WHY IS IT

[gwtrikenut]

so many gun manufactures are making semi autos that take a special little tool to break the pistol down? What do you do if you are at the range and need to tear it down for one reason or another? Or are out shooting at your property or lease and need to take apart for some reason. I already have to remember everything needed to shoot. Now I have to try to remember some special little tool?
Don't know if I am looking for an explanation or a reason. Just making a statement, I guess. Have had both and all those problem guns that needed the special tools are gone.

[speedsix]

...in the good old days, every Smith & Wesson was shipped with a little aluminum-handled screwdriver....and I never took a sideplate off till 2 years ago...nor adjusted a mainspring...now it's a lock, a locking key...this warning and that brochure...sure is getting complicated...I'm old enough to believe a gun you can take apart in the dark and put back together is a good gun...I don't like the technical marvels, either...

[Beiruty]

If you do not like the gun do not buy it, so many other good options.

[speedsix]

...and we'll talk ugly about 'em, too...yes we will...

[Skiprr]

I'm missin' something here.

My primary carry is a Kimber Ultra CDP, which does require a “special” tool to field-strip it. And I suppose you could say my other 1911s require a special tool, a la a bushing wrench...but some can be taken down by hand.

Those pistols do not have the dominant market share, though. So I’m wonderin’ what you’re shootin’.

Glocks, Springer XDs, S&W M&Ps...which combined do have the dominant market share--by a long way--require no special break-down tools.

[speedsix]

...don't know what the OP was referrin' to as far as specifics...I was gripin' 'bout the Taurus and S&W and others locks...complicating things that've always been simple...interchangeable chokes and choke wrenches...Tinkertoys...

[gwtrikenut]

Maybe I didn't make myself clear. The special tool to just get the pistol apart. Maybe to do some minor oiling on the slide, or to do whatever with the barrel removed. Not a complete breakdown. Just remove the slide and barrel. Some require a special tool just to accomplish this minor task. Even Colt has strade from it's design with the breakdown of the Defender. And by the way, I carry an Ed Brown 45. Which requires no special tool to remove the slide and barrel. And does a 3" group with a box of 50 with no misfires or jams.

[G.A. Heath]

I'm missin' something here.

My primary carry is a Kimber Ultra CDP, which does require a “special” tool to field-strip it. And I suppose you could say my other 1911s require a special tool, a la a bushing wrench...but some can be taken down by hand.

Those pistols do not have the dominant market share, though. So I’m wonderin’ what you’re shootin’.

Glocks, Springer XDs, S&W M&Ps...which combined do have the dominant market share--by a long way--require no special break-down tools.

Actually there is no need for a special bushing wrench on any 1911 that uses a bushing, they usually come with one that inserts into the mag well and it holds ammo as well. To clarify: You can use the toe on a 1911 magazine (excluding those with base pads) as a bushing wrench.

[speedsix]

...good tip...amazing the things that just don't occur to us...woulda saved my finners a lotta grief!!!

[MoJo]

I was taught in the Army the only tools you needed to completely dissassemble a 1911 was a round of ammo and your fingres. This was before the days of "match fitted" guns they were loose and still would shoot better than we could. Use the bullet point to depress the recoil spring plunger and turn the bushing by hand after that the rest was easy. The firing pin was used whenever you neecec a punch to push a pin out and the "L" on the sear spring could be uset to remove the grip screws.

[G.A. Heath]

I was taught in the Army the only tools you needed to completely dissassemble a 1911 was a round of ammo and your fingres. This was before the days of "match fitted" guns they were loose and still would shoot better than we could. Use the bullet point to depress the recoil spring plunger and turn the bushing by hand after that the rest was easy. The firing pin was used whenever you neecec a punch to push a pin out and the "L" on the sear spring could be uset to remove the grip screws.

The rim of a cartridge is better for removing the grip screws as you can damage the sear using it as a tool and the cartridge gives you a more surface area for gripping. Newer style guns kind of get away from this by using things like allen/torx head screws, but you can always convert them back.

[gwtrikenut]

I was taught in the Army the only tools you needed to completely dissassemble a 1911 was a round of ammo and your fingres. This was before the days of "match fitted" guns they were loose and still would shoot better than we could. Use the bullet point to depress the recoil spring plunger and turn the bushing by hand after that the rest was easy. The firing pin was used whenever you neecec a punch to push a pin out and the "L" on the sear spring could be uset to remove the grip screws.

Thanks Mojo. I never tried a round to push the plunger down. Have to try that method next time. But this is exactly what I was talking about. No special tools needed. Why stray from this perfect design? To sell some special tool after you lose it? This design has been around for well over 100 years. Taurus did come up with a design which is also very easy. And no special tools needed. And I am sure there are others.

[b322da]

A very good question.

Sometimes we quite unintentionally, and innocently, confuse Mr. Browning's original M1911 Colt, and its substantially identical copies by other manufacturers, with the many modern, what I call, short M1911 clones. I still occasionally practice disassembling and reassembling my almost 100-year old Colt M1911 with my eyes shut or in a dark room, as I had to do years and years ago in recruit training, knowledge paid for with many pushups, if only to prove to my sons that I can still do it. I sometimes courteously discourage others, usually youngsters, from using the shorthand term "1911s," which really does not tell the listener anything about the true makeup, or "guts," if you will, of the pistol. It only conveys an impression about what the pistol generally looks like on the exterior, when fully assembled. It doesn't even tell you the calibre of the pistol, there being numerous 9 m.m. "1911s" out there. [Roll over, John.] I cannot bring myself to look at the muzzle to determine the calibre, unless I have a finger stuck into the pistol where it is at risk of being smashed should the slidestop accidentally become a slide release. That, by the way, is the last true, and failsafe, "safety" on an M1911.

I can give you concrete examples in my gunsafe.

I cannot, at least readily and reliably, disassemble my Springfield compact .45 M1911 clone and put it back together without using that irritating little piece of plastic, nor without using strength in his hand this old man no longer has, and ruining what, in my case, is my trigger-finger. I have absolutely no doubt but that I will lose that piece of plastic someday, and I will then have a useless piece of stainless steel. Can you imagine depending on that weapon in combat? Unintended consequence -- I do not clean the Springfield as often as I should. It is a literal pain.

On the other hand, I do not have this problem with my Colt Defender .45, as a tool like this piece of plastic is not required, thanks to a relatively slight difference in design. It is a snap to field strip and reassemble.

Except: This old man finds it much more difficult with these clones to put the slide stop back in, than in the case of a real M1911. In my case, or at my age, they both really need 3 or 4 hands to hold it still, move the slide back and insert the slide stop into the barrel link. I will have to publicly admit that I have fabricated a rack for use in accomplishing the last step in reassembly. It holds both clones still and steady while I move the slide back with one hand in hopes of finding the barrel link situated correctly, along with an icepick in the other hand to line up the barrel link if, as usual, it is required for that purpose. I suspect this rack and icepick may have saved my 50+ year old marriage, after trying a couple of times to get my wife to help me get the slidestop back in.

Elmo

[Skiprr]

Okay; I'll go back to my original question: What kinda pistols are we talking about? I mentioned 1911s only because they arguably require a "special" tool, meaning that they come with a tool for you to use in field stripping. And some custom 1911s do have bushings so tight that you cannot readily move/remove them without a bushing wrench; and some short-barreled variants do need at least a straightened paperclip to catch the recoil spring in order to easily break them down.

But the OP never mentioned 1911 variants in the mix of "special" tool requirements and, boy, am I sorry that I did because this somehow became a 1911 Topic.

I like 1911s and my EDC is a Kimber. But I also own Glocks, Springer XDs, S&W semiautos (two different formats), Kahrs, Rugers, a SIG, a Kel-Tec, and a Seecamp. I don't have an FNH, but the FNP-45 is field stripped very much like a SIG.

Of those, my Ruger 22/45 (a MK III variant) arguably could use a paper clip to unlatch the mainspring catch, but otherwise no tools are needed to field strip any of them. Kahrs (and CZ models like the 75) require that you push out the slide stop to disassemble, but if that can't be done by hand it only needs some non-marring assistance like the butt of a screwdriver; nothing special.

The OP said that, "so many gun manufactures are making semi autos that take a special little tool to break the pistol down"; and I'm just tryin' to figure out what pistols and what manufacturers we're talking about.

[gwtrikenut]

IThe OP said that, "so many gun manufactures are making semi autos that take a special little tool to break the pistol down"; and I'm just tryin' to figure out what pistols and what manufacturers we're talking about.

Please read the first line of my original question. Well, let's see. Kimber needs a tool which looks like an allen wrench to remove the slide. Colt Defender also uses a tool very much like the same tool. Maybe I am wrong, but a true 1911 is a semi auto that requires no special tool other than your hands to field strip. And I know there are others, but I have not owned any of them. For two reasons. I don't shoot as much as I did when I shot in competition. And I rely on my one defense weapon. I shoot it quite often to stay familiar with the target. I don't really like the target, and that is why I continue to try to destroy it.