22 Conversions

Here's a Face Book style rant...I can't stand defeat.. but, for two days now, I have been struggling with a .22 conversion.. The upper is not the issue..but required the usual.. The lower is a typical 80 Series Colt disaster..

                                                                                   "The performance of a conversion is directly related to the quality of the lower.."

Sounds bad

Hammer follow down is only issue I can think of.....2#?
Jon

Since the upper doesn't have anything that works with a series 80 frame can't you just make it a series 70? You have already changed it when you changed uppers. Just curious.

Len

I been lucky.  Conversions I have or had by Marvel, Advantage Arms, and Nelson all have worked fine on three different Baer lowers made up by Roddy.  One Baer is dedicated, the other two are wad and HB guns.  And also a 1963 made Gold Cup, and one Range Officer.  The triggers vary on all these, but function has been fine.  Presently I have one AA conversion and the rest are Nelson.

Knock on wood... I've lucked out with the few I've had so far. The magazine tends to be what I have had to adjust the most. I had to open the mag lips for my marvel so much that I thought the spring was going to pop out, however, since I built their dedicated lowers they have been great.

suspect Jerry is complaining more about the machining on the frame and hole placements....

Yep.....hammer, sear and disconnetor holes are a pain on a 2# trigger when not in right location.

Jon Eulette wrote:Yep.....hammer, sear and disconnetor holes are a pain on a 2# trigger when not in right location.

  This gun had been to several "doctors".. All of the above is junk.. The new hammer, sear and disconnector just was not coming together.. The spacer plate, which takes up the void for the 80 series firing pin mechanism, looked as if it had been ground by stone axe..and very much out of square.  So, that had to be corrected.. New pins, and still had to juggle the hook faces to get uniform contact. Hammer spring housing, full of rust..Steel trigger .. I don't understand the obsession with steel triggers..Hammer spring housing trapped the sear spring which makes adjusting difficult and unresponsive.. Clearance machined into the housing..  Done with all the conversion up grades..

Considering Colt has been making 1911's longer than anyone, and may well have direct access to the original drawings, dimensions, prototypes, and tooling, they would make a great business case about how organizational memory is displaced by corporate amnesia.

Really no excuse for it with today's CNC..

But you still have to have pride in your work and know how to set one up.

In the 1980s, CNC hadn't penetrated heavy manufacturing.  The more popular choice then for high volume work was a transfer line.  Often these were custom built to make one item.

Yep, and as the tooling wore, and was expensive to replace and would shut down a line, it was run till nothing would fit.....

Jerry got one of those...