Joe Ramos second machine pistol prototype

With his second prototype, Joe Ramos came up with a completely new approach, which required a minimum of
modifications and preserved the original design of the Model 1911 A1. Having examined by the past a sample of the
STAR machine pistol, Joe Ramos thought that it was possible to implement this system in the Colt 1911 A1.

- Modifications of the receiver and other parts

Actually, as to the receiver, the only modifications required were two small elongated slots (blue arrows) and two
small threaded holes (yellow arrows).

As shown in the drawing above, when the original grip safety is depressed by the shooter its forward extension is
lifted and it closes one of the slots (yellow arrow). In order to keep this slot wide open, the forward extension of the
grip safety had to be cut (red line). Chopped that way, the safety forward extension was no longer entering in the slot
area. Note, that with such a portion of its forward extension being removed, the grip safety can no longer play its role
of safety device.

Another modification was the screwing of a stud on the right side of the trigger rear extension. When the trigger is
installed, this stud emerges through the lower slot that was machined in the receiver.

- Creation of new parts

To complete the system, new specific parts had to be created. On the receiver was added a tripping lever (1), a sear
lever (11) with an hinged connector (14), and two small coil springs (2 & 17). The slide was fitted with a selector to
chose the firing mode. Note, that the selector can be of the rotating type or of the vertical sliding type (7).

- Sear lever with connector

The sear lever (black arrow) is a vertical lever that is pivoting at its upper extremity (blue arrow) on the sear axis pin.
Note, that the original sear axis pin was replaced by a longer one with a groove on its right end to secure the sear
lever by means of a "C" clip. At the bottom end of the sear lever was fastened an articulated connector (orange arrow)
which is loosely riveted.
On the middle of the inner face of the sear lever is a stud (red arrow), whose function is to trip the sear. This stud
passes through the second elongated slot drilled just ahead of the sear. The connector (orange arrow) was fitted with
two holes (green arrows), to which was attached small coil springs. One of them being fastened to the pistol receiver
and the other being used as a link between the connector and the tripping lever.

- The tripping lever

The tripping lever was pivoting on the upper bushing (yellow arrow above) of the grip plate. The tripping lever has an
elongated hole through which passes a screw, which is mounted on the upper threaded hole of the receiver (blue
arrow), and acts as an assembly base for a small round cover plate. There is a coil spring (red arrow), which links the
tripping lever to the connector. Through the traction of that coil spring, the connector toe (blue arrow) is maintained
upwards, in contact with the lateral stud of the trigger stirrup.

When the device is fully assembled, the supporting screw of the tripping lever is terminated by a small round cover
plate, which secures the upper part of the tripping lever on its pivot, and it also ensures a sufficient rigidity of the
whole assembly.

- The fire selector mechanism

To be completed, the system needs a selector to modify at will the firing mode. The selector was fixed at the rear of the
slide

The selector shown above is of the rotating type. When the pistol is set to the full-auto mode, the selector is lowered
45 degrees counter-clockwise. The inner face of the selector reveals a large hole, through which passes the
fastening screw. An elongated slot (red arrow) provides clearance for the stop pin of the frame, which limits the
rotation of the selector. A small dead hole (yellow arrow) houses a spring-loaded index ball. The two circles at the
extremities of the selector are the heads of the rivets, through which was secured the checkered thumb piece.

When testing the mechanism with a rotating selector, the screw which retains the selector was broken after few
hundred shots. This induced the designer to replace the pivoting selector by one of the sliding type and
dovetail mounted. The inner face of the sliding selector has a hole for an index ball and spring. Note, the lateral screw
(yellow arrow) which limits the vertical travel of the selector.

Functioning of the J. Ramos selective fire system

- Firing in semi-auto mode
When firing in semi-auto mode, the selector must be positioned above the level of the receiver's upper line.

The close-up view above shows the whole selective fire mechanism when the hammer is retained at the cock
notch, and the trigger is released. Note, the relation between the stud (yellow cylinder) on the trigger stirrup and
the connector (dark green).

When the trigger is depressed (red arrow), the trigger bar stud is progressively pushing the connector (yellow
arrow) downwards. When the connector enters in contact with the foot of the tripping lever (red circle), its
downwards rotation is halted. The only remaining option is to travel toward the rear (green arrow). The trigger
continues its rearward travel and it pushes the disconnector (deep blue color) the usual way to rotate the sear
and to release the hammer.

During this stage, the tripping stud (black arrow) located on the hidden face of the sear lever does not interact
with the sear.

Stage of disconnection
When the slide recoils, the disconnector is pushed downwards (blue arrow) the classical way, and the sear,
which has been released, can tilt back against the hammer body, in order to re-engage with the cock notch. The
trigger achieves its rearward travel (by the pressure of the shooter's finger) and the connector of the full-auto
mechanism is pushed and lowered in line (red circle) with the foot of the tripping lever. When the slide is back
in battery with the hammer left cocked, the shooter must release the trigger (to recover the situation described
in the first drawing above) before being able to shoot again.

- Firing in full-auto mode

Selector in abutment against the tripping lever

Before being able to pivot the selector (yellow arrow) in the full-auto mode, the slide must be retracted enough
to prevent the selector staying in abutment against the upper arm of the tripping lever (yellow circle).

The picture above shows the relationship between the parts with the hammer cocked and the selector set at
full-auto mode. The tripping lever has pivoted clockwise (red arrow). Note, that the connector (dark green color)
is resting against the lateral stud of the trigger stirrup.

When the trigger is depressed (red arrow), the connector is automatically forced downwards (yellow arrows)
under the camming action of the trigger bar stud. When the connector is blocked in it downward move by the
foot of the tripping lever, its only way to respond to the continuous pressure of the trigger stud is to make a
move toward the rear.

When the trigger is fully depressed, the sear is pivoted the regular way through the push of the disconnector
(blue color) and the hammer is released.

On the explosion, the slide recoils and the disconnector is pushed downwards out of contact with the foot of
the sear. The sear pivots (blue arrow) against the hammer in order to re-engage with the cock notch. The
tripping lever, which is no longer under the pressure of the selector, rotates (red arrow) under the traction of
the coil spring which is linked to the connector. The connector is also further pushed downwards (yellow
arrow) by the last move (black arrow) of the trigger bar. As a result of all these movements, the extremity of the
connector is facing the lower extremity of the tripping lever (red circle).

As the slide gets back into battery, the tripping lever is hit by the selector and is pivoted clockwise. The rotation
of the tripping lever is transmitted to the connector (red arrow) which, at its turn, transmits it to the sear lever.
As a result, the stud on the inner face of the sear lever strikes the sear (blue circle), which is disengaged from
the hammer cock notch. The hammer strikes the firing pin and a new cycle can begin.

As soon as the slide recoils (yellow arrow), the tripping lever rotates counterclockwise because it is pulled by
the spring which is linked to the connector. The sear lever assembly is pulled toward the front (orange arrow)
by the lower coil spring. The tripping stud (red arrow) of the sear lever releases the sear that can rotate against
the hammer, in order to re-engage with its cock notch.

When the trigger is released (red arrow), it is the lower profile of the connector which contacts the trigger
stirrup lateral stud (green arrow). The sear lever pivots toward the front (orange arrow), under the pull of the
lower coil spring, until its tripping stud (black arrow) comes in abutment against the forward limit of the frame
hole through which it passes.

As a result of this mechanical arrangement, when the selector hits again the tripping lever (black arrow) the foot
of the latter is unable to push (red arrow) the connector of the sear lever. The automatic firing is consequently
immediately stopped.