[Lone_Gunman]

Do these seem to wear out fairly easily?

I have a dozen or so Wilson mags, and several of them are now allowing the slide to close after the last round is fired. Its not a slide stop problem, I have pretty much narrowed it down to 3 or 4 of my oldest mags.

[boing]

Yes, they wear easily.

Call Wilson. If I'm not mistaken, they'll replace worn followers for free(?)

[1911Tuner]

Howdy LoneGunman,

Need a little more info.

When the failure to return to battery occurs, is the round
seated in the chamber with the extractor behind the rim?
(which won't allow you to pull the slide to extract the round)
OR...is the rim under the extractor, the round partially
seated, and hitting the rear of the slide puts it in battery?

The Wilson-Rogers follower design does away with the
"tit" in the middle of the follower, which, when the magazine
spring gets a little tired, lets the last round ride forward during
recoil. When the slide comes forward and tries to feed the last round, it's not in position for a proper controlled feed, and it
gets pushed into the chamber ahead of the extractor. Some
guns will force the extractor over the rim, and the gun will fire.
In time, the extractor will lose tension or fail with this condition.
That little dimple was put there for a reason. Doing away with
it can make the last round do some strange tricks. A weak
magazine spring can make it even stranger...rideover feeds and
live-round stovepipes are two such.

If the round is in the chamber, but not fully in battery, it could be
a tired recoil spring, crud built up behind the extractor, or
a rough or dirty chamber. Since the gun only does it with
certain magazines, it's likely the magazine(s) that's at fault.

Try some fresh magazine springs, and see if it disappears or improves. Better yet, try some 7-round magazines that have
the dimple. I know that the Wilson D series magazines work
flawlessly for some, but can be the source of headaches for others. I've borrowed a few to test, and found them lacking
in many respects, the main one being the push-feed/extractor snapover issue.

I'll stand by,
Tuner

[Lone_Gunman]

1911Tuner,

Thanks for the info. When the slide locks back, I dont think the extractor has engaged to rim at all, but to be honest I didnt look real closely at that.

When this problem occurs, the slide is locked fully back, and the top cartridge is just sitting there normally, still fully seated into the magazine. It has not partially chambered. I can hit the mag release, and the mag drops out, with the top cartridge still in the mag.

Hey while I have you here, let me ask you another question... I have another thread in the Handgun General Discussion Forum, describing another problem... I am breaking in a new Kimber and it is ejecting about 10% of the spent cases straight back into my face. So far I have put maybe 150 rds thru it, and it is still happening. Do you think the extractor is my problem? And if so, do I need to replace the extractor? Is replacing an extractor something I can do, or a gunsmith?

[Jim Watson]

Lone,

Call Wilson and snivel.
Either your plastic followers are chewed up where they make contact with the slide stop or the skimpy little springs they use to make room for an eighth round are worn out. (Even if you have seven round Wilsons, they still have less spring than GI.)
The only question is whether they will replace them free or sell you new spring and follower sets.
Either way, you will be back in business.

[Jim Watson]

Hmmmm, Lone, your last post does not describe the same problem as your first post. I'd still go for replacement followers and springs, but I would also do Tuner's checks and also look at the possibility that the bullet of the last round in the magazine is bumping up the slide stop.

[1911Tuner]

Sorry Gunman...I read your post early, before I had poured enough coffee down my neck to kick-start my brain.

Jim Watson nailed it pretty well...The composite followers on the Wilsons do get chewed up, and can bring on a failure to lock
the slide. I thought you had a failure to return to battery. The
springs can also be an issue.

The empty brass headshot that you're getting can be a matter of
extractor tension. Increasing it may help. It can also be the
ejector face isn't shaped correctly, or it has gotten loose to the
point of rocking forward when the brass hits it. Rule of Thumb,
The lower the ejector hits the brass, the more straight up it ejects. The higher it hits, the more sideways. This can reach
a point of diminishing returns, though. If it kicks out too low,
the brass will hit the bottom of the port and bounce up and back.
Look for brass-colored marks at the bottom of the port, or even
on the slide in front of it.

One other possibility is that the ejector is a little too short in
relation to the slide travel. Guys who fit a Commander slide
onto a GM-length frame with the standard ejector left in
place get this glitch. An extended ejector generally helps
a lot or eliminates it. On the Commander/GM hybrid, the
extended ejector usually has to be shortened a little to allow
for live-round ejection, but not so when one is installed in a
stock GM-length pistol.

Hope this answers some questions,
T