Barrel Upgrade

[flyfish]

I am considering upgrading the barrel on my PT-1911 Taurus someday and wanted advice as to what parts should be replaced at the same time. The bushing is obvious but how about the slide release. Is this a job that should be done by a gunsmith to get it right? All advice is welcome.

[gbw]

How old is the pistol and how much use has it seen? You probably should check, or have checked, the slide to look for any abnormal lug wear or cracks.

Unless the slide stop is badly worn, out of spec, or battered into deformity there's no need to replace it.

You will want to replace the barrel link and pin, along with the barrel and bushing.

Will you be using a 'drop-in' barrel or a 'fitting-required' barrel?

In either case, or even if a 'drop-in' barrel actually does drop-in, you will want to have the pistols' timing and barrel/slide clearances checked by someone who knows 1911s.

Are the PT-1911 parts supposed to be interchangeable with mil-spec 1911s?

[Dave Berryhill]

I haven't had a chance to look at a PT-1911 so I don't know the quality of the barrels. However, most factory 1911 barrels are pretty good, just not fit very tight. An oversized barrel bushing fit to your slide and barrel (or even one of EGW's drop-in angle bore bushings that is a close fit) will usually increase the accuracy quite a bit.

If your barrel's lower lugs are not locking up tightly on your slide stop and the diameter of your slide stop pin is less than .200 then a new slide stop with an oversized pin such as EGW's (or mine :) ) should help too. If you have the work done by a gunsmith then have him touch up the barrel crown while you're at it.

[flyfish]

Thanks to you both. The machining on the crown is a little crude. I only have about 700 rounds through it so far. I was at the range today and shot about 3" groups (not counting 2 flyers) at 25 yards so maybe I shouldn't complain. Might make more sense to trade in these 50 year old eyes :D I did have my first feed failure today on ejecting the last round on one mag. It stayed horizontal and crushed the open end of the casing. It bent the mag a little so I carefully returned it to original shape and the next 16 rounds fed without a hicup.

[ArmscorBA]

OH! The 1911!!!!! ;) ;) :lm: :lm:
Ivan

[flyfish]

Ivan,
If it didn't keep you guessing it would take a little of the fun out of it!! Besides don't blame the gun until operator error is ruled out. :p

[twin oaks]

Shooting 3" at 25 yards? If there's no obvious damage to the barrel, just have some minor things done, like a fitted bushing, and touching up the barrel crown. That single FTF sounds more like an oddball round than a problem.

[flyfish]

Shooting 3" at 25 yards? If there's no obvious damage to the barrel, just have some minor things done, like a fitted bushing, and touching up the barrel crown. That single FTF sounds more like an oddball round than a problem.
I'm not losing sleep over 1 FTF and proves beautiful isn't perfect. I cleaned the mags when I got home but found nothing unusual. It kinda made me think about buying a couple extra mags when I can.

[Truckjohn]

I have one of the PT1911's too.

I mic'd the barrel and slide, then put in an EGW
custom fit barrel bushing. Shooting some Hornady
swaged lead 200g SWC's handloads -- it shot about 1.5" group
at 25 yards off a front bag. I still haven't totally gotten
the hang of iron sights, but I am getting closer.

The Taurus barrels are pretty good barrels -- mine indicated
round to my ability to measure it (+/- 0.0005").... Unlike my friend's
Springfield GI barrel -- 0.005" out of round egg shaped.

As stated, so long as the barrel is locking up correctly, you
will get decent service out of it with a better fit bushing.

Good luck

John