[Wildalaska]

Platform...custom colt defender, almost completed. Everything is to spec except extractor hasnt been replaced yet (although its tuned). Steel feedramp installed. About 3000 rounds through it.

Problem...last two range sessions, occasional failures to go into battery fully, usually just a bump on the back of the slide does it. Does this randomly, on two occasions today had to really bump it to get it to feed. Using the same ball ammo it has always fed, magazines are McCormicks...Quick fix eliminated the problem.....

Diagnosis? Cure?

WildandspiffkeepquietAlaska

[Edward429451]

(Guessing, I'm no smith)

3000 rnds thru it...

Weak recoil spring?

[only1asterisk]

Did you clean it?

David

[Wildalaska]

Clean...

Recoil spring is a little weak, but no problem when the root of this evil is taken care of...

WildsosimpleAlaska

[RobG]

Even though you were using consistent ammo, could this batch have been out of spec, or no longer "in-spec" for this weapon?

[Wildalaska]

When the fix was applied, ammo was fine!

WildcleanandgoodammoAlaska

[Andrew Wyatt]

replace the link and/or the bushing

[Wildalaska]

No bushings in defenders... and all parts in spec...

Hint...fix was ri8ght at range...

WildcomeonguysAlaska

[stans]

Switched to different magazines.

[1911Tuner]

Sharp corner at the bottom of the barrel throat? Scrape it and smooth it
with 600-grit paper. Steel ramp smooth and free of tool marks?

Brass shaving/Crud build-up on/around the breechface or behind the extractor or in the tunnel not letting the extractor open up to let the rim slip under it. Clean it.

Primer or brass shaving in the firing pin tunnel contacting the rim?
Burr around the firing pin hole?
Firing pin not rebounding? Weak spring?

Extractor tension too high? Straighten it out a bit.

Weak magazine spring not helping the round release onto the breechface? Replace mag spring.

Crud in the frame not letting the barrel go to bed? Clean it.

Lead/copper/powder fouling around the chamber shoulder? Clean it.

Frame rails dry? Oil'em.

Dirt/crud around the tapered muzzle? Clean it.

Standin' by...

[Bill Z]

Well John, that should cover it. I was thinking it could be any one of those,, but for some reason I have a sneaking suspicion that it is :

Crud in the frame not letting the barrel go to bed? Clean it.

I saw this as one of many little quirks in a DW 38Super a couple of weeks ago doing the same thing. It wasn't crud, but just roughness in that area that probably held crud. Owner had pistol cleaned thouroghly when he brought it too me which was nice, but he washed all the evidence away I would have liked to look at.

[1911Tuner]

Howdy Bill,

Those chopped pistols are so finicky sometimes, it could be anything up to and including barometric pressure.:D

I'm inclined to think it's either that or extractor tension, since he said it had been tuned. Seen a bunch of'em overtuned for the guns...Ever noticed that
the OM/Defender class usually requires a little less tension? Tough to find the sweet spot sometimes...:cuss: :banghead: :D

This one'll probably be somethin' so simple, we'll be ROFL when it comes to light.

Oh yeah! One little nitpicky point...A Defender is NOT a 1911.:p

Standin' by...

[spacemanspiff]

could it possibly have been that WA was distracted by a shower of brass rather than his shooting?

:evil: :neener:

just kidding, but ya shoulda heard him whine about it.

[only1asterisk]

Limp wrist?!?


David

[BigG]

Cleaned funky breechface?

[Bill Z]

Tuner said:

Oh yeah! One little nitpicky point...A Defender is NOT a 1911.


Maybe that was the fix, he picked up a real 1911!

[1911Tuner]

Bill said:

Maybe that was the fix, he picked up a real 1911
_____________________

But of course! Dang! Just goes ta show that a body can miss the obvious,
simple things whilst lookin' too hard for the complicated stuff....:D

Bill...You simply will not do.:cool:

[Wildalaska]

Kudos to Tuner (of course, use the shotgun approach:)) and onlyone asterisk....

Remember the gun was clean...last week I had changed sights, this week checkered it....afterwars, scrubbed it out each time...

Clean.....AND DRY......dry as the sahara desert...

Ya cant run A defender dry, becasue if you limp it the slightest....it will hitch a bit and not go into battery,,

The clue to me ( and I didnt reveal it here becasue make too easy) was that it would do it on the first round when slide was slingshotted...

Dumped some lube on the rails and hood, wiped it off, held on tight and ran like a champ..

Once lubed, I could even one hand it with a grip like Liberace...

Next step...refinish...was gonna use Gun Kote, no thinking of Wilsons coating for lubricity...

This pistol is just for the once a year occasion when I need to carry something other than a pocket gun..maybe once a five year :)

PS Tuner the feed ramp really makes a diff in these little guns......they are also dang accurate

WildchoppedAlaska

[spacemanspiff]

notice WA gave only one of the causes for the symptom. he conveniently left out that the limpwristing started after he broke a nail, only a day after getting them done at the salon! its alright though. hes thinking of adding some color to his hair when he goes to get another manicure.

look for him to post a poll in the roundtable asking which color will be more vibrant, and match his pasty white legs.

[R.H. Lee]

I was gonna say lube, but it's so basic I didn't want to incur the inevitable ridicule :o Also, you said "fix" which connotes something other that basic maintenance (lubrication). I think the question was oblique and obfuscatory. :p

[1911Tuner]

WA said:

Ya cant run A defender dry, becasue if you limp it the slightest....it will hitch a bit and not go into battery.
_______________________

:scrutiny:

That thing must be tight as a tick and sprung like a Conestoga Wagon.
TOOOOOOON it! It'll run without bein' wet OR gorilla gripped.

[Bill Z]

Riley said:
I was gonna say lube, but it's so basic I didn't want to incur the inevitable ridicule Also, you said "fix" which connotes something other that basic maintenance (lubrication). I think the question was oblique and obfuscatory.



Yeah, what he said, that's what I meant, I think.

Riley, PM sent to find out the meaning of a few of those words. :D

[1911Tuner]

Bill said:

Riley, PM sent to find out the meaning of a few of those words
_________________

:scrutiny:

Bill...I think he meant that WA deliberately mislead us by indicating that the
"fix" was mechanical in nature rather than of routine maintenance....At least
that was my take on it.

Shrewd dewd, that WA...:scrutiny:

[Bill Z]

He said it so much purdyer than I could have though. :D

[joegerardi]

SOMEBODY CALL THE COPS!!!!!!!
Wildalaska is obfuscating in public again!!!!! :)

..Joe

[Wildalaska]

and match his pasty white legs.

Why ya keep looking Spiffy...........:)

That thing must be tight as a tick and sprung like a Conestoga Wagon.

To be honest with you Tuner, I have seen match guns looser...:)

When I mean it was dry, I mean it was dry...dry...drier than a cheap martini..

Normally. I use a drop of grease on the frame rails and just a hint of lube on the hood...thats all it needs....

Im almost tempted to accurail it...what ya think of that...

WildsooobusyAlaska

[cordex]

When Wild said "Clean...", I figured it had to be lubed too, because that's part of a typical cleaning routine. Isn't it?

Or are there more folks than I thought just scrubbing and degreasing their guns and leaving them dry?

[1911Tuner]

WildAlaska said:


To be honest with you Tuner, I have seen match guns looser...

Not good on a gun with such a short slide...especially one whose name
suggests it was meant to be carried.
______________________________
And:
Im almost tempted to accurail it...what ya think of that...
_________________________

Accurails are nice, but pricey if all you want to do is make it run slick and smooth.

You can solve that problem with a mix of CLP Breakfree and some J&B
Bore cleaner. Use about a tablespoonful of J&B in a suitable mixing cup.
Add Breakfree to it a little at a time until you get a slurry that will just start to sag off the end of a screwdriver, but not drip. Let it stand open overnight and stir well again before using it.

Coat the rails, upper and lower lugs, link, slidestop pin, barrel OD.bushing ID, and a light smear on the disconnector/cocking rail. With the recoil system out of the gun, hand-cycle it about 50 or 60 times. Add a little more
slurry to the rails and hand-cycle it another 150-200 times. Add slurry as
needed if you feel a tight spot emerge every so often.

Detail-strip the gun and rinse it all out with carburetor cleaner. Stand the slide and frame vertically and let everything air-dry for 30 minutes or so.
Blow it out with compressed air and use the Breakfree to lubricate it
normally. It'll feel like buttered glass and it won't be nearly as lube sensitive.

Total cost: About 6 or 7 smackers. Guranteed to impress and it won't
make the gun rattle from being too loose.

Note: Extremely tight guns may require straight bore cleaner for the first
50 cycles. Add slurry and continue as outlined.

Let us know how ya like it.:cool: