Have any of you went through the process of converting a Colt 1911 or clone with a series 80 trigger to a series 70 trigger? If you did, whos components/parts did you use and in reality what did it get you? From the YOUTUBE videos that I've watched it looks like an easy conversion.
Series 80 to 70 Conversion
- Thread starter grry10
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3 Meter Para Bellum
Handloader
- Apr 17, 2020
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I've never done this, so I am not particularly usefull probably, but I do have an armorers course on the 1911 from some of my gunsmithing training that I had started getting into a few years ago. It has been a bit since I looked at it, but this question has me wanting to take a look at what the process would take.
3 Meter Para Bellum
Handloader
- Apr 17, 2020
- 353
- 507
I got a little refresher on how these work, although I don't know how a conversion would be done exactly as I didn't look up anything specific to that. It looks like the series 80 just added a firing pin block safety. That consists of the firing pin block plunger and it's spring, which is in the top of the frame and held in by the firing pin itself. The blocking plunger gets pushed out of the way by a pair of levers that are acted on by the trigger bow, so as the trigger is pulled the blocking plunger moves up to allow the firing pin free forward movement.
I am supposing that the goal of this conversion would be to remove the little bit added spring force that the firing pin blocking plunger adds to the overall trigger pull. To do it I think you would start by removing the firing pin blocking plunger, although I would consult somebody more knowledgable than me, just in case there is any reason it can't just be dispensed with without any other considerations. I think you also probably have to remove the pair of actuating levers that move the blocking plunger so that they aren't flopping around in the absence of the plunger pushing down on them. Those levers would then need to be replaced with something that would take up their width in the frame. I imagine if you had the proper size washers, a couple could be used in place of the removed levers, but again that isn't a professional opinion, just my layperson's observation. I did take a look at Brownells and they do have a shim that replaces the levers for this type of conversion, and it looks like it would do the job nicely. I don't imagine this piece requires anything fancy, but you could always give it a bit of a manual polish with some very fine sandpaper or something to get it real smooth.
Anyway, I'm not sure how helpful any of that will be, and bare in mind I didn't look too deep into it, so I might be missing something. However, from what I can tell, it should be very easy, and it was interesting to take a look at what might be involved.
I am supposing that the goal of this conversion would be to remove the little bit added spring force that the firing pin blocking plunger adds to the overall trigger pull. To do it I think you would start by removing the firing pin blocking plunger, although I would consult somebody more knowledgable than me, just in case there is any reason it can't just be dispensed with without any other considerations. I think you also probably have to remove the pair of actuating levers that move the blocking plunger so that they aren't flopping around in the absence of the plunger pushing down on them. Those levers would then need to be replaced with something that would take up their width in the frame. I imagine if you had the proper size washers, a couple could be used in place of the removed levers, but again that isn't a professional opinion, just my layperson's observation. I did take a look at Brownells and they do have a shim that replaces the levers for this type of conversion, and it looks like it would do the job nicely. I don't imagine this piece requires anything fancy, but you could always give it a bit of a manual polish with some very fine sandpaper or something to get it real smooth.
Anyway, I'm not sure how helpful any of that will be, and bare in mind I didn't look too deep into it, so I might be missing something. However, from what I can tell, it should be very easy, and it was interesting to take a look at what might be involved.
truck driver
Ammo Smith
- Mar 11, 2013
- 7,415
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I always avoided the 80 series and bought only 70 series. You can remove the firing pin block and get a good trigger pull so I'm told but never tried to do it. Sorry I can't be any help.
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truck driver
Ammo Smith
- Mar 11, 2013
- 7,415
- 1,117
One of the reasons I went away from Colt was the discontinued 70 series. Colt was trying to appease the politically correct crowd and make a safer handgun when they already had one in the 70 series.
There are quite a few brands that are better than the 80 series and, in my opinion, you are pouring money into a pit since it takes a Master guild pistol Smith to accomplish what you want to do. Trade it for a Kimber. Springfield Armory, Les Bare. Accuracy X, Rock River just to name a few manufactures that offer better quality and more accurate 1911s that can be bought over the counter without waiting for a custom pistol to be built.
If these brands are out of your budget look at a Tesia since they are now the rage for an inexpensive platform to build a custom 1911 on.
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