Trigger "Tick"

Jon or KC, maybe you can chime in here:
 My 45 has recently developed a "tick" just as I start to move the trigger to the rear. I do not feel it when dry firing , only when I have loaded a magazine in the gun as far as I can tell. I have cleaned the gun and polished all that I can. I have made sure there is no contact between the hammer and sear when the hammer is slowly released forward while holding with my fingers. I cannot figure out what is causing this. Can you help please. This is very distracting during a match. Thank you...Paul

It always helps to know what pistol is being used. Caspian with newer components or an old Colt series 70, etc.
1) did you take it apart and reassemble and now have the problem?
2) did you change bullet type? What measurement from bottom of case to shoulder of bullet?
3) is it going 100% into battery? Is very front of chamber clean, no lead buildup? Can cause slide to be out of battery slightly.
4) have you tried lswc and jacketed ammunition?

My initial thoughts are/is the top of the disconnector contacting the disconnector notch in the slide? Or possibly sear spring not installed correctly and pushing on sear/disconnector slightly off ( I have actually seen this ).

Anyhow please answer the questions.
Jon

1) did you take it apart and reassemble and now have the problem?
2) did you change bullet type? What measurement from bottom of case to shoulder of bullet?
3) is it going 100% into battery? Is very front of chamber clean, no lead buildup? Can cause slide to be out of battery slightly.
4) have you tried lswc and jacketed ammunition?




Jon, Thank you for replying:

Accuracy-X build

1) It was doing this before I took it apart to clean it..
2) No, I have been using the same bullets for years. You asked me about the measurement before and told me it was fine..
3) Yes, 100% into battery. Very clean chamber..
4) I use both LSWC (Cast H&G 130) and Zero JHP> I have used the same ammo combo for years.

I will change out the sear spring and see if that does anything.

Check your hammer/sear interface. I had a similar issue, can’t remember if it was a worn sear or hammer pin(or the holes they fit into).

Jon. I'll check that and let you know what I find out.

As mentioned above...

Mine had a "tick" once as you began to add pressure to the trigger. I got looking closer on it and found that I could see the hammer and sear pin moving when the "tick" happened. Installed a new set of EGW pins and it went away.

I've had that happen with a disconnector shifting.  A gunsmith put a dimple in front of the hole, closing it a bit, and the click went away.

Another possibility - could the trigger be rubbing against the grip safety?  If they touch, at al, you will feel it as you describe.

mikemyers wrote:Another possibility - could the trigger be rubbing against the grip safety?  If they touch, at al, you will feel it as you describe.

Good point Mike, I overlooked that. 
Jon

Take the grip safety off and re-assemble the pistol. Now we have isolated the safety.  Does the problem still exist. If so you can see all the ignition parts as they function. Look carefully ay the disconnector, sear spring and trigger bow for the issue. If the issue goes away look at the inside of the grip safety for wear points

Does it do it with every magazine?  Have you tried dry firing with a magazine in the pistol?  If so, is the click there?  Trigger bow could be dragging on the magazine because it's proud of the mag well on the receiver.

Thanks all for the suggestions to my "tick"problem. I think that I may have found the problem. I took a real close look at the sear spring and found a small burr on the flat part of the portion that rests on the sear. I filed it off and stoned and polished it. I'll find out in the next couple of days when I go to the range to try it out. I can't tell right now as I never had the problem when I dry fired even with an empty mag inserted....only with a loaded mag installed, so I don't know if that was ( is ) the actual problem or not. I'll find out.

Can you try to reproduce the problem with the magazine and dummy rounds?

I have a faint disconnector tick on one of my pistols and...I LIKE IT! I know many of you may disagree, but that tick is produced only on slow trigger pull. I cannot feel it, only hear it. So that pistol is now my go to for dry fire practice. When I hear the tick I know I am pulling trigger nice and slow as I should, and it develops my trigger skill better. I can fix it to go away, but I deliberately choose not to.

Remove your slide stop pin. Put slide forward of receiver approximately 0.030” and hold slide in place with non firing hand. Now dry fire pistol? If tick went away it’s because disconnector notch in the slide was moved forward (because slide is forward) and not interfering with the disconnector.
Jon

John,
That is a very smart way to test disco. First time I am hearing of this method and ashamed of not thinking of it. Thanks!
Yev

This "tick" that is felt or heard is commonly referred to as "Disconnector Click."  There are generally two difference causes of this.  The most often cause is the head of the Disconnector rubbing on the Disconnector Slot on the underside of the Slide.  When doing Trigger Work on 1911's I always address this issue.  I have several special gouge/scrapers which I've made using 3/16" lathe bits placed into a file handle.  I deepen and smooth the Slot in the Slide, so the Head of the Disconnector moves smoothly while in contact with the Slot.  If you do this, Do Not lengthen the Slot, but only smooth it out.  It's been mentioned that some have corrected the "click" issue by peening the Disconnector Hole in the Frame.  While this might work, unless you fully understand how JMB designed the 1911, you could be causing other issues.  To properly function, the Head of the Disconnector should be moving in a Hole in the Frame which is larger than the diameter of the Disconnector Head.

Cheers,
Roddy