We're all acquainted with Colt's Series 80 safety system, love it or hate it. Its roots cn be traced all the way back to the mid-1930s when a few people became concerned with the fact that the 1911 pistol would fire if dropped straight onto its muzzle from a height of about 5 feet onto a hard surface, and from around 8 feet onto hard ground. This had been known since the gun's inception, but it suddenly became alarming for a few who didn't really understand simple physics.
Not very many pistols were outfitted with the fine, new safety and it was quietly dropped from production, and the bulk of those so equipped had the parts removed, either by the owners or by Colt. The reason was lack of reliability.
Fast forward to 1983, and the bleating started anew and for the same silly reason, and Colt responded with the Series 80 system, which...although a little more complex...was far more reliable due to working off the trigger and not depending on an individual's grip.
In addition to the four extra parts, there were modifications made to a few existing parts. The differences are in the firing pin...the extractor...the grip safety lug...the firing pin stop...and the hammer. The first four parts will interchange freely into a pre-Series 80 pistol, but not vice-versa. The hammers will interchange as the only difference in the Series 80 hammer is a flat quarter cock shelf instead of a true, captive half cock notch. Interestingly, the firing pin spring was also shortened by several turns. A clue, maybe?
But problems with the system soon reared its ugly head as shooters started to see light strikes and misfires, and even firing pins being trapped in the forward position, causing stoppages that weren't quick or easy to clear. One of the warnings that something was amiss was the firing pin stop falling out of the slide due to the firing pin being delayed in its return after firing the gun.
The problem was one of timing. The cam and lever setup in the frame had to lift the plunger early enough and high enough to release the firing pin without lifting it too early or too high...and it often didn't.
The timing check is simple. Slide off the frame, hammer cocked, pull the trigger until all the pretravel is taken up. Using a dial caliper, measure from the top of the lever to the frame rail. This distance should ideally be.060-.065 inch. Then, lower the hammer and pull the trigger until it stops and measure again. You want .090-.095 inch. These numbers are minimum and maximum.
To check for late release timing and impending problems in a used pistol, remove the plunger for inspection. If the lower corner of the upper section has a splined appearance, you've got a problem that will turn into a bigger problem sooner or later. The damage comes from the plunger not moving up far enough and the firing pin hitting the corner as it moves past it. Eventually it will cause light strikes and misfires, and all the other issues that I outlined earlier.
The good news is that easily corrected with a call to Colt for a different plunger lever than the one that came in the gun. A #2 lever is usually all it takes to set things right. On a few that weren't too far out of spec, I've heated and bent the lever arm a few thousandths.
Questions?
Not very many pistols were outfitted with the fine, new safety and it was quietly dropped from production, and the bulk of those so equipped had the parts removed, either by the owners or by Colt. The reason was lack of reliability.
Fast forward to 1983, and the bleating started anew and for the same silly reason, and Colt responded with the Series 80 system, which...although a little more complex...was far more reliable due to working off the trigger and not depending on an individual's grip.
In addition to the four extra parts, there were modifications made to a few existing parts. The differences are in the firing pin...the extractor...the grip safety lug...the firing pin stop...and the hammer. The first four parts will interchange freely into a pre-Series 80 pistol, but not vice-versa. The hammers will interchange as the only difference in the Series 80 hammer is a flat quarter cock shelf instead of a true, captive half cock notch. Interestingly, the firing pin spring was also shortened by several turns. A clue, maybe?
But problems with the system soon reared its ugly head as shooters started to see light strikes and misfires, and even firing pins being trapped in the forward position, causing stoppages that weren't quick or easy to clear. One of the warnings that something was amiss was the firing pin stop falling out of the slide due to the firing pin being delayed in its return after firing the gun.
The problem was one of timing. The cam and lever setup in the frame had to lift the plunger early enough and high enough to release the firing pin without lifting it too early or too high...and it often didn't.
The timing check is simple. Slide off the frame, hammer cocked, pull the trigger until all the pretravel is taken up. Using a dial caliper, measure from the top of the lever to the frame rail. This distance should ideally be.060-.065 inch. Then, lower the hammer and pull the trigger until it stops and measure again. You want .090-.095 inch. These numbers are minimum and maximum.
To check for late release timing and impending problems in a used pistol, remove the plunger for inspection. If the lower corner of the upper section has a splined appearance, you've got a problem that will turn into a bigger problem sooner or later. The damage comes from the plunger not moving up far enough and the firing pin hitting the corner as it moves past it. Eventually it will cause light strikes and misfires, and all the other issues that I outlined earlier.
The good news is that easily corrected with a call to Colt for a different plunger lever than the one that came in the gun. A #2 lever is usually all it takes to set things right. On a few that weren't too far out of spec, I've heated and bent the lever arm a few thousandths.
Questions?
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