1911-A1 thumbsafety disassembly?

[phishfood]

I have a Springfield Armory 1911-A1 in 45 ACP that is giving me problems with the thumb safety locking in the On position.

Thinking that perhaps some grit has gotten into the spring-loaded plunger on the side of the frame, I am trying to remove the thumb safety to take apart the plunger tube for cleaning. Light tapping on the pin that the thumb safety pivots on doesn't seem to be producing any movement, so I am wondering if some part of the action has to be removed first to free that pin.

I don't mind being told that this is something better left to a competent gunsmith. On the other hand, I am somewhat mechanically inclined, and am not scared of learning as I go.

Can anyone help me out?

[blaser.306]

#1 be sure that the gun is unloaded and that the hammer is in the cocked position , The "thumb" safety should slide out with just a little resistance with a slight wiggle then .

[Char-Gar]

Field strip the pistol (remove the slide). Remove the magazine and remove the pin that hold in the main spring housing and remove it. You can then remove the three leaf spring under the housing.

Now you can grab the thumb safety and jiggle and pull it to the left. Work up and down as you jiggle and pull till it hits the right spot and comes out. The grip safety can also be removed as it is held in place by the thumb safety shaft.

Watch out the plunger doesn't take flight. It is spring loaded you know.

Reassemble in reverse order. Once you have replaced the three leaf spring, slide the mainspring housing in about 3/4 of the way to hold it in place while you replace the other parts. Last thing to do is shove the housing all the way in and replace the pin. Having the hammer in the forward/fired position makes this much easier.

No need for a gunsmith. There are plenty of videos on the net (Youtube) to help you disassemble the 1911 pistol. Once you get the knack, it is very easy.

[MtGun44]

Thumb safety MUST be in the intermediate position, neither on or off to remove, and
hammer must be cocked. The cam shape on the front of the 'corner' is what controls
the feel of the safety on and off. VERY subtle changes in this shape make big differences
in the feel and effort required to put on and take off. SLOWLY change the shape to
modify the forces.

Bill

[phishfood]

Thanks to everyone who has responded.

I have now removed and reassembled every part of my pistol except the trigger and magazine release, and the inner workings of it are no longer a mystery.

The source of the problem was indeed gunk and crud inside of the plunger, it is amazing how much had managed to build up in there.

The thought had occurred that perhaps the cam shape on the front of the thumb safety needed to be modified, but I remembered the thumb safety being very smooth in the past, so it seemed unlikely to be a manufacturing issue. This is a daily carry, getting pushed and jostled against truck seats and wall studs all day every day, so a light safety is probably not advisable. As it is, I have never found the safety to be accidently disengaged.

Once again, thanks for the help.

[lurch]

If you ever decide to take the magazine release out, that little doo-dad on the off side that looks like a screw - isn't. Depress the release about half way and gently turn 90 degrees with a screwdriver. There is a little tab on it that is in a slot int the frame and retains the release. That tab must be lined up with a slot in the magazine release and rotated out of the slot in the frame before the release will come out. If forced, it will break, as I found out some years ago when I thought I knew more than I actually did...

[MtGun44]

Use the tiny bent tip on the three finger spring to twist the LOCK - it is NOT a screw, on the
mag release. As stated, halfway depress the mag release, then rotate the LOCK 90 deg
CCW with the tip of the three finger spring and it will pop out.

Bill

[phishfood]

I owe you guys some more thanks, I almost certainly would have broke it trying to unscrew it.

[MtGun44]

"If all else fails, read the instructions."

:bigsmyl2:

Bill