1911 Spare Parts

[Mr_Sheesh]

Hey all. For a 1911 I have, considering that it's time to get a few spare parts "for when" I shoot it enough to wear things, like the sear, hammer, etc.; What's the usual current spares kit you folks think apt for this? Thanks!

[mozeppa]

if it gets too bad to shoot....hang it on the wall for the good memories....and buy a new one!

[LUCKYDAWG13]

Only thing I keep on hand https://www.brownells.com/handgun-parts/recoil-parts/recoil-springs/1911-government-recoil-springs-prod7553.aspx
and this https://www.brownells.com/magazines/handgun-magazines/magazines/govt-45-acp-8-rd-silver-polymer-base-sku965000050-24513-51208.aspx?rrec=true

[DougGuy]

Mr Sheesh you could shoot that 1911 every single day, chances are you will age and start falling apart a LONG time before the pistol does! JMB was NOT playing when he perfected the 1911A1.

[Petrol & Powder]

I played with the 1911 for a long time, took a complete break from the model for several years and have recently returned to the platform.

By the time you wear out a hammer or a sear, you will have worn out something else first. A good hardened sear from a quality manufacturer will probably out last barrel bushings, links, extractors, etc.
The slide rails will eventually get loose, the barrel to slide fit will get loose, the recoil spring will get weak but that stuff takes a lot of shooting to become unusable !

Some people change recoil springs a lot. I can see that if you're running reduced power springs for light target loads OR you're running standard springs and hot loads. I've had very good luck with factory springs and moderate loads over thousands of rounds.

Good quality magazines, loads that don't punish the gun, clean it when you shoot it and keep it well lubed - you probably will not need spare parts.

If you really want to be prepared for a failure - buy a spare PISTOL !

[Rick R]

I had a 70 version of Colt’s 1911. I managed to break the slide stop and the hammer sears. It took several thousand rounds.
I’d concour that once you find a 1911 you like just buy and vette a second one. Like the song says “no worries, be happy!”

[johniv]

In 50 years of shooting the 1911, I have broken one (1) sear spring, one (1) extractor, and a couple of "firing pin stops" Of course I have replaced a recoil spring or 2
I keep some of these parts on hand.

[contender1]

The OP has asked an honest question, and while most folks do not experience parts failures,,,, they do happen.
In USPSA competition, I have seen or experienced many parts failures. Both from serious hard shooting competitors, and from the occasional local shooter. i personally had a new Kimber I bought have a bad hammer & sear.

In general here are things I've seen fail;
Extractor
Ejector
Firing pin stop
magazine feed lips
barrel link
hammer
sear
grip screws
grip screw inserts
front sights

Various springs & pins accompany these parts.

[reddog81]

The recoil spring should be replaced every couple thousand rounds or thereabouts. Other than that it’s hard to recommend a handful of items that might fail. Once you start buying all the parts that might fail you’d be better off just buying second gun. I’ve seen a couple decent used 1911’s in the $500 range in the last couple of months.

If you must buy spare parts I’d go with the top 3 items on contender1’s list - extractor, ejector, and firing pin stop.

[Mr_Sheesh]

My first was a Series 70, it's gone through 2 sears / hammers as it has been shot a LOT - At one time I was firing at least 1-2k rounds most every weekend, over a number of years, plus what I could at other times (if caught up on reloading, of course! LOL)

Used Wolff Pack springs and a recoil buffer, slightly heavier springs, to prevent hammering on the slide etc. (Bad Juju that.) Backup guns are always a good idea, true. But I am thinking "a lifetime's worth of parts", and hoping to get back shooting at least 500 rounds a weekend once I move.

It does take a LOT of rounds to wear out a sear / hammer, but if you have a backup then you can relax about it - I like low stress in regards to spare parts :)

Part of that's from having a parent who didn't get the concept of "Fixing Things so they worked RIGHT", they'd drive a car that was so messed up (usually from their being clueless on Carb rebuilds) that you'd have to restart it every 1/2 mile or so, and we're talking pop the hood, remove air cleaner's top, drop a tablespoon's handle into the Carb to hold the choke plate open (which they'd idiotically set completely TOO hard on the electric choke) - Start car, jump back out and remove spoon, put air cleaner top back on, slam hood gently and dive back in to drive off as others honk madly at you for being an idiot etc.... A few years of watching that and you get to where you do NOT want to be like that in ANY way shape or form. And every car they had, had problems like that; If I fixed the problems they'd UNfix it in some way within a month. Just ACK.

[CJR]

Whatever spare parts you plan to buy; avoid MIM (i.e. metal powder compacted & heat fused) parts like the plague. More 1911 malfunctions are caused by MIM parts breaking or by incorrectly made parts trying to solve some non-existent 1911 problem. I only buy forged parts or parts machined out of solid rolled bar-stock. There are many excellent 1911 part manufacturers available and I've used many over the years. I've now standardized on using EGW 1911 parts and I'm very satisfied with their quality and fit. George Smith, who runs EGW, is very savvy on 1911s.

Best regards,

CJR

[TNsailorman]

Well, everybody to his own experience but the only problem I ever had with a 1911 as far as wear or breakage was concerned was when I had to replace the barrel on a 70 Series Colt because the barrel lugs were peened. Probably caused by a weak spring and heavy loads by the previous owner(my guess only). It was that way when I bought it and I got a very good price on it because the owner thought it was "shot out" and was willing to unload it at a bargain price. james

[El Bibliotecario]

In fifty years of experience with the Colt Government model I have had one broken firing pin. Draw your own conclusions.

[elginrunner]

Only thing I keep on hand https://www.brownells.com/handgun-parts/recoil-parts/recoil-springs/1911-government-recoil-springs-prod7553.aspx
and this https://www.brownells.com/magazines/handgun-magazines/magazines/govt-45-acp-8-rd-silver-polymer-base-sku965000050-24513-51208.aspx?rrec=true

I will add to this and say that due to action springs not being replace may lead to other component failures... springs compress when under tension all the time. It's a cheap Preventative Maintenance !!

[Bazoo]

On my Springfield Armory mil spec stainless.

I've had the front sight come loose and need restaked and the plunger tube come loose and need restaked.

The safety plunger is a high wear part, at least for my gun.

I'd recommend
Safety plunger
slide stop plunger
Safety plunger spring
Firing pin stop
Extractor
Bushing
Slide stop
Grip bushings
Grip screws
Hammer and sear pins
Disconnector
Spring pack
Several mag springs

The main cause of slop in the lockup of a 1911 is dropping the slide on an empty chamber. It will cause cracked / broken lower locking lugs, broken links, and worn slide stop pin (which the lower locking lug rides against).

Bazoo

[nicholst55]

I've seen very nearly every single part of a USGI M1911A1 break, but typically only after many thousands of rounds in daily firing. Slides cracked, barrel bushings broke, barrels sheared the lugs off, slide stops broke, sights flew off, etc. I stock all springs and pins, an extractor, a firing pin stop, firing pin, and maybe a slide stop. I stock high quality aftermarket parts, and they tend to last much longer in use than the cheap stuff does.

[Plate plinker]

Extractor and springs. Then a spare gun.

[Bigslug]

Extractor - the hooks sometimes break off.

Firing pin stop - after enough hits, they'll crack at the 8:00 corner where the distance between the firing pin and the edge is the thinnest.

Recoil and firing pin springs swap every 2500-5000 rounds depending on what recoil spring weight you're running and intensity of the load.

Breaking anything else is going to fall into "fluke malfunction" territory. Hammer/sear issues are often going to be related to tweaking the gun for light "target" engagement. That sort of thing is best left to pros. For true military sear engagement angles and full power springs, it's not an area I'd worry about enough to keep spare parts around.

I would check and make sure your barrel link pin and hammer strut pin are both staked tightly in place so they don't disappear on you - after that, no need to worry about spares.

[sqlbullet]

Like others have said, the only things I keep around are recoil springs and magazines. And all my 1911's are 10mm.

It is relevant to note here why the 1911 rose to dominance as the platform to use. It had little to do with the inherent shoot-ability of the 1911 and everything to do with its longevity and availability at the time compared to other guns. Patrick Sweeney makes this point clear in his book 1911 The First 100 Years. If you were going to spend several thousand dollars improving every aspect of the gun, you wanted to start with something commonly available, and you wanted a platform that was known to last a very long time in regular use. The 1911 met both of these requirements in spades.

[reddog81]

At the point when you've replaced 2 hammers/sears everything else on the gun is probably worn out...

Anyone with that much experience shooting 1911's should be telling others which parts one should stock up and the expected service life of the components. Most 1911's out there don't get shot 1,000 rounds per year much less 1,000 every weekend.

[boatbum101]

I too am not a MIM part fan . Unfortunately many manufacturers use them to reduce production costs . My first introduction to them was a problematic Kimber Gov't size . Short chambered etc . After sending it back 8 times I finally made a Bullseye wadcutter gun out of it . Only things still Kimber are the slide & frame . All internals replaced with EGW parts & hard fitted Kart NM barrel & bushing . Even Caspian's quality control has slipped , Kimber & S&W would rather fix it under warranty than make it right to begin with . Depending on guns intended use dictates how you build the gun . Wadcutter with light target loads is setup different from either a CMP / EIC Harball gun & a duty / carry gun is even more stringent . Only constant is barrel fit & lockup . Springs & mags are cheap & should be changed frequency depends on loads & feeding issues . Hardball & defensive pistols a small radius firing pin stop , full strength recoil & main springs etc . I'd at least keep a spare slide stop pin , firing pin stop , extractor & a couple of spare mags . Most mags changing out springs & followers & tweaking feed lips if needed will keep them running assuming you bought good ones to begin with . I also prefer the GI style recoil guide rod & plugs , FLGR deletes the ability to press cock the weapon in the case you lose use of one arm / hand . I will not put any trigger lighter than NRA legal weight for class & defensive guns 4 1/2lbs period . Polishing parts & painstaking fitting goes a very long way . Stay away from gimmicks like the Spingco recoil rods etc . 1911's will usually give years of dependable reliable service if they're built right with quality parts . Like anything mechanical parts do wear out & / or fail . Just like your car good lubrication & a good maintanance program will reduce failures as will an annual full strip / deep cleaning & careful inspection of all parts . Many times you can spot a potential problem before it becomes a critical failure . If one is not willing to do so get a Glock as 1991's aint for you .

[wv109323]

I would keep springs(recoil,mainspring,firing pin and sear). I would keep an extractor and a firing pin stop. All other parts probably will not fail suddenly and give you time to order before replacing.

[Baltimoreed]

Had a sear break right down the middle and the gun still fired but bought a used Safari Arms with a bunch of bad stuff, rear of firing pin was peened enough to jam in the stop, bbl bushing cracked, bad disconnector but eventually I got it right but the easiest way to fix a broken gun is a New York reload, grab another gun.

[bob208]

navy arms imported the argentine 1911's we bought a box full of the worst ones for rebuild. the first thing to replace was the recoil spring and barrel bushing some of the other springs were bad also.out of 12 guns had to squeeze one slide. one bad trigger and one bad hammer.

[str8wal]

On my single well used 1911 I had to replace the extractor as the original had worn to the point it wouldn't consistently eject a case. Other than that it's been running fine.

[samari46]

Spare extractor
Spare firing pin
firing pin plate.in truth after the first one was so sloppy I fitted an oversized one.
Spare slide stop
Spare stock screws
Firing pin springs in the weight you are using according and what power level your at and maybe a pound up or down. spare wrench for barrel bushing.

Really lubricate the slides, bushing and generally take care of what you have.Frank

[Mr_Sheesh]

No matter HOW much you know, it's never a bad idea to "sanity check" your thoughts with other knowledgeable folks - I find I usually learn something that way. Better to learn from others' experience AND ones' own, than just from ones' own.

boatbum101 - Put the sights against your belt and shove the pistol away from the hammer for 1-handed cycling the action, works even wiht a full length guide rod; Tho I don't have any of those, these are set up for SD only.

Backup gun, yeppers.