I ended up finishing my rail slightly thicker, and decided that I would lap the slide to the frame for a nice tight fit.
At first, I could barely get the slide past half inch onto the rails. Lap, lap, lap, thwack thack,thwack, you know the story.
Little by little, I got to the end, but the very last tiny bit was tough, because it got to the point where I would get the slide all the way back, but it would get stuck, I assembled the upper components to see if the recoil spring was strong enough to push it back forward. Nope, so on I go. Lap, lap, lap....
I finally got it to the point where, when well oiled, it will slide back without effort, but get stuck. after assembly, the recoil spring slams it forward nice and tight.
But... (You knew there was a BUT here!;), now that I thought I was done, I notice that the slide is not all that tight. I can slightly rock the slide along barrel centerline axis. (OK, if aiming forward, I can grab the slide from the top, and can rock it slightly from the left to right, and vice versa).
So, how much play is ok in this area? I measured the rail dimensions, all is within spec, so the lapping got the frame to the right dimensions. So I will assume that the play is now coming from the slide. (It was a Sarco anyway). I don't own any 1911's to compare it to so I need your opinion.
Anyway, the lockup looks good, the barrel is stiff in the slide when locked up, and I can manually cycle without a problem. I just want to make sure this is useable. ( Just for reference sake, all the fireworks are contained in the chamber right?
Perhaps a longer barrel link? I saw them in brownells, so I figure if the link is longer, it would push the barell higher, thus pushing the entire slide higher, giving it a tighter fit? Good, no good?
Any opinions are appreciated, thanks. :)
I don't have any 1911's with loose slides, but I do have a Dawoo DP51 in 9mm. With the hammer cocked and the mag out, if you shake the gun back and forth you can hear the slide rattle because it is so loose. The gun was like this when I bought it new, there is no wear on the slide or the frame, it's just a loose fit. The gun functions perfectly and is very accurate, so I never worried about it.
A few thousandsth play in the frame to slide fit is no problem. Most stock 1911's have much more slop than than it sounds like yours is displaying. I would not long-link your 1911 because you might start running into timing problems which can ruin your barrel or slide. In theory yes you are correct that a longer link will push up on your barrel therefore tightening your slide. but what is supposed to push up on the barrel is the slide stop bearing on the barrels lower lugs. If you long link it the slide stop never touches the lower lugs and the barrel now sits higher which might crash with the slide attempting to come to the rear when pistol is cycling. The result can be the slides upper lugs being damaged or the barrels upper lugs rounding off.
I was wondering... (please correct me if I'm wrong)
Everything looks pretty good. It picks up a round, gets it into the chamber, good lock up (with the exception of that slight play).
Now I was wondering, so long as the round is firmly in the chamber, everything should be ok, right? I mean, I tried thinking about this; the expansion during combustion is contained within the walls of the round, and kept in check by the barrel chamber. Forward expansion is ok, because that proppels the projectile, and rearward momentum of the round is ok, because that's what we need for cycling.
That being said, am I correct in assuming that so long as the round is kept firmly in the chamber (By the slide), everything should be OK safety wise?? (Regardless of slight play in the slide).
The problem described in your opening post about the slide being stuck in the rearward position is something I ran into and fixed on my first build. The rail slots in the slide are cut with a circular cutter and, as a result, they have a radius at the front end. When the slide slams back on the frame the front outer corners of your frame rails are probably jamming into one, the other, or both of those radii at the front end of the slide slots. The solution is to radius the front outer corners of the frame rails to a larger radius than what was left by the slide slot cutting operation. Once I did that on mine the slide slid in both directions without any coaxing whatsoever. FWIW
Chinaheart, If you are getting some rattle in the slide fit, don't forget that these were made to be used in mud, poop, get all gummed up, and still funtion reliably. I have a beauty 1943 Reminton-Rand 1911A1 that has some good rattle to it, but it is the BEST for reliability and accuracy that I've got.
Come to think of it, it's probably more the fact that I didn't make that one myself!
Marv hit the nail on the head with that last post, though. I had the same trouble with the rearward slide jam!
quote
That being said, am I correct in assuming that so long as the round is kept
firmly in the chamber (By the slide), everything should be OK safety wise??
(Regardless of slight play in the slide).
I am sure your pistol is quite safe as long as the disconnector is working properly and the disconnector track in your slide are in the right place. A little slop in your frame does not make for a dangerous pistol if thats what you are worried about.