Gunsmith Surprises

Gunsmith work is endlessly fascinating that gives us all the opportunity to learn new things and expand our skills. Here were a few pleasant surprises I had in my recent gunsmith work. Beavertail Surprise The first surprise came during a beavertail installation while working a 1911 Series 80 handgun to install anew beavertail grip safety led to a surprise during the project. Here’s how I fixed it.

I’m working on an article about modifying my milling machine to add an electric power lift of the approximately 300 pound mill head to avoid having to use a labor-intensive crank. However, this project, like others, had to take a back seat to work on customer’s guns.

One customer is a former Green Beret turned contractor (common here in the Mac Dill Air Force Base/Tampa, Florida area) who brought in his early Series 80 1911 Colt complete with gorgeous grips adorned with the Special Forces crest insignia to be "modernized". He wanted a beavertail grip safety, lightweight hammer and trigger, night sights, tightened slide to frame, titanium firing pin, etc. Of course I complied. The mill project and related article would have to wait.

I’ve done lots of 1911s and many of those with beavertail grip safeties but this one, perhaps due to its age and it being an early Series 80, would not cooperate with this gunsmith. Perhaps you detect a little prejudice here about my dislike for Series 80 pistols? Bingo! Anyway, sometimes the trigger wouldn’t function or the hammer wouldn’t fall. Nothing in my extensive gunsmith library had a single word about this problem. And I was worrying, even losing sleep about whether or not I could remedy this problem.

The issue, after extensive study, turned out to be the thickness of the front extension on the new grip safety. See the exploded parts diagram I’ve included in this article. Note, I’m not talking about the length of the extension or the "stepped" shape of it, but the thickness. The left side of it was interfering with the plunger lever (part #30 on the parts diagram). It was simply too thick.

After a lot of measuring with my very best micrometers I determined the difference between it and the original grip safety extension to be about 0.009". I started polishing the left hand side using a Cratex wheel (Brownells #190-025-743) in my 1/4 HP Foredomstyle flexible shaft grinder. While it would be possible to use a Dremeltype tool here, but from what I’ve heard this much work would lead to the Dremel’s early death due to the vast difference in horsepower.

Now, sometimes, this leg of the beavertail grip safety needs to be lengthened by peening but this was not the case here. And, while beavertail safety fitting jigs from Midway or Brownells make this part of the job much easier, be careful. These jigs are not adjustable, meaning they are specific as to the grip safety manufacturer. For example, the dimensions of the beavertails are different for Colt, Ed Brown, Wilson Combat, Kimber, etc. On replacing the notorious Series 80 parts, my preferred method is as follows.

For the trigger bar lever (#56 on the diagram) I assemble

IV Series 80 1911. It physically blocks the firing pin until pressure on the trigger pivots the lower sear lever, actuates the uppers sear lever, and presses the firing pin lock plunger out of engagement to free the firing pin to move when struck by the hammer. The author is not a fan of this design. the sear and disconnector on a longer-than-usual slave pin, then add a layer of assembly grease as a temporary "glue".

From there, add the trigger bar lever, effectively making a three layer "sandwich"—four layers if you count the grease. Holding the whole sandwich at the rear bottom area of the disconnector behind the trigger, with a pair of needle nose pliers I insert the nose or top of the disconnector into its recess in the top of the frame. The sear pin can then push out the slave pin, and the whole mess is now installed. The Series 80 plunger lever (30) is much easier.

Start the hammer pin into the frame from the left and insert the hammer, holding it with the pin. Then, place the plunger lever to the right of the hammer and push the hammer pin to the right, holding the plunger lever. Next, scoot the plunger lever down until the hammer pin will pass through and you’re done. Note, plunger levers are specifically numbered, and are not interchangeable. There are three part numbers for this lever: #567671, 567672, and 567673, which are stamped 1, 2, and 3. Don’t mix these up!

When ordering a replacement part, identify it by the ending number. Now I can go back to my mill modification project. Surprise Tool Supplier Micro-Mark is probably not a company you’ve heard of. While they may be an unusual source of gunsmithing tools, Micro-Mark has useful items for your shop.

At least once a month one of my many firearms enthusiast buddies and I get together for lunch or whatever to invariably swap whatever gun magazines and/or catalogs we’ve just finished—except for American Gunsmith, of course, which, like the rest of you, I put into annual binders for later reference. Then, when I’ve finished these now twice-read volumes, I "accidentally" leave them in my doctor’s waiting room, or at the tire store, whatever.

I figure, what the heck; spread the news, and increase the interest; particularly with the NRA publications, where I want to spread our pro-Second Amendment views. During a recent visit where in addition to the usual publication mix traded at lunch was a catalog from Micro-Mark (MicroMark.com, While I think I knew the name, I had never studied their catalogs. In paging through this one I thought, "Wow!

I wish I had seen one of these twenty-five years ago when I had been ‘smithing long enough to know what I needed but didn’t know where to get it." This is not to short-change Brownells or Midway, but this little more than a dozen specialized tools I wish I had known about years ago, or at least could have afforded. Please understand, this is not an advertisement for Micro-Mark. They don’t even know me and certainly don’t compensate me for promotion.

I just think they area source of interesting tools at interesting prices and I’ll bet many gunsmiths don’t know about them.

For drill press or mill, this wonderful gadget precisely locates your drill chuck over the exact center of around work-piece. While each page in their catalog features 10-20 items, but to be fair, many of the pages and items are intended for model railroaders, model shipbuilders, jewelry repair, costume and prop building, and a variety of similar hobby pursuits.

Micro-Mark has countless unique items from specialty paints and epoxies, to small hand-held tools for cutting, polishing, and measuring, up to and including milling machines and lathes, etc. As some examples, I’ll go over four such items that caught my eye as they are particularly useful for gunsmiths. First was the #82281 Center Finder ($14.95).

For a drill press or mill, this wonderful gadget precisely locates the drill chuck over the exact center of around work piece and is ideal when working on a rifle action or barrel for scope mounts. There’s also a smaller one suitable for front sights. A second useful item is the #83338 Micro Flow Coolant System. At $59.95, this is a well-designed combination for milling machine, drill press or lathe. The kit includes a coolant pump, three nozzles with magnetic base, 32" hose, and a four liter tank.

With a magnetic base it can be moved from mill to lathe, etc. with ease. The company also offers #83340 coolant concentrate for $9.95, which when mixed with tap water makes four gallons of coolant at 62 cents per quart! Next, their #89252 All-Position Universal Clamp With Base (#89252). This is a cleverly-designed clamp, designed to hold irregularlyshaped objects for filing, polishing, and even soldering things like 1911 safeties, beavertails, Browning Hi- Power safeties, etc.

Eight (included) steel pins can be located wherever into any of 60 pre-drilled holes on the face of the unit to hold your odd-shaped part before the two halves of the clamp are tightened together with the knurled screw head. Cost is $29.95. There’s also a handheld model (Universal Clamp, #21129) for $24.95. Last in this cursory list is Micro-Mark’s #85653 (fine), #85654 (Med.), and #855655 (coarse) series of silicon carbide impregnated nylon belts for sander/grinders.

They’re three for $11.95 and said to outlast ten standard belts. Given the durability, and in addition to the savings in cost-per-belt over time, consider the hassle saved in belt changes. Again, these are just four items out of the hundreds that caught my attention that will be of great use to any gunsmith. Micro-Mark is worth checking out to either save money, to get tools otherwise not available, or both.

It may get you unknown tools you want or need, or it may save you money on the ones you’ve been meaning to get. There’s a form on the website to request a free catalog. Now back to the bench! AG