[White Horseradish]

I have a RIA 1911A1 full size pistol. Recently I noticed some galling at the forward edge of the stop notch on the slide.

Is this a sign of a problem? What causes that?

[mete]

Are you sure you mean galling ? Galling by definition is the cold welding of metals. This was a problem of early stainless steel pistols.I've never seen it on carbon steel guns. ..Do you mean peening ? Which is a hammering effect or do you mean wear ?

[sanger]

I'm thinking he means peening.

[Vern Humphrey]

That shouldn't be happening. Unfortunately, RIA doesn't have the highest reputation for quality.

My Kimber Custom Classic is almost 10 years old, has had about 5,000 rounds a year through it and shows no sign of such peening.

[jacobtowne]

My old Colt shows some peening of the notch. Of course, it was made in 1917 for the U.S. Army, and has been on patrol a few times. :D
My Ithaca (1944) shows none, but by then Ordnance required hardening of the area around the notch.
JT

[White Horseradish]

Ok, so I'm a little confused in metalworking terms. Yes, it is probably peening. Best I can describe it, the metal looks to have been beaten into a different shape making a burr. Not too much, just slightly.

I know RIA is a cheap gun. If I could afford more expensive ones, I'd buy them.

So, how big of a problem is this and what causes it?

[45auto]

I had that on two Colt slides. It didn't seem to be a problem with function.
Slight raising of the metal so to speak which I assumed was caused by the slide stop during slide lock.

Maybe Tuner will chime in and there's something you can do about it if need be.

As a sidenote, when I refinished one slide, and removed the burr, etc, it didn't happen again.

[Vern Humphrey]

Best I can describe it, the metal looks to have been beaten into a different shape making a burr.

That's peening -- cold displacement of metal by impact. I'd watch the area and see if it gets worse. If it starts getting bad, you can peen it back and dress the area with a stone.

[mpthole]

Same thing happened on my RIA. I just filed the burr off until it was smooth again.

[Hawkmoon]

So, how big of a problem is this and what causes it?
When you insert a new magazine, how do you load the first round and ready the pistol to fire?

I'll go out on a limb and guess that you flip the slide stop lever down to release the slide. That's what causes it. It's probably a more "correct" procedure to slingshot the slide: grasp the rear slide serrations (that's what they are for, after all) between the thumb and opposing fingers of the weak hand, pull back as far as the slide will go, and release. Once you pull the slide back with a loaded magazine in place, the slide stop lever should drop out of the way of its own accord, allowing the slide to go into battery.

[Dienekes]

Peening happens. I don't usually shoot 1911s to lockback anyway. The idea is to stay loaded and top off.

[Tory]

stainless steel Para-Ordnance P-14. The resulting burr was so bad it cut my left thumb during an action pistol shoot and I bled all over the gun and my right hand.

"I'll go out on a limb and guess that you flip the slide stop lever down to release the slide. That's what causes it."

I'll go out on the OTHER limb and say it's shooting to slide lock that causes it. Simply sliding the lever down does NOT peen the slide; it's the sudden stop of the forward motion of the slide by the - SURPRISE! - slide stop when the mag follower lifts it into position that deforms the notch.

Stone it down before it cuts you, too! ;)

[White Horseradish]

How would using the slide stop to drop the slide cause this? I was talking about the forward side of the notch, not the side that the slidestop rests on at slidelock. Maybe the slot is the wrong shape?

I'll try to file it down and keep an eye on it.

[BluesBear]

The slidestop is pushed upward by the magazine follower.

With a good strong magazine spring the stop is in position as the slide moves rearward to eject the last round. The stop will then rise and be struck on its forward edge by the slide stop notch and then again on its rearward edge as the slide moves forward and stops.

If your peening in on the forward surface of the notch then it's really not as much of a problem as it is an annoyance. It shouldn't affect the functioning.

I would dress the rough edge down on the slide and then I would inspect the slide stop itself to make sure there were no rough areas on its forward edge causing the problem.

[White Horseradish]

Thanks for the info. I'll file the burr down.

So I guess this means I have good strong mag springs. :D

I just wanted to be sure this wasn't an indication of somethig being wrong.

[Rob96]

Regardless of his method of releasing the slide, the cause is from a poor heat treat of the steel. This is not uncomon in Phillippine made 1911s.

[Lex]

Had the same issue on my SA Ultra Compact in Stainless..2 different specimens.

Had the Davidsons guarantee and dumped the SA all together.


Lex in NC

[boing]

Peening tends to cause "work hardening" of the area being deformed. Unless the steel is really poor, I'm guessing the peening will progress to a certain point and then stop on it's own.

It may also help that the metal on the slide is being pushed out of the way of the slide stop as the notch deforms, lessening the interference between the two parts.