeeze fit or is it supposed to slip in. Mine appears to be just slightly too wide. It can be slightly pushed in to place with a lot of force and then maybe hammered the rest of the way but im not sure if this is the way it is supposed to be installed or not as this is my first 1911 build. Any ideas and solutions? Cheers.
The pin is supposed to be a tight fit in the holes in the hammer. You don't want the pin to be able to back-out when cycling. The hammer strut itself should be a loose fit on the pin and should pivot freely around it.
The hammer strut is very tight on the pin i can hammer it in but then its just stuck rigid and needs hammering back out. The pin came with the strut and hammer in the kit. should i try squeezing the pin to make it slimmer?
I hammered the pin into the hammer which seems to have thinned it a little now when i put the pin into the strut i can pivot the strut easily but there is very slight resistance like a tight fit but it does pivot, should it be much looser than that?
What i mean is if i hold the pin in a vice with the strut attached i can turn the strut around and around in circles but when i let go of it, lets say i pivot it up and let go it doesnt fall back down to its starting position it sticks where i turned it to. Not any stiff resistance its easy to turn but it doesnt go back to the starting point if i let go. Is this normal or should it be loose enough that it falls back on its own everytime?
Yes, it "should" fall back to it's starting point when you let go of it, but, as long as the strut will turn easily around the pin, don't worry about it.
It will loosen up and "fit" itself just fine once you actually start shooting the pistol.
Okay cheers mate ive put some lube in the hole and its turning nicely.