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I know there are some 1911 guru's out there, so please educate me a lil bit here if you may.

I just recently acquired a S&W 1911 Stainless and the gun shoots great. I put about 600+ rounds with no hiccups. Not one. However I have a couple of questions about it.

1. I have had some smudges on the stainless finish. It's not a scratch or anything, but a smudge. I don't know how to explain it. It has a bit of them here and there. I don't know how I got them there, but I did. I treat my Kimber Stainless II and this 1911 the same. I baby it and take it hot showers, the works. Like a 1911 should be taken care of. Is there any possible way to remove these smudges? If so what do I need to get for me to be able to?

2. The screw in the trigger is hanging out a bit. My trigger kind of rattles, too. I don't know if its because of this? What is that screw for in the first place? My Kimber's screw does not stick out at all. If that's not making the rattling noise on the trigger, then what else could it be?

I appreciate the feedback, guys.

Cheers,
Alex

The screw is an over travel adjustment screw. It's used to prevent extra wasted movement of the trigger . It sounds like it may have just worked itself loose. Basic adjustment is to screw it in until you cant make the trigger drop the hammer, then back it out slightly until the hammer will drop when you pull the trigger.

Great. How the heck can I access this lil screw*? I see it located in the magazine, but to go from there? I've been trying to read up on some forums on how to, but with no avail.

Andy ! where are you!

I would wait for AndyC to come around to help you out with that...He knows everything about 1911's

Since I've never gone "hands on" with it, I wouldn't want to give wrong advice.

FWIW..a slight trigger rattle is not that uncommon with the Smith 1911's.

If there's not a hole in the trigger, I would suggest cutting down an Allen wrench to fit.

USA1 wrote:Andy ! where are you!

I would wait for AndyC to come around to help you out with that...He knows everything about 1911's

Since I've never gone "hands on" with it, I wouldn't want to give wrong advice.

FWIW..a slight trigger rattle is not that uncommon with the Smith 1911's.

Thanks Andy.

Wow, that was by far the most thorough answer I have ever gotten. Thanks so much, Andy. I'll give it a try here.

Yeah, I'll try to upload some photos here. Too bad I ran over my digital camera (Don't ask) and lent my SLR to my sister.

I appreciate it though, brother.

Cheers
-Alex

Oh, and one more question..

What do YOU consider the 1911 hierarchy? I know its just an opinion, but I would like to know from a more experienced 1911 user.

AndyC wrote:Heirarchy? You mean in terms of brands?

I'm one of those poor souls who believe that beauty is as beauty does - I want reliability and toughness first, followed by accuracy. Anything beyond that is a bonus - and every manufacturer of 1911s has let lemons out the door, even Colt.

My conclusion from this statement is that Colt is the standard by which all other inferior brands must be judged.

AndyC wrote:
Nowadays there are plenty of fine manufacturers from stock to highly custom pistols eg Springfield Armory, STI, Ed Brown, Bill Wilson, Les Baer, Dan Wesson, Caspian...

And?