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Trigger Pull in "original" 1911s?

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1911
8K views 10 replies 10 participants last post by  gdmoody 
#1 ·
I first fired a 1911 over 50 years ago in the service. I don't remember the experience too much, and I then had nothing to compare it to. But, I wonder how those old 1911A1 pistol trigger pulls compare to what we expect today in modern 1911 pistols?
 
#2 ·
Even though they were work smoothed over the years, the triggers on the majority of the 1911's in my unit armory in Vietnam were pretty heavy. The combat specification for 1911 hammers and sears were designed pretty much exclusively for safety and reliability. That generally meant a pretty heavy trigger pull. Additionally, all of our 1911's were repaired and kept online from a big old spare parts bin, so getting a crisp, light trigger pull was usually not in the cards.

Conversely, even many of the bargain priced 1911's today have benefited from precision investment casting of internal components and high tolerance CNC manufacturing techniques. Many of today's 1911 hammers and sears have been designed and manufactured with high tolerance, precision angle, reduced surface area mating surfaces. As a result, the run of the mill garden variety 1911 trigger pulls are by comparison pretty darned good. And along those same lines, the majority of the high end 1911 trigger pulls are downright superb.
 
#3 ·
There used to be an old myth that the 1911 is a very inaccurate pistol. It wasn't built for accuracy, it was a battle weapon. The thing was built by many different manufacturers, and usually slapped together from a bin of parts, from many different manufacturers. There were no CNC machines back then. You got whatever trigger pull there was on that particular gun. And the parts fit together rather loosely. Take a look at the Springfield 1911A1 mil-spec. It ain't really mil-spec! Today if you had one of those old WW II pistols, you would have to do things to it to make it more shoot able, and more accurate.
 
#5 ·
From my days as an armorer, the trigger pull for an issue grade M1911A1 pistol was (anywhere) between six and twelve pounds. "Creep" - the amount of trigger movement to drag the sear from engagement with the sear notch on the hammer - was free; take all you want.

All that aside, most 'rack grade' pistols would shoot fairly to the sights and hold a group that would nicely impact a standard issue human torso out to fifty yards. My biggest problem was finding the - what I felt were - little tiny sights on the M1911A1.

The trick to shooting a 'govmint' pistol is to concentrate on keeping the sights lined up while getting one's trigger finger to just keep pulling the trigger. Not a convulsive yank, but a smooth although direct movement. It does take a bit of practice.
 
#6 ·
From my days as an armorer, the trigger pull for an issue grade M1911A1 pistol was (anywhere) between six and twelve pounds. "Creep" - the amount of trigger movement to drag the sear from engagement with the sear notch on the hammer - was free; take all you want.

All that aside, most 'rack grade' pistols would shoot fairly to the sights and hold a group that would nicely impact a standard issue human torso out to fifty yards. My biggest problem was finding the - what I felt were - little tiny sights on the M1911A1.

The trick to shooting a 'govmint' pistol is to concentrate on keeping the sights lined up while getting one's trigger finger to just keep pulling the trigger. Not a convulsive yank, but a smooth although direct movement. It does take a bit of practice.
That is called trigger pull still today, and I don't care what gun you shoot, if you are not using the correct trigger pull, as described above, you are not going to hit much!
 
#7 · (Edited)
I don't have any 1911A1 45s, But I do have a few 45s that are preA1 models.

My Colt 45 ser# C7xxx is as smooth as any one can wish for. And is just as accurate as my model 70s and 80s. Yea I know that they aren't military but thought I would mention the trigger pull.
They are ALL around 4lbs. /5lbs. The accuracy of the pre a1 models that I personaly own is about 3" at 25 yards and so are my models 70s and 80s. ( shooting off a bench rest)
 
#9 ·
I was a "staffie" on Admiral Brandley's Chief of Naval Air Advanced Training in NAS Corpus in the mid 60's. My lunch hour was usually at the armory across the street. The gunner's mates would issue me a .45 and a box of ammunition and I would lay waste to the area, sometimes I found the target, and one memorable time, it went automatic and I put a couple of holes in the ceiling. Those old pistols were loose as a goose and mainly good for making noise and smoke. I was so disgusted with the ones I fired there that I ruefully neglected to buy one of the NRA 1911's for princely sum of $15 when they were for sale.
 
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