Quite a while ago, I had the chance to sit down with Bill Laughridge, the owner of Cylinder & Slide in Fremont, Nebraska. Bill is one of the best gunsmiths in the world, and is particularly known for his work with 1911s and Browning Hi Powers. I ran across some notes I had taken during our discussion. They are not in any particular order, just comments Bill was making as he disassembled and reassembled a Springfield 1911 (which he could do faster than anyone I have ever seen). He did say that he thought the Springfield was probably the best buy for an entry level 1911 and could then be modified into whatever the user needed.  Hopefully, some of the following information will be useful, interesting or both.

The Springfield military sear is small, and the frame is cut to a mil-spec radius which makes it too small for “big” sears. To install a “big” sear, cut a new radius on the back of the replacement sear, don’t cut on the frame.

Dropping the hammer with the slide off will bend the sear pin. Since the pin can turn, the action of the sear becomes erratic.

Pinched frames at the rear are most common with Rock Island and Charles Daly 1911s.

When replacing the Springfield’s safety features in the mainspring housing with non-safety parts, an 18 pound mainspring is recommended. Gold Cups often used 20 pound springs and 23 is what’s in the mil-spec model.

A replacement thumb safety won’t fit in a Springfield? That’s because the replacement is 0.015” taller than stock. File the safety to clear it, following the exact angle that is on the safety. If it’s an ambidextrous safety, both sides must be installed to check the safety’s operation.

To check the grip safety, pull the trigger and then see if the hammer will “click” back. If so, then it is close to releasing.

With Para-Ordnance, some Springfields and Kimbers, the slide should overcock the hammer (bring the hammer past the full cocked position). If the slide doesn’t overcock, or barely gets the hammer to the cocked position, the holes in the frame are too far down and the only solution is to stone the sear.

No half-cock position? There is no trigger free play or the holes for the hammer pin are too far forward. File the back of the sear legs to get enough room to engage.

The Series 80 hammer has a half-cock notch that is squared off, merely to catch the hammer. The original Series 70 hammer has a captured half-cock notch, called a “trap notch” so the hammer cannot move past the notch at all unless the hammer is pulled slightly back to release the hammer from the trap. (An interesting thing to consider, I think.)

Triggers: less than 3 pounds, stay away from it, as it will cause “trigger bounce” when the slide goes forward among other things. The lighter the trigger, the worse this is. With a light long three hole aluminum trigger, there should be no unsprung float. The trigger should have spring load on it and at least 1/16” of travel.

Disconnectors should measure 1.296” to 1.305” – if too long, the hammer will fall to half cock.

There was much, much more information but I couldn’t write fast enough to capture it. If you ever get the chance to listen to Bill, it’s worth your time. People like him don’t get as good as he is by accident.