Hi all
I love 1911’s owned them for years and in the past year have really studied up on them and what makes them tick. What is considered a tight fit 1911? I recently purchased a Dan Wesson Valkyrie. I’ve done a lot of reading and all I read is how they are considered top of the line for a production gun and a very tight fit. No play between slide and frame barrel and bushing bushing to slide rock solid barrel lockup. Being a retired toolmaker I’m a numbers guy so I took the time to do a inspection report on all the critical areas of what I believe to be the foundation of the mechanical accuracy of this gun. The machining on this gun is outstanding. Surfaces are true and parallel void of all machine marks and burrs. The gun feels soft in your hands just outstanding craftsmanship but the actual numbers confuse me. This could very well be my lack of knowledge of what’s considered tight fit on a 1911. Let’s start with the barrel lockup to the slide. My understanding is the upper lugs of the barrel should bottom out so to speak with the corresponding lug recesses in the slide. On this gun there is .048 until contact is made with slide. When the gun is assembled I’m getting.04 engagement. That’s .008 away from making any contact with the slide. Is this normal? I was under the assumption based on all I’ve read the link should push the barrel up against the slide thus creating a solid lockup between barrel and slide. Now the lower barrel lugs are fit perfectly to the slide stop pin and the barrel hood has .001 clearance on all 3 sides creating a very solid lockup. I’ve drawn a quick drawing of all the other dimensions regarding slide to frame fit and barrel to bushing to slide. The dimensions marked with S are the slide dimensions and F is frame dimensions. Like I said I’m a numbers guy and just don’t know if these numbers represent a tight fit gun or not. I’ve got a rock island that has just as tight a slide to frame fit in fact the whole gun is fit just as tight as my Dan Wesson. I’m looking to learn here and figure out if this gun is or is not what I should expect from Dan Wesson
I love 1911’s owned them for years and in the past year have really studied up on them and what makes them tick. What is considered a tight fit 1911? I recently purchased a Dan Wesson Valkyrie. I’ve done a lot of reading and all I read is how they are considered top of the line for a production gun and a very tight fit. No play between slide and frame barrel and bushing bushing to slide rock solid barrel lockup. Being a retired toolmaker I’m a numbers guy so I took the time to do a inspection report on all the critical areas of what I believe to be the foundation of the mechanical accuracy of this gun. The machining on this gun is outstanding. Surfaces are true and parallel void of all machine marks and burrs. The gun feels soft in your hands just outstanding craftsmanship but the actual numbers confuse me. This could very well be my lack of knowledge of what’s considered tight fit on a 1911. Let’s start with the barrel lockup to the slide. My understanding is the upper lugs of the barrel should bottom out so to speak with the corresponding lug recesses in the slide. On this gun there is .048 until contact is made with slide. When the gun is assembled I’m getting.04 engagement. That’s .008 away from making any contact with the slide. Is this normal? I was under the assumption based on all I’ve read the link should push the barrel up against the slide thus creating a solid lockup between barrel and slide. Now the lower barrel lugs are fit perfectly to the slide stop pin and the barrel hood has .001 clearance on all 3 sides creating a very solid lockup. I’ve drawn a quick drawing of all the other dimensions regarding slide to frame fit and barrel to bushing to slide. The dimensions marked with S are the slide dimensions and F is frame dimensions. Like I said I’m a numbers guy and just don’t know if these numbers represent a tight fit gun or not. I’ve got a rock island that has just as tight a slide to frame fit in fact the whole gun is fit just as tight as my Dan Wesson. I’m looking to learn here and figure out if this gun is or is not what I should expect from Dan Wesson