Intermediate Armorer's Course, 1911

After Action Report.

The course at Hatfield's was good.  As good as the beginner class.  But that's because of the caliber of the instructor.  He picked up his gunsmithing and instructor skills in the Army in the Army Marksmanship Unit.

What did I learn?  LOTS of stuff.

Just a sample...  Check out your MIM slide stop.  The diameter of the post.  Many are fatter closer to the tip.  And the diameter changes from .198 on the side with the MIM 'mold' seam to .195 or less.  So that's a bad thing that MIM can give you.  But swapping it out for a better made after market part can hurt you.  But you can spec a post that is .200 or .202...  higher.  But then you may need to ream the holes in your frame.  And maybe the barrel link will need resizing.  But not too long a link. The post is supposed to ride on the ramp of the barrel lug.  And there shouldn't be a hump on the lug, either.

And this is just one small tiny area.  You gotta chase backwards if you look to make any change at all.  Make a change to the barrel bushing and you almost have to think about grip screw specs eventually.

Again, while I do pick up tuning tips that I can do to make the gun run better.  And recognize tuning areas I CAN do, but probably shouldn't.  What I truly learn in these classes is how much I don't know.

And we didn't even get to things we could do to the hammer and sear notches and such.  That's for the more advanced class.  And then 10 hours a day for two years working on other people's guns before I felt good enough to do my own.