Quick gustion

[ch]

What is the name of the round part of the frame the firing pin goes through just behind the barrels. Theres a pair of them, you know great things come in pairs (sorry) ch

[Bruce Day]

Bolsters, as in "she has great bolsters".

[Old and Reliable]

Originally Posted by calvin humburg

What is the name of the round part of the frame the firing pin goes through just behind the barrels. Theres a pair of them, you know great things come in pairs (sorry) ch

-- Usually known as the "standing breech", and the radiused sections that mate to the barrel breech when the gun is closed are known as "Balls" or possibly, "fences"--I don't know if fences come in pairs, but often balls do, except for golf balls, three to a sleeve, and of course, a pool table--where there are 15 numbered ones, last time I "racked 'em up" anyways!!

[ch]

Thanks Bruce seems I heard them called something else once but my mind is a terrible thing.

[Old and Reliable]

Originally Posted by Bruce Day

Bolsters, as in "she has great bolsters".

And if she's a Western gal, she has "holsters for those bolsters", right?

[ch]

So the veritical flat in frount of the bolsters is the standing breech. Fences is the name I was looken for. Like your sord saying Francis.

[Old and Reliable]

Originally Posted by calvin humburg

So the veritical flat in frount of the bolsters is the standing breech. Fences is the name I was looken for. Like your sord saying Francis.

-- Yup- It came from the speech the late T. Nash Buckingham (My gunning hero) made when he accepted the Olin Sportsman of the Year award in 1966- he was quoting from the Opera about Robin Hood, and those lines are from the "Armorer's Song"--

I was a Armorer in the USMC (MOS 2112)- that does not mean I am a gunsmith- just a qualified parts changer- I go back to the era of the M-1 Garand, the 1903 and the cheaper 1903-A-1, the Ma-Deuce .50 Browning, the great M-14, etc--

Some of those older military weapons are still with us- the Browning 1911-A-1, the .50MG and the Barrett sniper version that all our elite units have for their well-trained snipers- And my CO when I was Stateside at Quantico was a big LC Smith and AH Fox collector, also had a great collection of military rifles from post-1966 to 1939, from all parts of the world- I was lucky, I got to clean and shoot many of them--

The "Top Shot" series and other MTU series on the History Channel often give credit to the unit Armorer's involved in preparation of the weaponry used, and one of my best buddies is a stage Armorer for some of the Hollywood stuff that makes the movie circuits- sometimes they even "get it right"--

[ch]

Well I got a question for you boght a 1911 a1 years back and was toting is around a gunshow trying to find out when it was made gave it to this fellow asked him about it. He said you got you a gun been through the armory its a 1943 ithca frame, colt slid and remington hammer.
Whats been through the armory mean and why did they not put the same pices back together?

[Old and Reliable]

If you care to go back into our Country's great history- a fore-runner to the great Industrial Revolution was Eli Whitney's "made to gauge" and interchangeable common parts- for muskets and rifles- prior to that, a blacksmith/gunsmith hand-made and fitted each part- now we had the key to standards and gauges and mass production- this later gave us great (for that time) Armory produced military weapons with interchangeable parts- that and some common calibers (used by both sides in WW1 and WW2) enabled the USA to become the "Arsenal of Freedom" mass producing M-1 Garands, 1903 Springfields, Browning Automatic rifles and 1919A-1 light machine guns (all firing the common 30-06 0r 7.63x63mm round-

Your 1911 (or 1911-A-1) same basic weapon was developed by the great gun genius John M. Browning, he started working on it in 1905-- All parts are made to gauge, so a slide or frame or barrel bushing or magazine made by: Spring Field Armory, Remington, Remington-Rand, Singer (sewing machine Co.) Ithaca, and others all would interchange, both in the field for the basic components (known as a field strip and fix) or back in the main Base Armories (where I worked) So you are a soldier issued a 1911 as a TO weapon- and in firing on the range the barrel bushing develops a slight crack, you return it to my bench, I strip it down, grab a new barrel bushing from the inventory basket, re-assemble and test fire it for function- As long as that great sidearm functions properly, it matters not one bit which supplier made that bushing- or any other part-

Over the years, many "as-issued" military weapons have been both re-fit and re-assembled, with a "Duke's mixture" of parts, some canibalized from otherwise scrapped weapons. The great M1 Garand rifle, first developed by a Canadian named John C. Garand, working at the USA Springfield Armory in 1928, is a first class example- I see many really worn out Garands at gun shows, and the "hustler" will try to promote it at as NM (National Match) grade Garand, becauise it has a NM stamped operating rod- sometimes this "tricky business" extends to the 1911 .45ACP, such as you have-

If you are a purist, or have a 1911-A-1 customized by Bob Chow or Bo Swenson, a Gold Cup, NM or Combat Commander, you want only those replacement parts suited to a "tuned" combat pistol-- but if you keep your .45 for a reliable self-defence CQC weapon, what you have, with proper ammo and lots of practice (a handgun is a difficult weapon to master, IMO) you should be fine-

You already know that what some "dealer" told you about your 1911 is just their way of "lowering the price" they will pay-a common practice. I am very prejudiced towards Colt handguns, as was my late father, and would stake my life on the reliability of a 1911-A-1 in .45ACP- or my .357 Python.

You might also like to know that John M. Browning refused any compensation from the Army Ordnance Board for all the great weapons he perfected for our Armed Forces- it was his way of thanking America for the great opportunity he found here as a premiere gun designer. A great man indeed, IMO--

[Roundsworth]

Francis covered it well. I still have people look at me as if I was high when I tell them the last contract was in 1945 for the 1911A1. When I was the Small Arms Officer at NAS Whidbey Island, I carried a real nice Union Switch and Signal .45 that had a proper serial number. The lettering was not obliterated as some of our other .45s. If it had been re-arsenal'd, it was done nicely. The four MINT Service Model Aces we had were awesome. The Parkerizing was not even worn off the rails!