1911 Assembly Problem

[AnthonyB]

EDITED:
It is the thumb safety blocking the hammer strut. The grip safety is not installed. That's my mistake.

Fellas:
I thought I'd made every reassembly mistake possible with a 1911 forty years ago but just found a new one. I like new mistakes better than old ones, but this is a doozie.

I installed the thumb safety with the hammer strut elevated instead of along the frame. The hammer strut is now blocked by the safety from dropping into position on the frame. "Ok, that was new. I'll just pull the safety back off ..."

I'm sure you see the predicament. The hammer is also blocked from moving to full cock because of the hammer strut blocking its pivot. Without the hammer at full-cock, I can't remove the safety.

This has surely been done before, but I've never seen it. How do I fix what appears to me unfixable?
Tony

[hiram]

Maybe someone here can help??

https://www.1911forum.com/

[AnthonyB]

Hiram:
Thanks. I'll try them if this bunch can't figure it out. I'm hoping for a duct-tape instead of machine shop solution.
Tony

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Can you just push/punch out the hammer and sear pins? That should make everything loose.

DG

[AnthonyB]

Nope. The safety is fully seated, so no access to the pins.
Tony

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Maybe an extended wiggle session? Wiggle the safety toward out, wiggle the hammer, wiggle the strut. Repeat. The 3-prong mainspring and grip safety are not in the frame, correct? I'll bet that you're not the only guy that's ever done this; although I've built 1911s and disassembled a couple hundred over the years, and I never heard of exactly your problem. Mechanical principles would seem to indicate that if you were able to get it assembled into its present condition it should also be able to be take apart. I'm thinking that you just have to wiggle the parts around until they're in exactly the right position to pull them apart.
Good luck!

DG

[Winger Ed.]

I'd try a wiggle session too.

If ya haven't done it yet,
it might help to remove the spring & housing on the rear of the grip to take the tension off the hammer strut.

[Mk42gunner]

If it went in, it has to be able to come out. It may or may not be simple, as I remember the hammer has to be at full cock to get the safety in all the way.

Wiggle, jiggle and shake while pulling on the safety. I would also remove the mainspring housing and sear spring if they are in place.

Good luck,

Robert

[rmcc]

Grasp safety, move upwards slightly while pulling towards you, do this several times until you feel it slide towards you slightly, then push safety down ever so little while continue pulling towards you. As stated above, it went in that way so has to come out. You also may have to put a little pressure on hammer.

[AnthonyB]

Fellas:
Thanks for the ideas. I put the whole thing in time-out yesterday after I posted. Maybe it will have decided to play nice today...
Tony

[AnthonyB]

Got it out. The "extended wiggle" did the trick, but I think it was the time-out that helped most...
Tony

[Winger Ed.]

Very good. Glad you didn't have to beat it into submission with a bigger hammer.

[AnthonyB]

I'll never do that one again. I've done 1911s hundreds of times but was distracted when I started putting it back together. I am curious about what I'll screw up next.
Tony

[Texas by God]

Leaving it and coming back to it later works more often than not, I’ve found.


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[T-Bird]

+1 to TBG