Customizing my Series 80 Government

[RedHawk]

I have had my .45 for over 20 years , shot over 10,000 rounds through her , all the while I added only a custom trigger, sights and grips! Its been along time since Ive done any of this and was thinking it might be high time to start again , Im sure the trigger could use some work , and really besides cleaning her up a bit , I just want to shoot her some more (havent done so for awhile) ,been shooting my SW SD40 and I gotta say I love that pistol , but I am a 1911 man first and for most , so if anyone can give me some hints or tips , on parts and what not (I didnt install the trigger myself) ,I dont intend to do much gunsmithing work as the pistol still fires awesomely!

[Bill DeShivs]

If it's not broken.....
How's the finish? If it's in bad shape a finish upgrade may be in order-maybe hard chrome.

[Helix_FR]

I with Bill on this one. If it aint broke- you know the rest. Besides some functionality parts there really isnt much for you to do. Extended thumb safeties- gunsmith fit, Grip safety-new beavertail safeties have to be fit to the old frames, extended slide stop lever- its a drop in but w/o the extended safety I looks goofy. If your happy with it, leave it alone.

[RedHawk]

Well I guess it doesnt get anything , because it shoots great and of course feels great in the hand, the only thing I was looking at is possibly adjusting the trigger pull , it is so light its rediculous I was shooting in the police games back in the 90's (when all the 9's started really hitting the scene) and one of the range masters asked if he could shoot it,I said sure but be careful is doesnt take much to set that trigger off , dont pull from the holster with your finger on the trigger or you'll find it wont agree with you , he didnt listen , finger on the trigger "bang" first round still pointed down hit his shoe (must;ve been one hell of a lucky sob ! It went right between his big and little toes (and shooting a 45 y'all know that means one hell of a lucky sob , he blew a massive hole in his shoe!
Anyway the trigger has always been really fast and since it doesnt really bother me much because im used to it , I guess just leave it alone ,huh?

I am / have always been curious of Hard Chrome , anyone want to explain to me what this does and how beneficial it could be for the weapon?

[Helix_FR]

Hard Chrome is only for looks. In no way does it make any gun run better, faster etc. In fact if done wrong it can cause some fitting problems bc unlike show chrome, hard chrome can add significant dimensional thickness to areas causing some fitting problems on a already fitted gun. Another myth is that its corrosion resistant. It is not. Its the flash coating that is corrosion resistant ie copper or nickel or both. Hard chrome is very very scratch resistant. Its a useful tool in changing dimensions of say a loose fitting pin so now it is tight in its place. I hard chromed a Mosin bolt for JLA. I showed the guys at the shop the bolt before I hard chromed it. I took a carbide scribe and scratched the surface of the bolt (no worries JLA I buffed it out.) to show how resistant it is. After chroming it I took the carbide scribe and tried to scratch it again. No dice, didn't even leave a mark. So basically you could say hard chrome is a permanent finish. Only way it can be removed is through the same process of putting it on just reverse. Sand blasting does very little to is. Chemical strippers do nothing. Many people choose it bc it never wears and never chips if properly done. It is very shiny in appearance but with some alterations to the solutions temperature vs the amperage used you can get a satin finish also.

[Bill DeShivs]

Sorry, Helix-your wrong on this one.
Hard chrome is applied directly to the steel. There is no underplating. Properly applied, in the correct thickness, it is extremely corrosion resistant.
Chrome plating can be stripped in acid.

[hogger129]

I would say the lightweight hammer and a beavertail grip safety is a good upgrade. The beavertail gives you a higher hand grip on the the gun and more control. And the lightweight hammer is usually needed so that it can be cocked back all the way.

I prefer a checkered flat backstrap compared to the smooth or arched ones.

Then some nice wood grips to top it off. If I had a Colt, I'd get the Gold Cup rubber wrap around grips or the wood ones with the gold Colt medallion.

[Helix_FR]

Your right Bill I was thinking one process and talking bout another. Hard Chrome can go right to steel. I was thinking cobalt chrome for some brain fart reason. Can't imagine tooling companies electroplating nickel first on endmills. My understanding is this on the hard chrome and corrosion and correct me if Im wrong and dang this is a thread drift but its corrosion resistance is progressive based on thickness, ie a flash coat does not protect as well as a hard coat. Am I wrong or mis -informed?

[RedHawk]

actually the grips are wood right now with Pac wrap arounds!

[hogger129]

Originally Posted by RedHawk

actually the grips are wood right now with Pac wrap arounds!

Is it the ones that are like half wood with the rubber finger grooves? Those always looked kind of cool, but I've never tried them.

[Bigbill]

Lets make it a little better with a few changes. Cheap upgrades that you can do.

1st upgrade;

Pick up some moly and put moly on the sear, it will smooth out the trigger even more and lessen the trigger pull by up to 50% right away and more as it works into the pores of the metal. I lube my complete 1911 with moly too. By lubing the frame rails, the barrel bushing/barrel, hammer face and the bottom of the slide were the disconnector is will make the 1911 cycle faster and smoother.

2nd upgrade;

Pick up a FLGR Kit with the 18# recoil spring and install it. This will reduce some of the over travel and wasted time in the cycle timing. The little added weight in the front with the FLGR will take some of the recoil bite out it and it will also have less recoil too.

3rd upgrade;

Remove the slide and on the bottom were the disconnector hits the slide just below the firing pin hole there is a square edge that strikes/bumps the disconnector. On the cycling as the slide goes forward after extracting the last fired round it actually strikes this area on the slide really hard when the disconnector hits it. If you mark this area width wise and them mark it height wise i took a small file and filed a ramp in this area to allow the disconnector to be guided / compressed rather than having it striking the almost square edge. After filing it you can stone it much smoother too. This also makes the cycling much easier on the slide and aslo improves the accuracy too. Just one little guide ramp does it all.

4th upgrade;

Fit and install a national match barrel bushing. This one is a really big plus. If you fit it right you can get a 100% lock up in full battery as long as it has no barrel spring in full battery and in the lower position when it loads the next round.

5th upgrade;

As said above the beaver tail and the smaller lighter hammer is another good upgrade too.

If you make these 4 or 5 awesome improvements it will shoot like a different 1911. If you want to chrome finish it too thats up to you. BigBill

BTW;
Please remember by making one change doesn't mean a big improvement will take place. If you make all the changes as suggested your 1911 will be awesome in performance. All the steps mentioned will tune and tweek your 1911. I just made some changes like this on my well used norinco 1911 and its a whole different shooter now and cycles more like a race gun its that fast and smooth now in loading the next round.

For grips i like the full wrap around finger grooved rubber grips because i can actually sink my fingers into the rubber when i hold it tighter. Plus the rubber doesn't seem to slip as much as the wood grips do too. I have the houge's in rubber and i also use the IAI full wrap around rubber grips that CDNN had too.