Tisas 1911 hammer follow

NiceOldDouble

NiceOldDouble

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I liked Tisas, believing them to be a good, basic, low cost 1911 platform. I hope to like them again, but currently I am having a serious and confusing problem with one of them.

History: New Tank Commander .45ACP. Fired 25 rounds to see how it runs. All is perfect. Decided to put in an Ed Brown bobtail, which went great. Decided to install a beavertail, and chose an STI, and I used and Ed Brown .250” radius jig. All went well, and now time to reblue after fitting both parts. Blued all parts except for: sear, disconnector, sear spring, grip bushings. Reassemble and test fire results in hammer follow, with the half-cock catching the hammer. Hammer follow does NOT occur dry, only when firing live rounds.

Next: Inspected hammer hook which equals .024” which is standard. Inspected factory sear, which had a primary edge, but no secondary edge. Used a magnifying fixture to inspect and then another to stone the edges to correct. Hammer follow when firing remains a problem. Got a new fancy hammer and sear from a 1911 expert I know. Hammer follow remains. Tried increasing sear spring tension, which was not help. Stoned left side of the sear leg of the sear spring to make sure it is not hitting the frame. Cleaned gun again. Tried the original hammer/sear, thinking stoning the spring may have helped, this resulted in the gun doubling. THANKFULLY, I had loaded only two rounds. Reinstalled new hammer/sear, and hammer follow remains.

So, this really stinks. When you blue it is temp driven not time driven and you cook until the salts reach 300 degrees. Is Turkish metal garbage, and 300 degrees will change dimensions so much to bring this about? Quality parts, correct fitting, and neither of the new parts should have any effect on ignition.

Ideas?
 
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NiceOldDouble said:
I liked Tisas, believing them to be a good, basic, low cost 1911 platform. I hope to like them again, but currently I am having a serious and confusing problem with one of them.

History: New Tank Commander .45ACP. Fired 25 rounds to see how it runs. All is perfect. Decided to put in an Ed Brown bobtail, which went great. Decided to install a beavertail, and chose an STI, and I used and Ed Brown .250” radius jig. All went well, and now time to reblue after fitting both parts. Blued all parts except for: sear, disconnector, sear spring, grip bushings. Reassemble and test fire results in hammer follow, with the half-cock catching the hammer. Hammer follow does NOT occur dry, only when firing live rounds.

Next: Inspected hammer hook which equals .024” which is standard. Inspected factory sear, which had a primary edge, but no secondary edge. Used a magnifying fixture to inspect and then another to stone the edges to correct. Hammer follow when firing remains a problem. Got a new fancy hammer and sear from a 1911 expert I know. Hammer follow remains. Tried increasing sear spring tension, which was not help. Stoned left side of the sear leg of the sear spring to make sure it is not hitting the frame. Cleaned gun again. Tried the original hammer/sear, thinking stoning the spring may have helped, this resulted in the gun doubling. THANKFULLY, I had loaded only two rounds. Reinstalled new hammer/sear, and hammer follow remains.

So, this really stinks. When you blue it is temp driven not time driven and you cook until the salts reach 300 degrees. Is Turkish metal garbage, and 300 degrees will change dimensions so much to bring this about? Quality parts, correct fitting, and neither of the new parts should have any effect on ignition.

Ideas?
Click to expand...
Your approach seems to have pinpointed the problem lies in the frame but I can not see 300F dimensionally changing the frame.
Have you tried a different disconnector? It seems to be one thing you haven’t replaced and it is the one part responsible for resetting the sear to catch the hammer after firing (the symptom). I have no explanation on why but it would be a simple, inexpensive thing to do and will not alter any parts.
 
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keepcalmandcarryon said:
Your approach seems to have pinpointed the problem lies in the frame but I can not see 300F dimensionally changing the frame.
Have you tried a different disconnector? It seems to be one thing you haven’t replaced and it is the one part responsible for resetting the sear to catch the hammer after firing (the symptom). I have no explanation on why but it would be a simple, inexpensive thing to do and will not alter any parts.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I will try that. Before doing so, I’m going to put the original grip safety back in and test, thinking that perhaps the hammers and this particular beavertail combination is preventing the hammer from fully articulating. I don’t usually use STI beavertails. Maybe they are intended for some specific hammer shape. Easy to test.
 
NiceOldDouble said:
Installed factory grip safety with factory hammer and sear. Problem gone. My thinking is that the STI beavertail was dimensionally in conflict with the hammer.
Click to expand...
Did you figure out exactly how so? I'm interested to see if you can make it work.
 
BatteryOaksBilly said:
And THEN we started monkeying around with a gun that functioned perfectly until we got one that won't run......an age Old story.

I see what I mean.....
Click to expand...
They are the perfect platform for modification and upgrades, and building from scratch. Tisas is now offering a builder kit. A mix match of beavertail and hammer was a new one to experience and make note of for the future.
 
It’s funny how stuff like that that works. i wanted to build my first 1911. Bought a new Caspian frame from @BatteryOaksBilly. Built the gun, fitted the slide etc and it would not run. We worked on it an entire afternoon. Changed every single part except the grip screws and nothing worked. Even took apart a working gun and put the parts on the frame with the same results. Called Caspian and sent the frame back. Everything checked to spec. The only answer they came up with is possibility some holes were at the top end of the specs and others at the bottom but it was something they had never encountered before. Being the top end company they are, they built me a new frame. Put it together and it runs like crap through a goose! The shop Forman said he now has the original frame on his wall as a reminder that in spec does not always mean in spec. I wanted to learn more than the basics of working on a 1911 and with Billy’s help and guidance I got a lifetime education on one gun.
 
Something is interfering with the sear's free movement. It's sluggish. Too slow to catch the hammer hooks, but quick enough to grab the half cock.

That it doubled on you once indicates that it staged at the tips of the hammer hooks...jarred off when the slide went to battery...and missed the half cock.

Since it only happens with the new grip safety, it has to be the grip safety, and the only place on the safety that can contact the sear is at the grip safety lug. Try thinning the left side of the lug a couple thousandths, and the right side of the sear by a like amount. Add some tension to the sear itself with the left leg of the sear spring, and try it again.
 
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