Where to get an inexpensive 1911 hammer and sear combo jig?

[Hornett]

Or two separate jigs...

Long story short I did a little stoning (more like polishing because I was very careful) on my RIA 1911.
The trigger is LOTS better than it was but now it has a slight tiny bit of creep before let off.
I suspect that the hammer spur is too long (supposed to be .018"-.020").
I am an engineer and I am a little crazy by definition, but I won't file on the hammer struts without the proper tools.
I found the tools at Brownells but they were expensive.

Help?

 

[AllenM]

yea you can trim the hammer to .020 but the thing that will get rid of the creep best is to do "back cut" on the sear to move the contact point up. Having said that though, I would imagine RIA has and MIM Sear which means you can't take to much off of it before going through the hardened outer shell.

I would look at Fusion Firearms for a bar stock or stainless hammer and sear. Their pricing is usually pretty competitive and you can stone as much as you want then.
You do need a jig though to do a trigger job
I found Ed Brown's is about the cheapest and it works good
http://www.midwayusa.com/Product/469756/ed-brown-sear-fixture-1911

 

[walt o]

The RIA hammer &sear are not case hardened , they are hard through &through .Look at brownells & midway to find the jig you want . Also took at the web site of Chuck Warner he just came out with a new jig for 1911 sears that is a new concept . look at The 1911 forum and search the gunsmith section( LOG MAN trigger jig's )for an education.Very helpfull in his write up

 

[Hornett]

I know exactly what you mean when you say 'back cut' the sear and I didn't do it.
I think I will try that next since no jig is even required, just patience.
Thanks for all the helpful advice.

 

[walt o]

You should use a sear jig to get the relief on the sear even. Their are no shortcuts when working on the fire control parts of a firearm. Accidents do happen when shortcuts are taken.

 

[Drail]

The hammer hooks can be reduced by simply clamping it in a vise and laying a .020" shim against the hooks and stoning them down until you hit the shim. I recommend starting with a .022" shim and seeing if the creep is gone. You can always take a little more off. Relieving the sear can be done by laying it on a stone face down and stoning the face of the sear until you get the desired breakaway surface. The rule of thumb is to go for a breakaway surface that is 1/3 of the total engagement surface of the sear. Any work done on the engagement surface of the sear should always be done with a proper jig after squaring the hammer hooks and making sure they are both bearing evenly on the sear face. Trying to eyeball this is a bad idea and can get you into trouble very fast. If the sear is stoned too much it will become too short and is trashed. Any smith who tells you they have never trashed a sear is lying. The Kuhnhausen manual is one of the best references for this work. Creep can also be caused by incorrect sear face angle. Trying to eliminate creep by only shortening the hammer hooks or increasing the breakaway surface will end in a dangerous gun. Don't ask me how I know this.

 

[slow1911s]

You can get cheap a lot of places on a 1911 - a trigger/hammer/sear is not one of them.

 

[45-70]

Power Custom hammer and sear fitting block @ Midwayusa will do the trick and not that expensive at $24.99.

Link

 

[45-70]

The hammer hooks can be reduced by simply clamping it in a vise and laying a .020" shim against the hooks and stoning them down until you hit the shim. I recommend starting with a .022" shim and seeing if the creep is gone. You can always take a little more off. Relieving the sear can be done by laying it on a stone face down and stoning the face of the sear until you get the desired breakaway surface. The rule of thumb is to go for a breakaway surface that is 1/3 of the total engagement surface of the sear. Any work done on the engagement surface of the sear should always be done with a proper jig after squaring the hammer hooks and making sure they are both bearing evenly on the sear face. Trying to eyeball this is a bad idea and can get you into trouble very fast. If the sear is stoned too much it will become too short and is trashed. Any smith who tells you they have never trashed a sear is lying. The Kuhnhausen manual is one of the best references for this work. Creep can also be caused by incorrect sear face angle. Trying to eliminate creep by only shortening the hammer hooks or increasing the breakaway surface will end in a dangerous gun. Don't ask me how I know this.

+1 .022 is a good starting place and less than .020 is an invitation for hammer follow or full auto if you aren't careful.

 

[AllenM]

Hornett,
I don't know if you have figured this out or not but if you lay the frame of the gun down so the right side is facing up you can mock up your hammer and sear by laying them on the outside of the frame and dropping the pins through them into the correct holes.

It's not rock solid but it will give you a good idea of where your contact points are at

 

[Hornett]

You can get cheap a lot of places on a 1911 - a trigger/hammer/sear is not one of them.

Yup, finding that out.

Hornett,
I don't know if you have figured this out or not but if you lay the frame of the gun down so the right side is facing up you can mock up your hammer and sear by laying them on the outside of the frame and dropping the pins through them into the correct holes.

It's not rock solid but it will give you a good idea of where your contact points are at

GENIUS!
Thanks, I think that will help a lot.

 

[Hornett]

Well, my hammer hooks were barely more than 0.020 but one was longer than the other. I stoned them down even and they are still a little over 20 tîhoisandths. I rounded the edge on the sear a little.

It is now much better. Most of the creep is gone and it breaks clean. I don't think I could do any better without the jigs.

Thanks to everyone for your help.