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Thread: Slide to frame fit on new gun?

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  1. #1
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    Slide to frame fit on new gun?

    Hi, I just picked up a new Colt Competition Series 9mm from a dealer on GB. Very nice looking pistol and seems to shoot okay but has a lot of slop in the slide to frame fit. Best I can measure, it's about .005"-.007" of side to side movement in both front and back. Actually it was the first thing I noticed when I picked the gun up for the first time. It's enough that if I hold the gun like I'm going to to shoot it, and shake it from side to side I can feel the slide clunking back and forth.
    I haven't called the dealer or Colt yet because I really don't want to deal with the hassle of sending it back, but it does bother me somewhat, that a pistol that is supposed to be competition ready has so much play in the fit out of the box.
    I'm debating on weather to just sell it or try to squeeze the slide a little and re lap with some JB paste.
    I just wanted to get the opinion of some other more experienced Colt owners, is this normal or acceptable for a new $800 gun?

  2. #2
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    $800 is hardly a high-end pistol in today's market, and the Competition Series is intended for action shooting competitions rather than bullseye. Reliability is more important than gnat's eyelash accuracy, and an overly-tight slide to frame fit often works against reliability. Without actually holding your pistol I can't form a good opinion on the fit, but my inclination is to consider it normal.
    Hawkmoon
    On a good day, can hit the broad side of a barn ... from the inside
    Likes (1) :
    oldCop (26th March 2019)


  3. #3
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    I should have noted that the gun is pretty much perfect in every other aspect.
    Colt 9MM.JPG
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    DocWyatt (9th March 2019)


  4. #4
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    Shoot it and see how it does. Many factors affect accuracy, way more than slide-to-frame fit.

    It sure looks good. Not sure about the grips, though.
    Too many people miss the silver lining because they're expecting gold.
    M. Setter

  5. #5
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    If the pistol is "pretty much perfect" then you have a good gun; leave it alone and shoot it. Colts have traditionally been known for a less than tight fit. It makes for a better combat pistol. Also, frame to slide fit has little to do with accuracy. It's the fit of the barrel to the slide (both front and rear) that decides accuracy. Ammo has a lot to do with it, too. The AMU (Army Marksmanship Unit) years ago tested this by tightly fitting slides to the frame and machine resting the guns, comparing accuracy to guns that hadn't been peened/crush fit. Not much difference in accuracy. Just because a pistol is "tight" doesn't mean it's built well or accurate.

    Peen your slide to the frame and you've just ruined a nice pistol. Read the article in "AMERICAN GUNSMITHING" a couple of months back and you'll get a good understanding of slide to frame fit. You're better off testing different brands/lots of ammo before getting any work done. Best grouping 9mm ammo is from Atlanta Arms...115 grain match ball, which the Army teams uses.
    Bob

    AMU-built gun. Slide wasn't crush-fit. Superb shooter at 25 and 50 yards. Target was fired at 25 yards, rapid-fire, 230 grain GI match ball.
    Bob


    50 yard 10-shot group, 185 grain Federal match, fired from a machine rest. Frame and slide have been fitted and lapped, but not peened and crush-fit.
    Likes (3) :
    Gruntshooter (12th March 2019), oldCop (28th March 2019), rock185 (4th July 2019)

    Last edited by OIF2; 3rd March 2019 at 23:06.


  6. #6
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    .005 - .007 inches of slop is not going to contribute much to being off target. At most a fraction of an inch at twenty yards. A good way to verify this is to use some online sight adjustment calculators. You are likely to see more improvement in accuracy by installing a tighter barrel bushing than adjusting the rails.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by OIF2 View Post

    50 yard 10-shot group, 185 grain Federal match, fired from a machine rest. Frame and slide have been fitted and lapped, but not peened and crush-fit.
    Bob, does your trigger guard have a boo boo?

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pyrenean View Post
    Bob, does your trigger guard have a boo boo?
    Just a couple of stitches; it'll be fine! Actually, it's wrapped that way to show the trigger is legal (makes weight of 4.0 lbs) for a CMP match. I never take the tape off (bad karma); it builds up over several matches.
    Bob

  9. #9
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    Thanks I appreciate the input. That is why I asked here before taking any drastic measures.
    My only experience with Colt is the 100ANV model I recently got and that one has no noticeable play in the slide, and few that I handled before ordering this one.
    I have built four 1911's from 80 frames, two steel and two alloy, and they all function flawlessly, thanks to the info I've found on this site and studying the two Kuhnhausen books not to mention a fair amount of trial and error. I found it very rewarding but they will never be worth the time and money that I spent building them and actually made me want a real Colt 1911 even more.
    Now back to this Competition 9mm, I did put about 100 rounds of Win 124 NATO though it the other day but it was rather cold and nasty out so I basically wanted to make sure it worked. There were no malfunctions of any kind and the trigger has a nice clean break, measuring consistent 4 lbs with a Wheeler scale.
    Also, the G10 Grips have a lot more texture then they appear to in the photos and give a good grip. However if you guys would have said, " No!! .006" side to side play is too much, send it back" I would have no problem with clamping the slide in a padded vise and squeezing it just a little bit. But for now, I'll just wait for some better weather and take it out and shoot it.

    Thanks Again, Rick

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pyrenean View Post
    .005 - .007 inches of slop is not going to contribute much to being off target. At most a fraction of an inch at twenty yards. A good way to verify this is to use some online sight adjustment calculators.
    In practice, even that amount is debatable. From a Ramsom rest, yes. But when you're actually holding the gun, you're lining up the sights, which are on the slide. So other than effects on barrel lockup in the rear, slide-to-frame fit shouldn't really matter much (within reasonable limits), especially if the gun is built for practical shooting, rather than Bullseye -- which I think is the case for this Colt.

    EDIT: by 'this Colt' of course I'm referring to the OP's pistol.
    Too many people miss the silver lining because they're expecting gold.
    M. Setter
    Likes (1) :
    oldCop (26th March 2019)

    Last edited by Spyros; 4th March 2019 at 17:58.


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