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Taylor
11-26-2006, 01:27 PM
I have a Springfield GI,about 3 year's old.After about 2 magazine's,she does't want to go all the way into battery,I use my thumb to push the slide forward.This happen's with reload's,cast or jacket,or factory round's.This happen's with GI issue mags,Wilson mags,with different spring's,different guide rod's.I have made all sort's of change's to this gun without good result's.The ramp and chamber have been polished,I have tried seating the bullet differently.Tried different load's,I'm lost for a fix. If anyone has any idea's,please help.

d-o-k
11-26-2006, 01:53 PM
I've got to admit this ones a challenge ! Do you rapid fire the pistol ? I'm thinking maybe over heating ,or it could be time to replace it ?


Dave

Taylor
11-26-2006, 02:05 PM
Hey there,how's everything in Australia? Got to visit there once in '79,curtesy(sp?) of Uncle Sam,but I loved it,wish I could move there.And no I am not fast firing,and it's a new pistol,so I don't think it should be tired.Damned if I know.

versifier
11-26-2006, 02:46 PM
It sounds to me like your pistol is not yet broken in and the slide/frame fit is still a little tight. It is not uncommon in my experience with new 1911's (2 of them so far) to have to push it into battery on occasion. The problem should gradually disappear after 1000 rounds or so. If it hasn't, it needs the input of a professional pistolsmith as there are a few places it could be binding and an experienced eye can pick up on them quickly.

kg42
11-26-2006, 09:29 PM
Like Versifier said.

Just try to find where the rubbing/jamming occurs; you might have marks somewhere in the slide or on the barrel. I've also seen that on a very dirty gun with little clearance between bbl and slide.

Look for peening on the barrel lugs, which is pretty bad and tells its timing and fitting are wrong.

Try cleaning only the slide, then only the barrel, to see if that can point at the faulty part. Do you have an other barrel to try in that gun?

There's a gunsmith who used to time his barrels so that there would be a little resistance just before the gun got in battery. You would hear a "cling" when pushing the slide by hand. I think he got that from a long barrel link.

kg

11-27-2006: correction, the bbl link is just a link, it should match the bbl feet's height and not do their job.

d-o-k
11-27-2006, 03:47 AM
Hey there,how's everything in Australia? Got to visit there once in '79,curtesy(sp?) of Uncle Sam,but I loved it,wish I could move there.And no I am not fast firing,and it's a new pistol,so I don't think it should be tired.Damned if I know.


Great one day ! Even better the next ! ( apart from the mercury hovering at just over 100f ) What part of Aus did you visit ? I tend to find our major Cities a little crowded & busy for my likeing as i live in the bush & work away from people !

I reckon Versifier & Kg are right on the money! If it's new it's probarly still in the breaking in stage! There seems to be a problem with quality control these days!

Dave

Canuck44
11-27-2006, 03:04 PM
Have you ever replaced your recoil spring? Gun should not be having these problems. If things don't improve I would contact Springfield. Let them fix it on their dime.

Take Care

Bob

Taylor
11-27-2006, 03:46 PM
Yes Ihave replaced the recoil spring.Also I have tried valve lapping compound on the rail and frame.Hopefully to get a clean fit,tried several lubricant's. No avail. I guess I'll just keep shooting it,like the man said,maybe it need's broken in better.Now to D.O.K.--- I spent about 2 month's at Brisbane,and got to visit the Gold Coast ,the beer was cold.Do you still have Castlemain's XXX beer in the yellow can,that was a good head ache as I recall. I was with the US 25th Inf Div.at the time and we conducted a joint excerise they called Kangaroo.I brought back a wallaby hide and a boomerang(lost it). You folk's have my sincere respect as we were treated great and with warm welcome. I really loved it there.

Canuck44
11-27-2006, 05:10 PM
That being the case I would send it back to Springfield to get it fixed. You may have a very tight chamber and no amount of shooting is going to fix that in your lifetime I would not think. Gun is supposed to have a lifetime warranty so you might as well use it.

Take Care

Bob

versifier
11-27-2006, 11:51 PM
Something just occurred to me. Maybe it's the ammo and not the pistol. How many rounds have you put through it so far? What kind of loading dies are you using? Specifically, what kind of crimp. If you are belling the case mouths too much and not removing the flare enough, it could be the cause of the problem. (I know you said it also happens with factory rounds, but I just got to thinking about it. The ammo is the easiest thing to measure and check.) My Glock (among others) will sometimes not return to battery if it is not gripped firmly - I would think that the grip safety might make that a moot point with a 1911, but I don't know for sure if that is true or not.

If it's not the ammo, then it's time to seek professional help. Like Bob said, first call should probably be to Springfield before paying for a pistolsmith's time. It sounds to me like more than just a break-in issue too. A very tight chamber can sometimes be spotted by comparing neck diameters before and after firing. I have some range brass here and if you like, I will measure some of them and post some numbers. Having a barrel handy from another 1911 to try the rounds in and measure might help, if there is someone you know nearby that has one.

A cheap water soluble marker is good for finding areas on slide and frame that are rubbing and binding - also color the outside of a sized but unloaded case and feed it through to see what happens to it during cycle. That may tell you something. Scrape marks can indicate burrs and sharp edges in the feed ramp/chamber, too. I'm sure you would have noticed something obvious like that, I'm just trying to go through the steps logically and typing as I think.

All autoloaders have some common problems and solutions to them may vary from one design to another, but diagnosis is the same. There are two possible sources for feeding problems, the pistol and the ammo. Ammo is easily measured before and after firing and close observation of the cases themselves can tell a lot about what is going on. If you can find no problem with the ammo, then logic would lead to the conclusion that it has to be the pistol.

While I have been shooting, swearing at, and maintaining various autoloading pistols for more than 30 years, it is only within the last two that I have had a pair of 1911's to play with and learn about, and one thing I learned is that mine are very well behaved. Both needed breaking in, which was pretty much done concurrently with finding their favorite loads. I'm halfway through my third thousand of LP primers, and .45ACP is the only round I load and shoot that uses them. Early experiences were with GI models and I was never very impressed with their accuracy. Then I got a new Kimber from my dad and my opinion changed quickly. Next was an older Colt Officers model that was basically unfired. Needless to say, it did not stay that way for long. Neither has had any feeding problems after the first few hundred rounds, and both are more accurate than I can shoot them. There were a few instances where each of them did not go fully into battery, but neither still does it. I have read that in combat, dirty 1911's did need a push of the thumb occasionally, but that dirt, mud, etc. was usually the cause of the problem. (I can't imagine having to depend on a handgun in a battle situation, though it likely has happened to more than lived to tell about it.)

Hunter
12-07-2006, 06:13 AM
Sounds like the extractor has a little too much tension or the extractor channel is dirty.