Hello folks,
I have one of Jim Sr.'s .45 Longslides from the early 80s, when I was just out of high school. It has the Louisiana address, and the date marked on the guide rail of the slide, his signature grip stippling and an Aristocrat rib. Shoots mighty well with 200gr LSWC at 50 yards. I search out his pistols after buying a Hardball model, and now have 3. This one makes me ask a question concerning original equipment on the 6" model.
I assume these were made for Pin matches, or possibly Bullseye? My question regards the Safety. Did they come with Ambidextrous safeties, or single-side only? This pistol, which functions 100%, has the forward pin sticking out from the side of the frame about 1/16". Doesn't affect function, but it looks wrong. Any ideas are appreciated.
Thanks for your help....Amanda
Clark Long Heavy Slide Safety Question
Moderators: pilkguns, m1963, Isabel1130
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Amanda4461
- Posts: 52
- Joined: Sat May 14, 2011 7:56 pm
- Location: Beaumont, Texas 77707
Clark Long Slide
I have a Clark LS from 1978. I sent a 1911 to him to build into a long slide. My pistol did not have a amb safety on it when sent, so it did not come back with one. My pistol was built for bullseye shooting. He put a Bomar tuner rib on mine. Since your pistol has a rib, my guess is that it was not intended for shooting bowling pin matches, but this is only a guess. However, I am not familiar with the Aristocrat rib. As for the "forward pin sticking out from the side", are you talking about the slide stop pin?
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Amanda4461
- Posts: 52
- Joined: Sat May 14, 2011 7:56 pm
- Location: Beaumont, Texas 77707
Clark Long Heavy Slide Safety Question
BEA,
I found out today that the previous owner had put the safety/trigger pins in from the wrong side, and the pins were only working their way out of the pistol, since they did not have a ridge to keep them in place. I stripped the pistol and reversed the pins. all is good now. The long slide was set up for wadcutter loads. The Aristocrat Rib is very similar to the Bomar, but it does not have the "tuner" function. I have one of his Heavy slides and it has the Bomar for a red dot, as well as the iron-sighted Bomar. Mr. Clark sure knew how to build an accurate pistol. If you look the two pictures of the gun you will see the two Pins, right behind the right stocks.
Thanks for asking about it.
Amanda
I found out today that the previous owner had put the safety/trigger pins in from the wrong side, and the pins were only working their way out of the pistol, since they did not have a ridge to keep them in place. I stripped the pistol and reversed the pins. all is good now. The long slide was set up for wadcutter loads. The Aristocrat Rib is very similar to the Bomar, but it does not have the "tuner" function. I have one of his Heavy slides and it has the Bomar for a red dot, as well as the iron-sighted Bomar. Mr. Clark sure knew how to build an accurate pistol. If you look the two pictures of the gun you will see the two Pins, right behind the right stocks.
Thanks for asking about it.
Amanda
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C. Perkins
- Posts: 480
- Joined: Fri Aug 21, 2009 9:31 pm
- Location: Was a Bullseye Master
Just for reference those are called the hammer and sear pins. If you ever have to order new ones you will need to know the proper names for them.
In the picture that's the sear pin working it's way out from being installed backwards. And from the picturre the hammer pin is also installed backwards. Best to correct that before it backs out also.
I just got done working on a friends Clark Long Slide. Nice accurate guns.
Enjoy!
Kirmdog
In the picture that's the sear pin working it's way out from being installed backwards. And from the picturre the hammer pin is also installed backwards. Best to correct that before it backs out also.
I just got done working on a friends Clark Long Slide. Nice accurate guns.
Enjoy!
Kirmdog
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Amanda4461
- Posts: 52
- Joined: Sat May 14, 2011 7:56 pm
- Location: Beaumont, Texas 77707
Clark Long Heavy Slide Safety Question
Thanks for the help! I stripped it down and reversed the two pins, and they now look right and function correctly. Bueno!
Amanda
Amanda
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mr alexander
- Posts: 202
- Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2011 2:47 pm
Clark Long Heavy Slide .45
Amanda 4461,
A few comments about this pistol. Mine was built in September, 1981. Converted by Clark's from a Colt Government Model Series '70, it has a 6" slide, a 6" barrel and a 6" Bo-Mar Full Length Sight Rib with Accuracy Tuner. These pistols were designed for bullseye shooting, using only wadcutter-type loads. The sight ribs were attached to the slide using 4 small screws for mounting. Clark and Bo-Mar both advised not to use full power, service ammunition in these guns as the heavier recoil could cause the screws to shear after a while,resulting in the rib flying off the gun! Back in the "not-so-old days" before dot sights became so popular, some pistolsmiths had a remedy that would allow one to use ANY load in a 1911 that had a sight rib on it. A small, very fine bead of weld was placed on both sides of the rib along it's entire length. The bead was laid at the joint where the bottom edge of the rib contacted the top of the slide. After cooling, the weld bead was machined in a milling machine in order to re-contour the bead, giving it a neat, smooth, nice-looking appearance. With this modification, the rib would never fall off, regardless of the ammo used and the rear sight itself (being a tough, durable Bo-Mar) could handle any recoil. The original method of rib attachment (4 screws) was fine for target loads, but not for hardball rounds. I don't know how difficult it would be later on to remove such a rib if one wanted to mount a dot sight using a slide-mounted scope base however. Check with your pistolsmith about this before having this modification done.
Speaking of dot sights, Clark does make slide-mounted scope bases in both 5 and 6 inch lengths. However, these items have a hole pattern identical to that found on the Bo-Mar sight ribs, which makes mounting an easy proposition. You have an Aristocrat rib which may mean some additional machining will be necessary if you wish to put your dot on the slide.
As for reloads using the iron sights, my Clark LHS .45 likes a 200 grain lead SWC sized at 0.452" diameter using 4.8 grains of Win 231 powder with a crimp at the case mouth at 0.466" with an overall cartridge length
of 1.250". Good luck with your pistol!
A few comments about this pistol. Mine was built in September, 1981. Converted by Clark's from a Colt Government Model Series '70, it has a 6" slide, a 6" barrel and a 6" Bo-Mar Full Length Sight Rib with Accuracy Tuner. These pistols were designed for bullseye shooting, using only wadcutter-type loads. The sight ribs were attached to the slide using 4 small screws for mounting. Clark and Bo-Mar both advised not to use full power, service ammunition in these guns as the heavier recoil could cause the screws to shear after a while,resulting in the rib flying off the gun! Back in the "not-so-old days" before dot sights became so popular, some pistolsmiths had a remedy that would allow one to use ANY load in a 1911 that had a sight rib on it. A small, very fine bead of weld was placed on both sides of the rib along it's entire length. The bead was laid at the joint where the bottom edge of the rib contacted the top of the slide. After cooling, the weld bead was machined in a milling machine in order to re-contour the bead, giving it a neat, smooth, nice-looking appearance. With this modification, the rib would never fall off, regardless of the ammo used and the rear sight itself (being a tough, durable Bo-Mar) could handle any recoil. The original method of rib attachment (4 screws) was fine for target loads, but not for hardball rounds. I don't know how difficult it would be later on to remove such a rib if one wanted to mount a dot sight using a slide-mounted scope base however. Check with your pistolsmith about this before having this modification done.
Speaking of dot sights, Clark does make slide-mounted scope bases in both 5 and 6 inch lengths. However, these items have a hole pattern identical to that found on the Bo-Mar sight ribs, which makes mounting an easy proposition. You have an Aristocrat rib which may mean some additional machining will be necessary if you wish to put your dot on the slide.
As for reloads using the iron sights, my Clark LHS .45 likes a 200 grain lead SWC sized at 0.452" diameter using 4.8 grains of Win 231 powder with a crimp at the case mouth at 0.466" with an overall cartridge length
of 1.250". Good luck with your pistol!
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Amanda4461
- Posts: 52
- Joined: Sat May 14, 2011 7:56 pm
- Location: Beaumont, Texas 77707
Clark Long Heavy Slide Question
Mr Alexander-
Thanks for the interesting info regarding the weld bead on the ribs. I had never heard of anyone doing it, but it does make sense. The Aristocrat rib on the longslide puzzled me when I got it, mainly because I have a Heavy Slide that came with the Bomar-sighted Tuner rib, and the backup red-dot Bomar rib, using the same mounting hole locations, which I found convenient. I just assumed that Aristocrat made a 6" long rib, and perhaps Bomar did not?
Your load is similar to mine, although this pistol has been fond of a 200gr LSWC using 4.0gr of Vihtavouri N-310. Like my other Clark, it drops this load to the right side of the shooter in a small pile. I don't lose much brass using it, and the pistol still holds the 10-ring at 25 yards without problems. I will be receiving one of Jim Jr's Hardball pistols in November, so we shall see if he can make one like his dad did. The old man's work will be tough to match.
Amanda
Thanks for the interesting info regarding the weld bead on the ribs. I had never heard of anyone doing it, but it does make sense. The Aristocrat rib on the longslide puzzled me when I got it, mainly because I have a Heavy Slide that came with the Bomar-sighted Tuner rib, and the backup red-dot Bomar rib, using the same mounting hole locations, which I found convenient. I just assumed that Aristocrat made a 6" long rib, and perhaps Bomar did not?
Your load is similar to mine, although this pistol has been fond of a 200gr LSWC using 4.0gr of Vihtavouri N-310. Like my other Clark, it drops this load to the right side of the shooter in a small pile. I don't lose much brass using it, and the pistol still holds the 10-ring at 25 yards without problems. I will be receiving one of Jim Jr's Hardball pistols in November, so we shall see if he can make one like his dad did. The old man's work will be tough to match.
Amanda