Installed fitted barrel bushing what can I expect?

[s197shockwave]

I own a MIL SPEC that has some minor mods.

These include:
S&A grip safety
SACS extended slide safety
Wilson Hammer and Sear
3 hole aluminum trigger
slight tune on leaf spring
18lb. recoil spring
#26 main spring

After these were installed the gun behaved completely different at the range.
It shot great. At 7 yrds. I opened up a nice 4 inch hole and at 15 yrds it grouped 2-3 inches all day long being shot by myself standing.

I was very happy to say the least.

One thing I did notice is that my barrel bushing from the factory was very loose. I went ahead and ordered an oversized bushing and spent the better part of today fitting it.

I got it to fit pretty snug with no play. I now need a bushing wrench to disassemble.

My question is what can expect this weekend at the range? Improvements?
Will the gun behave different in regards to point of aim?

[Magnumite]

First make sure you no barrel springing since that will cause accuracy to dissipate.

You had pretty good groups before so you may see 1/2" - 1" improvement on top of that. You'll need to shoot it off a rest with both bushings to see the real effects. Since you say you had 2" - 3" groups before it will be interesting.

[s197shockwave]

Magnumite...I typed a mistake in my original post. Corrected, not 25 15 yards.


I was blown away by the accuracy of this gun after the mods. It shoots better than both the STI spartan and Kimber custom ii I had.

Before the mods I couldn’t get any good groupings with it.

[Magnumite]

That makes it a keeper

[TTAC]

I have seen alot of loose fitting factory bushings over the years. The factories could snug up the spec better. A hair over finger tight would even work.
I have also seen alot of barrels that were going to be replaced for a Match barrel take a big boost in accuracy with just a better fitting bushing.
Alittle known fact is that the Colt factory barrel is one of the most accurate barrels made. But it needs a properly fitted bushing to bring that out.

[Hicompression]

Originally Posted by TTAC

Alittle known fact is that the Colt factory barrel is one of the most accurate barrels made.

Can you point me to a article/web link that backs up that statement?

[TN.Frank]

I think the main area where manufactures drop the ball is in the bushing to slide fit, not the bushing to barrel fit. Most of the time when a new bushing is installed the fit between the bushing and slide are what's tightened up. The barrel needs a bit of "slop" between it and the bushing to work properly and not bind up but you can get the bushing to slide fit tight to the point where you need a bushing wrench to get it out of the slide and not have any problems other then a gun that's a bit harder to take apart.
I agree that with the bushing to slide fit just a touch over finger tight would be good enough.

[s197shockwave]

Well I just got back from the range. The MIL SPEC inhaled 250 rounds of 230fmj ( without fail ) and I have to say that just when I thought this gun couldn’t get any better it did.
It now puts the bullet exactly at point of aim, over and over again. Fitting this bushing was by far the best single mod I have performed on any gun. WOW!!!
This gun now makes me look like a great shooter and it can easily shoot better than my abilities allow.
My buddy went out with me with his Kimber railed custom II and the MIL SPEC shot circles around it. His gun also started to have F to F at about round # 120 while the MIL SPEC kept eating up ammo. He shot my gun but quickly put it down and said “ I need to stop shooting this thing before I end up hating my $1200 Kimber”.

I love this forum so much for helping me learn the basics of gunsmithing and for helping me build the best 1911 I have ever shot.

[Magnumite]

Rock on...thanks for the update

[69charger]

The new Bushing on my Colt made a good shooter into an outstanding shooter.
I should have had it done years ago.
It and the GI guide rod and plug are the only mods to the gun.
Dave

[ggun]

Well now you've got me interested. I thought I was going to stop at a trigger job, but.... So shockwave, where did you start and how did you go about fitting your new bushing? This is completely new water to me so pardon the dumb questions. My Mil-Spec is a stainless version.

[Dave Waits]

If I may, I'd like to offer as real good suggestion here, order a custom-fit bushing from EGW. You give them your barrel O.D. at the muzzle and the I.D of your slide opening and they do the rest. costs about $30.00 or so. Put one on my rock and saw an immediate improvement, a lot less fliers. I should have done this years ago, especially when I think about all that time I spent fitting bushings.

[ggun]

That IS a good idea, Dave. Do you now need a bushing wrench to disassemble?

[elktalker]

Took this same advise & put a custom EGW bushing in my Taurus 1911. Before that I was ready to sell the rattle trap. Now it shoots so well It's a keeper. Sand bags 5 shoots in less than 1 1/2 at 20 yards. Has a smith installed Burris 4 moa fastfire sight.

[ggun]

OK, I just have to come up with a way to get an accurate measurement on the ID of the slide opening since all I've got is a caliper.

[ggun]

I called EGW and they were very helpful. I told them my goal was to tighten up the bushing fits without requiring me to use a wrench to assemble/disassemble. For anyone else considering this, Jim there told me that 0.0015" was enough clearance on the OD of the bushing to not require tools though he said that the first couple of installs might require a wrench but it will loosen up after that. They will add 0.0025" of clearance to the barrel dimension that you provide them for the custom fit. Thanks much for the idea.