Parts
Comparison - New 100th Anniversary & Early 1911 Parts
Click Photos for more detail.
The new recoil spring plug is on the left and the original is on the right. The new one has very sharp diamonds on it and the original's diamonds are worn down so they look different. I am sure that the originals were sharp when new. In fact on original #305 that I examined the diamonds had obviously been filed down slightly to dull them except for the very diamond in the center and it was left sharp!
The new
mainspring housing is on the right. I have noted that on the originals
the mainspring housing and the frame were usually blended and buffed
so much that the cross pin that holds in the lanyard loop is almost
exposed. I have also seen where the top of the mainspring housing on
an original flared out slightty to match the grip safety. That shows
that the mainspring housing and the frames on the originals were
assembled when they were blended and buffed.
The new
magazine is on the right. Recreating the original visible pinned base
magazine has been very difficult. The magazine tubes on the original
magazines were not heat treated so the holes for the rivets could be
drilled in them after they were formed. The magazine tubes on our
recreations are heat treated and cannot be drilled with a 1/16"
hole after they are formed. I had to have the holes burned into
each tube with a CNC EDM Sinker and those had to line up with the
holes in the floor plates!! Also remember that there are 6 rivet heads
that have to be formed on each magazine, 2 for the lanyard loop and 4
for the floor plate rivets.
This is a
picture of the new magazine with a floor plate assembly below it. Note
that the toe of the floor plate has to be machined to match the
rounded contour of the front of the magazine.
The new firing
pin is on the bottom. There were no changes from the 1911 to the
1911A1.
The new ejector
is on the bottom. There were no changes from the 1911 to the 1911A1.
The new sear is
on the right. There were no changes from the 1911 to the 1911A1.
The grip screw
and grip screw bushing for the early 1911 is in the center. The grip
screw on the right is an original thin head grip screw. I did have an
individual 1911 grip screw bushing that was not on a frarne so I don't
have one to show. The grip screw and grip screw bushing on the left is
the later style. Note that the head of the grip screw is thicker and
the grip screw bushing is shorter. You can also see that the screw
driver slot in the new style grip screw is deeper than the slot in the
early thin head grip screw The shallow screwdriver slots were easily
damaged so the government had the grip screw head made thicker which
required that the grip screw bushing be made shorter.