Accurize that 1911a1 !!!!!!

OK YOU JUST ... bought a llama or another clone or maybe even a colt thats seen some better days or maybe just needs a few tweaks to get back on target and tighter groups.first inspect the pistol for a worn barrel bushing,second barrel link,third slide stop pin,fourth worn slide rails,fifth a bad crown or worn lands on the muzzle ,all can be fixed. all can affect accuracy badly......

THE BARREL BUSHING should be a tight fit fairly meaning no slop when holding the slide back 1/8th of an inch or so,ive seen bushings so bad they were egg shaped worn out of round.a new bushing can be easily fitted by good gunsmith,a drop in fit can be done too with stock parts and still get some degree of accuracy back but not as much as one hand fitted and done correctly and chamfered for barrel tilt right inside the i.d. of it.

BARREL LINKS, theyre is a link that needs checking out,this pivots the barrel up and down in and out of battery lockup every shot,they wear out at times causing the timing to be off and accuracy to falter by adding more play than need be.when i replaced mine the lower link hole was an amazing .225 compared to the slide stop pin going thru its thickness of .203!
yep the timing was off just a bit and the shots would not place better than 2 inch groups when shot.a new colt link will work the lower hole being .200 so it will need to be carefully opened up some to fit the LLama's slide stop pin of .203,not all links are to spec tho so some may be - or +  a couple hundredths.also i noted that the frame slot cut for the barrel is a lot wider than need be on mine so nuthin can be done theyre ,also some pistols with loose slides can be extremely accurate as long as the internals are within spec of each other.that is a good link and pin fit to slide stop pin and fit to barrel,good bushing. on the links tho some thicknesses vary ,what i did was to use 2 steel washers made from .003 feeler gauge strips on either side of the link seing as i had about .006 of play.the washers removed that so now in battery im assured the same lockup position in the slide/barrel.
ON NEW LINKS,you can use a colt link on a llama BUT the lower slide stop hole on a colt is .200 to .205 i find on after market links and the upper pin is .155,you may have to drill the pin hole to fit the llama pin at .157 with a #22 bit, and drill the lower hole to .201 or so with A #7 .201 or 13/64ths .203 drill bit depending on the slide stop pin thickness.2 links i got from a parts company were varied in thickness at .133 or so, i had to just shave one a bit to fit the slot,also the lower holes were slightly bigger than expected so the slide stop pin fitting good on one but a little to loose on the other barely making it fit for use
no drilling was needed on the lower holes,wilson combat makes a cnc cut link tho right to spec and i highly reccomend them in a n.m. pistol application but an after market link can be fitted just as good filling the bill and getting the same results getting the original timing back as well on the piece too.

SLIDE RAILS ,we all have em. the best is a nice tite slide fit to frame with no slop yet a smooth action.to tighten a loose side to side fit you need a huge vise and some micarta plates to protect the slide finish or just use tape on the slide,i do not advise first timers doing this as one inch over on the vise handle and your stuck with junk,take the slide and insert one inch of the lower rails in the vise parallel to the top.now tighten the vise one inch at a time, mark the vise block where the handle was at last turned, loosen and insert the slide to the next inch along up and tighten to the same spot as the inch of slide before just done and repeat along the way to the end of the slide before the shroud starts, test fit it on the slide,repeat if neccesary.remember never go past that mark on the vise when its tightened you must keep it even along the way the whole length of the slide,never going more then one inch of a turn at a time on the vise handle,if when done its too tight use some valve grinding compound to free it up working the slide back and forth untill it will move freely when cleaned and no looseness side to side.for up and down slop i suggest having a 1911 gunsmith peen the rails for you for about 65 bucks or so.
its the only alternative to blowing a couple hundred on accu-rails which are nice but its your piece.remember also slide fit is 10-15 % of the accuracy in a 1911a1 too. and it helps .

MUZZLE CROWNINGS.its an important thing the crown,it protects the rifling lands and grooves as well as gives the bore an even concentric exit surface,ive seen them bruised,dinged the rifling worn some poeple just chop the barrel and finish it by hand and forget the crown completely.what i do is recrown the rifling by hand with valve grinding compound and oil on a ball from a mouse with out the rubber coating on it removed or a steel ball bearing from my machine shop days between 11\16 to 1 inch depending on what im doing,for the 45 i use the 7/8" mouse ball.set the barrel in leather padded vise jaws straight up,now coat the ball in valve grinding compound and oil,also toss a couple patches in the bore to keep the compound from going all the way in and cleaner.now just rotate the ball in all directions by hand untill you have a nice even bevel all around the bore and then sharp lands and grooves on the rifling .this will bring those groups right backalot tighter than before with a worn crown too.it takes about 15-20 minutes or so to do by hand and i do not advise using a bolt or a screw in a drill at all as some have mentioned to me as its a real pain to get it absolutely sqaure that way,i prefer by hand with the ball .see pic below...