Series 80 Officers ACP light strikes and grip safety

[poptart]

Went shooting with my dad yesterday and one of the guns he brought with him was a Colt series 80 officers acp that to his knowledge has never been shot. I squared off with a target and click no bang, checked primer and it was a light strike. Put 3 mags through it and it would fire less than half the times I pulled the trigger. I am guessing a hammer spring is the first thing that should be checked/replaced, what else should I look at? Got the gun home and was cleaning it and looking it over and checked to see if the grip safety was functioning, and the hammer will fall to half cock when the trigger is pulled without the safety being depressed. Brownells offers hammer springs and recoil springs for it but not much else, do most of the other springs interchange with the full size? What parts do I need to tweak or replace to get this gun running 100%? Appreciate any input.

[Dave Berryhill]

I would check your Series 80 safety lever timing first. If levers don't raise the safety plunger high enough then the firing pin can remain partially blocked when the hammer falls. If you remove the firing pin and the safety plunger from the slide, look for peening where they meet.

There are several ways to check the timing. One way is to take an unloaded pistol, depress the grip safety and pull the trigger. Continue to hold the trigger fully to the rear and then pull the hammer to the rear and hold it with your thumb. Take a punch and push the firing pin forward. It should move forward smoothly. You'll feel a "tick" if the firing pin is hitting the plunger.

The usual cause is a trigger with an overtravel stop.

The grip safety can be replaced or metal can be added back to the arm of the existing safety and re-fit. A qualified gunsmith can fix both or you can contact Colt.

[poptart]

Thanks for the reply Dave, I checked the timing how you said and couldn't even get the firing pin to fully depress. Took the plunger and spring out of the slide and things move freely. What do you think about converting it to a series 70? Seems like that would simplify things. Would be using this http://www.brownells.com/handgun-par...ku=876-011-780

The trigger does not have an overtravel stop.
If i decide to replace the grip safety is there any real difference between the officers and a full size?

[Steve_Morrison]

Not Dave, but I would not recommend bypassing the factory safety systems. A Colt Officer's ACP Model (and Commander) grip safety is relieved for use with a Commander style hammer--a replacement grip safety needs to have relief for the hammer.

[poptart]

Thanks for the reply, I got everything figured out. It appears some fool silver soldered a sort of shim to the rear of the trigger just on the left side and it was keeping the grip safety from engaging, as well as I think putting the gun out of time. I did pull the series 80 parts in favor of the filler plate but may stick them back in now that I got it figured out.