70 series combat commander

[llewellyn]

Can anyone tell me how to fit an Ed Brown slide stop? It drops in and seems to fit ok--moves up and down freely, but will not lock the slide back. I tried the slide stop out of another 1911 and it works fine.

[wichaka]

Tell me how you're testing the stop. Are you live firing, or inserting an empty mag.?

There are generally 2 areas on a slide stop that need to be looked at when being fitted.
1) The lug that engages the follower on the mag. Browns are usually oversize in this area, so you need to take the slide off the gun, insert 2 rounds in a mag and put the mag in the gun. As you slide the mag up the well, watch the slide stop lug carefully to make sure no part of the cartridge makes contact. If it does, dress it back slowly with either a med stone, or a #4 swiss cut file. Go slow, taking a couple swipes at a time until there is no contact. Then push the top round out of the mag and watch the next one come up. Again making sure the bullet does not make contact with the lug. Take out that mag, and put another in to see if the follower contacts the lug and pushes the stop up. If it works, and it should, re-insert the other mag with the one round still left in it, and check again for contact. Dress back accordingly again if needed. Then slide the last round out of the mag. watching the follower make contact with the lug, and pushing it up into its slide lock position. When you've got the right amount taken off, polish it up with 400-600 grit emory cloth or the like.

If it doesn't push it up, make sure its making contact with the mag follower. This why I say to take a couple swipes at a time, as you don't want to take too much off, or the lug will be too small to make contact with the follower and you'll have to get another slide stop.

2) The second area that MAY need attention is the end of the stop where it contacts the plunger. Sometimes they will need to have a bit taken off the end, so it lessens the grip that the plunger has on the stop. Now go very very slow here. If you take too much, you'll get premature slide lock back from it being too loose. You should round off the part of the lug where the plunger meets it. I do this for ease of insertion........helps keep the 'idiot scratch' from happening.

If I didn't say it before.........I will again. Go very slow, time is on your side.

Let me know how it goes..........

[1911Tuner]

Just in case wichaka's advice doesn't nail it down...

Remove the plunger assembly and assemble the gun as usual, but without the recoil system so you won't have to fight the spring. If the gun has a stub guide rod, take it out too. Move the slide back and align the stop notch with the stop, and slowly move the stop up and down into the notch to see if there's any interference or roughness. It should move smoothly into engagement. It's a small area there, and just a little tolerance stacking or a sharp edge somewhere can cause a tight spot, and prevent the stop from engaging. I normally use a triangular file to put just a TINY bevel in the slot
that slips over the slide, just as a matter of course during the prep and pre-fit.
Don't get carried away, or the stop will pop out when the gun is being fired.
TINY bevel...more of a smoothing/deburring cut actually.

These things are usually simple, and usually just a bit of attention to detail corrects the problems...It's the little things that getcha.

Standin' by...

Tuner