9mm 1911 interchangability?

hillbillydruggist

Will 1911 parts from different (major)manufacturers interchange with each other?

thanks

iceracerx

No. Most parts of a 1911A1 are fitted to a particular firearm.

The springs, Main Spring housing and perhaps the pins may interchange from one brand to another.

The trigger, sear, hammer, barrel, barrel bushing, slide to frame fit, and thumb safety are all 'custom' fits.

EDIT: I know of ZERO 'mil-spec' 9 mm 1911s That's what the OP asked about.

Just considering the barrel bushing alone, I doubt one from another pistol would be a 'drop-in'.

I took the liberty of measuring all the barrel bushings for the various 1911s that I have (a while back).

3 National Match rebuilds and no bushings would swap
5 Colts; 3-45s, 1-38 super, 1-38 AMU and no interchange
2 Para USAs in 45 - one would accept a bushing from a Colt 1991A1
1 Kimber Gold Match - Zero bushings fit.

I'll stick w/ what I originally posted.

hillbillydruggist

thanks for the info

perry shooter

for the most part those pistols that were built for the military no mater who built the part would interchange MIL SPEC.

rufe-snow

quote:Originally posted by iceracerx
No. Most parts of a 1911A1 are fitted to a particular firearm.

The springs, Main Spring housing and perhaps the pins may interchange from one brand to another.

The trigger, sear, hammer, barrel, barrel bushing, slide to frame fit, and thumb safety are all 'custom' fits.



Don't agree with the above. The only one of the above part(s). I've had interchangeability issues with, has been the thumb safety. This has been as Karl noted, with military spec pistols. I'm sure the high dollar custom type 1911's, are held to closer tolerances.

beantownshootah

Quick answer is many parts will interchange but, some won't. Depends on the part, and depends on the exact model you're trying to swap with.

There is such a thing as a "military spec" 1911, and parts from those guns will interchange, with the understanding that tolerances may be less than perfect and some fitting may be required if you want everything to work as well as it "could".

IE, in "theory" you can take 30 different to-spec guns, strip them down to parts, throw all the parts into a big bucket, then reassemble them randomly and assuming all the parts were in spec, they all "should" operate. Just maybe not with the best possible accuracy, trigger feel, etc. Obviously, if you do this, each gun needs to be tested and safety-checked.

I think the issue here is that not every 1911 is "milspec" and certain models have their own individual kinks with respect to safeties, and certain other parts.

9mms in particular are their own thing. While there is such a thing as a Colt 9mm 1911, and some of the makes use that pattern, I don't think they all do. You simply may not be able to get certain parts (eg barrels, bushings, even slides, etc) to work in certain guns no matter what you do.