Colt Model 380

I recently had a customer deliver me a Colt Government Model 380 for a "stuck hammer." The customer said he had just purchased it from someone and was interested in getting it ready for concealed carry. He was interested in a full-length recoil rod made of steel, anew trigger, and a trigger clean up job, as he had read an article about these types of modifications being performed on this particular model. The gun was brought in a wooden box.

Inside I found a nearly perfect nickel plated beauty that didn’t appear to me to have ever been fired. It was a Series 80 and you could tell that the previous owner took very good care of it. When I began working on this gun I quickly found that the hammer was indeed stuck to the rear and the gun would not fire when the trigger was pulled. Some disassembly of the gun found that the original composite or plastic trigger had broken and apiece of it was missing from the gun.

This allowed the trigger bar to fall below the sear/ ejector engagement. With nothing else appearing to be wrong with it, I contacted the customer to go back over his thoughts of turning this gun into a carry gun. I let him know I had found an original Colt plastic trigger assembly for the gun as well as aftermarket aluminum units. As we were discussing the prices of the repair, I began trying to fully understand why he planned on carrying such a fine specimen.

After we discussed the gun, the fine shape it was in, that carrying it would only serve to ruin the beautiful nickel finish, and that rust would be the next issue (especially in Florida) that never goes well with nickel plating. We both agreed it was best to return this gun back to its original shape using the original plastic trigger and that he would be better served using a more modern, durable, and less collectible gun to use for concealed carry.

After ordering the new trigger, I looked through my collection of gun manuals and did not find an article specific to this make/model of gun and decided that a disassembly guide was in order. This gun, at first glance, looks much like a miniaturized version of the Colt 1911 but closer inspection revealed that it is distinctly different than its bigger sibling. To begin disassembly, first check to make sure the gun in unloaded, remove the magazine, and inspect the chamber to ensure no live round is still in the gun.

Once the gun is determined to be clear and safe, be-

The upper spring tabs are behind the sear, ejector, and trigger arm. The safety, when turned upward, goes over the detent and spring to lock it into place. gin with the slide assembly removal. The slide most closely resembles the 1911, however, this particular slide assembly can be removed by cocking the hammer to the full rearward position, pulling the slide to the rear to align the slide release with the cutout in the slide, then pushing out and removing the slide release.

Once out, pull the slide assembly forward off of the receiver. Alternatively, remove the slide assembly like the 1911 by first removing the magazine, depressing the recoil spring plug, and turning the barrel bushing enough to release tension on the recoil spring and removing the plug fully. Then, pull the slide to the rear to align the slide release with the cutout in the slide, remove the slide release from the frame, and pull the slide assembly forward off of the frame.

During reassembly, make certain to first depress the ejector (inside the frame) down just far enough to clear the rear of the slide when pulling the slide assembly to the rear. After pulling the slide back, align the barrel lug hole with the hole in the frame where the slide release will then be inserted. Pull back on the slide to align the slide release with the notch in the slide.

If you used the The brass punch served as a slave pin during removal/reinstallation. 1911 method of disassembly, reassemble the recoil spring guide plug over the spring and turn the barrel bushing to capture the recoil spring plunger. With the slide removed, remove the bushing from the slide, then lift the recoil spring and recoil spring guide (made of plastic) out of the slide by pulling it to the rear. Same goes for the barrel. Lift up and remove the barrel from inside the slide.

Note, the barrel does not push out forward of the slide like the 1911. Remove the firing pin, firing pin spring, and extractor by first depressing the back of the firing pin with a small flat pin punch. Push down on the firing pin stop plate and remove it down out of the slide while holding a finger over the firing pin and spring as they will fly you if you don’t. With the plate removed, withdraw the firing pin and spring, and extractor.

To remove the firing pin lock and lock spring, tap the rear sight to the right enough to retrieve the two parts from the top of the slide. Reassemble the slide components in the reverse. Here is where the little Colt differs greatly from the 1911. To disassemble the frame, begin by removing the grip screws and panels.

Use a correctly-sized hollow-ground screwdriver bit as you do not want to bugger up the screw heads on such a fine gun (or any gun for that matter.) Once the grip panels are removed, remove the small slide stop spring located inside of a recess on the left side of the frame. Take note how this spring is in place and how it goes back into place during reassembly. It pops into place with just finger pressure and can be easily lost. Next, lower the hammer to the full forward position.

Using a curved tip scribe, insert the

Simply lift the hammer up and depress the top of the strut with a brass punch and push into place inside the back of the hammer slot. Above center: The old trigger being maneuvered out of the frame through the top. The new trigger goes back in the same way.

The area where some light filing can improve ejector to trigger arm and disconnector performance is where the trigger arms meets the bottom of the ejector bar. curved end into the hole at the bottom of the sear/ejector spring, lift the spring up and over the frame grooves. Pull out from the frame and down to extract the spring from the frame fully.

During reassembly, slide the top of the sear/ejector spring up into the frame, making certain that the wider spring pad will be positioned on the left side of the frame directly behind the ejector bottom leg. Slide the top of the spring in behind both the sear and ejector bottom leg when reinstalling.

Once that is in place, insert the curved end of your scribe into the hole at the bottom of the sear/ejector spring, push the spring tabs into the frame slots, then pull down with the scribe to seat the bottom tabs of the spring into place. With the sear/ejector spring removed from the frame fully, rotate the safety downward. Make certain to keep a finger or thumb over the frame area above the safety as there is a small detent and spring that holds the safety in place that can jump out.

With the safety in the full down position, take a small brass pin punch and push the ejector/sear frame pin out from left to right. Once the pin is removed, the sear and ejector fall out of the frame. Hopefully you saw how both parts—especially the sear—were in the gun before removal.

The main concerns during reassembly is to make sure the thin edge of the sear goes up towards the hammer notches, the wide tab of the sear goes downward as the trigger bar rides against this tab, and that the bottom of the ejector leg, when replaced, goes behind the trigger bar. These parts are captured by the sear/ ejector frame pin.

For ease in installation of these two parts, start the frame pin from the right side, insert the sear in proper position as stated above, then push the frame pin across and capture the other side of the sear. Insert the ejector as stated above and finish capturing it with the frame pin. Take your time here as the parts are small, in a tight place, and patience needs to be adhered to on this part of the reassembly.

Once the sear and ejector has been removed, make sure the hammer is pushed all the way forward until you see the hammer strut pop up in the frame behind the hammer. To remove the strut, it is best to use your scribe to lightly compress the hammer strut spring inside the frame base area and pull the spring loose from the frame retaining hole. Once it is out, you can remove the hammer strut and spring together out the bottom of the frame.

Take note on how the hammer strut goes back into the gun as the top curves away from the hammer. When reinstalling, slide the hammer strut with the hammer strut spring attached up inside the frame area and position the top of the hammer strut behind the hammer with the hammer at full forward position. Compress the strut spring lightly and push it into the frame so the spring seats into its hole in the frame.

Then, use a small brass punch to push on the top of the hammer strut downward into the frame behind the hammer until the hook or fork catches on the hammer strut pin. The forked end of the hammer strut hooks over this hammer pin. Remove the hammer by pushing the hammer pin assembly (the frame pin that has the spring and detent that holds the safety in place) out of the frame from right to left, allowing you to remove the pin assembly and hammer from the frame. Re-install in reverse.

Next, rotate the safety upward and lift it out of the gun. It has to be rotated up to free if from the frame for removal and it is reinstalled in reverse. Now the trigger. We are installing anew trigger assembly, so to remove the trigger from the gun, use a small brass pin punch and drift the trigger frame pin out from right to left. Once out, maneuver the trigger assembly to get it out of the frame. Push the trigger

arm downward into the frame area. At the same time, remove the disconnector by pulling it downward out of the slot in the frame. Now, while pressing downward on the trigger arm, push the trigger back. At some point, you will be able to pivot the trigger upward and free from the frame grooves. Once pulled back far enough (do not force it), pull the trigger assembly out the top of the frame. To reinstall or insert the new trigger, make sure the trigger and trigger arm and spring are all assembled onto the trigger.

Push the trigger arm down into the frame from the top and work the trigger down and into the frame slot that captures the trigger. Don’t forget to reinstall the disconnector into the frame slot before seating the trigger into the frame. Go slow here and make small, light movements with the trigger and trigger arm. The key is not to force this into the gun here as you might end up breaking the plastic trigger!

I found that by pushing down on the trigger arm and using my other hand to work the trigger into the trigger frame grooves slowly helped position the trigger properly into the track and all the arm to come up again. The last item to remove is the magazine release assembly and it is removed identical to the 1911. Insert a small screwdriver bit into the screw slot, push down and make a quarter turn, and the whole assembly will come out. Reinstall in reverse.

These instructions should help anyone that gets one of these guns in for deep cleaning and/or repairs. I have found on other Government 380 pistols that the hammer can become locked to the rear quite easily and it can be due to two things. One, the ejector was pushed too far down when reassembling the slide, thus the trigger arm cannot make contact with the ejector and sear plate.

The other is that the ejector may be in need of better fitting by lightly filing some material off the lower ejector end where it engages the trigger arm. Light filing here will enable the disconnector to move the trigger bar up enough for the trigger bar to move into place in front of the ejector rod bottom tip area. Polishing this same area along with the back of the ejector rod tip bottom that rides against the sear/ejector spring can also free up these parts to work more efficiently.

The trick to reassembling these guns is slow, dedicated patience in making each part fit correctly without forcing them into place. Take your time and methodically reassemble each piece accordingly. I was glad that the owner decided not to turn this into a carry gun. A gun as clean and new looking as this—especially being a Colt— should be kept in as new as possible condition since they are not getting any younger.

Since original parts for this gun are drying up and becoming more and more difficult to find, I would personally rather carry a gun that has a more durable finish on it as well as one that you can still find plenty of parts for than messing up this old beauty! Recall Notice Colt issued a safety improvement on all Colt 380 semiautomatic pistols and offer a fix for their Colt 380 semiautomatic pistols free of charge. The sear spring may be bent in some Colt 380 autos.

Where this occurs there is a possibility that the sear spring will become unseated from the base of the receiver which could result in accidental discharge. To hold the sear spring in place, Colt sends out a 380 Auto improvement kit, which includes a spring clip and instructions for attaching the clip to the sear spring. Once the spring clip is installed the sear spring cannot come loose. This is a simple but effective safety modification.

This applies to all Colt 380 autos in the current series first introduced in 1982. If a spring clip has already been installed, it will appear in the magazine well as a yellow piece of metal attached to the sear spring. The spring clip and instructions can be obtained by contacting Colt at G American Gunsmith Reader Services 1.