I have an AMT Hardballer Longslide that has about .005 too much play side to side in the rail/slide fit. The slide is just a little too wide.
I have had this gun for a little while, and I'd like to get it shooting better.
Is there a simple way to squeeze the rails closed just a little bit?
I know that 1911 smiths use a squeeze tool & blocks to do this, but is there a way I can, safely, do this myself?
Have you tried the LONG SLIDE AND BARREL on another 1911 frame. It may be that the AMT frame is too narrow. On a STEEL FRAME I believe you can peen the rails to expand them , then lap them to fit the slide but I do not know if cast stainless can be peened it may chip. Maybe something like a Group Gripper spring guide and link may help accuracy with no major gunsmithing. They are listed at www.brownells.com
Squeezing a slide is a risky proposition, and its not something I do in my shop when tightening frame to slide. I occasionally peen the frame's rails lower which also expands the metal and makes the frames rails wider. Getting hardened ground plates available from Brownells that are .001 larger than your slides rail is necessary as is a ballpein hammer. Oh yeah, a large set of balls to beat on your gun almost forgot that one.
It must be in the air, I too own an AMT Longslide 7" Hardballer and I just did the rails and a slide squish. no fun atall.the other thing i noted with it was the barrel bushing cut in the slide was enormous at .709/.710 -+ causing a sloppy bushing fit, i ordered up an oversize Clark bushing with an O.D. of .714 from the nice folks at Brownell and that will help alot once I fit it up properly as well. Although I was able to get the vertical slop out peening my rails down they didnt expand as nicely for the horizontal slop as would a nice carbon steel frame hence the slide squash.
I'm not crazy about the whole "slide squeezing" idea, but wouldn't I add up & down play by peening the rails out?
I have tried the slide on another frame and it's too tight. However, that frame was from a custom hand fit gun, so I'm not sure how close to "Specs" it is.
The custom's slide does fit the Hardballer frame, and isn't as loose, but overhangs the rear a little.
I'd like to get this gun tighter, but I'm unsure on what way to go with it. It's a cool gun and I'd like to help make it better.
Am I wasting my time getting rid of the little slop in the fit, or is it worth the effort, to make the gun shoot better.
I mean would I be better off fitting a new better barrel or something, than tightening up the fit?
What I would do is get the lugs on the barrel legs cut until the slide's flush and stop when the lower legs hit .0100, after that any overhang on the slide can be filed and smoothed then reblued etc.
When you look at the rear of the slide youll see how the frames slide rail is, when it's peened down it brings the gap closer tightening it up vertically and horizontally. When I did mine I had peened the rear rails some and then did a final slight slide squash and lapped it in so it's smooth. In the front however I still have some vertical slop yet to tackle.
For a CCW carry gun I like them a bit loose in case I have to get down in the woods, I don't want dirt causing a jam on me at the wrong time. For target use I like 'em them tight with a tightly fitted bushing and very little slide slop. I have shot loose rattle can 1911's that shot 2" at 25 yards with a properly tight fitted bushing and I have shot the same with 1911's with tight slides and a tight fitted bushing. At least that's what I noticed anyhow but then again I'm old and my kids say I don't know nuthin' anyhows. I would like to try the Accurails out but man that's one helluva dent for 2 pieces of rod to get fitted in properly to avoid the peening/fitting process on the slides.
TooTall... Squeeeze it man, sqqqqueeeeze it! You can always go back and peen the slide. Always plenty of time spent filing & lapping afterwards. All the options the men listed work but squeezing is the only one that'll keep all the metal on your gun.
A little frame to slide slop is no big deal and nothing to worry about. Of course many dont like it and would choose to make it disappear if they could. Burma suggests squeezing the slide and that is a suggestion, I must admit I have never tried squeezing a slide because I have heard of many who cracked the slides rail but they may have oversqueezed. Sorry I cant give any advice on how much to squeeze in and how much springback you will get when squeezing.
As far as lowering the slides rail, No you will not get more slop because what you are doing is actually narrowing the frames slot when lowering the top deck of the frame. Narrowing the frames slot makes it capture the slides rail tighter therefore tightening the whole setup. An aside is the frames top deck also expands making it wider which tightens the right left slop of the frame/slide.
Ensure if you decide to fit a new barrel you do it after the frame/slide tighten job so you do not affect how the barrel links up.
Old Man:
I think You might have misunderstood what I was asking/saying. I don't always
explain well enough, so let me fill in some things.
The slide on the gun and the whole gun, as it was made, is stainless steel. I'm not trying to refit a slide on it, I'm just trying to see what I can do about the gun's frame to slide fit. By doing this, and a few other things, I hope to improve the guns fit, functionality, and relative accuracy.
The slide fits well on length and it's vertical fit is fine also. it is slightly loose side to side(maybe .005 worth of slop) and I would like to reduce this to make a tighter fit. I am hesitating on peening the rails, as I think that this would make the vertical fit sloppier. I am leaning more toward a small squeeze to the slide's rails to bring them in just a little.
I agree with your assessment of the orignal barrel bushing! Its sloppy as heck! I have an old one from my other gun in it now. It isn't the ideal one for it, but better than what was in it! I am planing on fitting an oversize one in, when I figure out if I am replacing the barrel or not.
This is not going to be a carry gun. It Would fit me (I'm 6'5" and 280+), and it would be fun to do so, but I prefer a standard "Government" size. I too think that a little more open tolerances in a Carry gun is probably a good thing.
Bud Burma:
I think that you and I are on the same page for this one. I don't see
anything(other than a big $$$ rail system) that will do, what I think needs
doing. I am actually looking forward to the "Lapping" part!
TS when ya peen 'em down properly the edge will pull the vertical slop out as the rails peened down, I did mine a touch more today actually but I still has me some slop left in the front I'm working at (us old folks is slow but sure if anything). On the standard Clark bushing I used it has 3 ribs to file lightly to fit to the slide of yours has a wide cut like mine did at .710.
The # from Brownells is #181-001-145, it's the only one they got that's .714 OD. If your slide bushing hole's large as life like mine and the ID in that bushing is .575.