filing the slide

[gct12435]

I am a proud new owner of a new colt gold cup trophy. when i took the gun home i noticed that the hammer was leaning and touching the left part of the slide as the hammer fell. i took it to my smith and he filed the slide down to where the hammer would not rub the slide. what harm would this have done to the pistol?

[John]

Metal contacting metal is not good. Post a picture of the area you are talking about. I am not sure that filing the slide is the proper way to solve the problem, since the problem may be deeper than the symptom shows. If that was a new Colt you should have send it back to Colt.

[Hawkmoon]

He filed the SLIDE? Did he determine that the slide was out of spec, or was that just a knee-jerk "fix"? Considering the relative cost of a hammer compared to a slide, I think unless I was VERY certain the slide was out of spec I certainly would have filed the hammer. In fact, many performance-grade hammers come slightly narrowed to ensure that they don't strike the slide.

You might want to consider never using that gunsmith's services again.

[paul45]

I am not a gunsmith. But I must say I am shocked. I can only agree with Hawkmoon and advise you to NEVER use that persons "services" EVER.

[RickB]

While filing the hammer would have been the better fix, the truth is, no harm was probably done by filing on the slide. Since the part of the slide that was filed is not easily visible, it saved have to do a careful refinishing of the hammer. I'm not saying that working on the slide was the best way to go, but for a cheap fix, it worked, and would do no harm (which was the original question). Virtually every Colt I have, from 1918 to 2004, has a hammer that leans to the left. On modern pistols, I work on the left side of the hammer, while on older G.I. pistols, I just let it rub.

[dakota1911]

Although I agree with Hawkmoon 100%, you said it was a "new" GC. The option I would have picked is to send it back to Colt.

Also in any problem always hack the cheapest part you can to make it work. For understanding go to a site like Brownells and look at the prices of slides over the prices of hammers.

[John]

RickB, I am sorry to say I have to agree with Hawkmoon. Filing the slide is not even a quick way to fix this. Milling maybe, filing? I mean all I would do, is mill the flats of the hammer to center it in the slide, after I determined the problem is not due to an out of spec frame or to a bend pin. Remember, this is a new gun!

[Justin]

But I must say I am shocked

Unfortuneately I'm not. There are a lot of self made so called "gunsmiths" out there that are nothing more than hackers. I made a mistake by taking a gun to one once. Luckily it was only a PT1911. Still made me mad when I went to pick up the gun.

[watchin]

I have an OACP hammer that lightly contacts the slide on the left side also. I have taken some of the material off the hammer but it still leaves a 'rub' mark. Next time I have the hammer off I will fit it properly.
Does anyone know the reason that so many Colt 1911 types rub to the left? Just makes me wonder.
-watchin-