1911 Woes

[anapex]

Alright so I took my 1911 out tonight to try and see if it would malfunction on me again like it has been the last couple months. Not surprisingly it did, A lot of the jams would leave the empty fully in the chamber with another round feeding in to it. Some of them would leave the empty half way in the chamber with another round feeding in to it and others were typical stovepipes. Extractor tension seems fine, when I test by stripping a round off the mag, dropping the mag and then slowly pulling back to see if the round gets held by the extractor, the round stays put until it hits the ejector. Any ideas to help me out? I'd like to get this gun back in to house duty but I just don't trust it enough yet since it started jamming on me like this.

 

[Jim Watson]

Doesn't matter what it seems, the extractor is NOT right.
Hang on, Tuner will be here before long.

 

[nemesis]

Yank that extractor out and take a good close look at it. Clean, clean, clean all around and under the extractor when you clean your pistol. All sorts of gunk gets collected under there and metal shavings too.

 

[Kruzr]

Sure sounds like that extractor needs some tension. Take off the slide and slip a round up under the extractor. Shake the slide and see if it falls out. It should be a little loose but stay under the extractor when you shake it.

If it falls, then you need to adjust it. You'll have to bend it to give it a bow shape. It may also help to take a little material off the fulcrum on the outside side. This will allow you to get a better bend in it.

 

[dsk]

Don't rule out deep tool marks in the chamber as well causing it. I've seen some pretty sad-looking 1911 barrels in my time.

 

[Old Fuff]

At least at this point I think dsk could be right. If you can feed and eject DUMMY rounds by hand then I think there is a problem with the chamber. Whin you fire the gun the case fireform to the chamber and then sticks or "semi-sticks." Also carefully examine your fired brass for clues.

I presume you've made sure the barrel and chamber are clean .... ??

 

[anapex]

Yeah barrel and chamber are clean, even let the wife clean it once to make sure. When I first bought the pistol it went through a couple hundred rounds no problem, then I shot a green box of Remington/UMC ammo and it started giving me this problem. Unfortunately it's done it ever since too no matter what kind of ammo. I'll try the slide off round thing and see what happens and I'll double check the chamber.

 

[1911Tuner]

Hmmmm

I'm gonna go along with Fuff and dsk on this one...with a suspicious eye on the extractor too...It might be that thefront pad is holding the hook too far to the right and lettin' the rim pull out of it...It might be the nose of the extractor makin' contact with the barrel and springin' open at the critical moment...The hook might be worn, and slips off the rim...It MIGHT be the
extractor clockin; in the bore, which is evidenced by the last round laying
on top of the magazine follower with the slide locked back...or the slide
NOT lockin' back and the case crushed in the port.

First...Is it a stock Springfield extractor? Those have been pretty crappy
in the last two years. Is there a mark on the right side of the barrel throat
in line with the front of the extractor? Is the hook sharp and square?
is the hook long enough? .032 to .035 from the tip to the bottom of the slot that the rim touches...With a round under the hook...does the bottom
of the slot touch the side of the rim?

Standin' by...

Tuner

 

[anapex]

How messed up would a chamber have to be to start having them stick? I checked mine and the chamber looks smooth. Could it just be too small?

The extractor as far as I know is the stock springfield one (bought the gun used), I'm not sure of the age I haven't checked for when it was made. I'll have to check for the mark on the chamber where it should line up with the extractor. The hook is more round then square. I don't have anything handy to measure that small so you'll have to explain to me what you're refering to as the slot so I can check it with a round. Thanks for the help again.

 

[stans]

If a live round easily slips into the chamber and will fall out when the muzzle is pointed skyward, then the chamber is not too tight. I am thinking the extractor is the problem. The Ed Brown Hardcore extractor seems to be a nice extractor, you might want to invest in one.

 

[wally]

I vote for extractor needing more tension.

All three of my "newest" 1911s (Kimber Ultra Carry, Springfield Micro Compact Wide Body & Para P10) have needed increase in extractor tension. Both worked fine for the first four or five boxes of ammo then started having extraction problems like you describe.

The Springer had mag problems out of the box, the extraction troubles surfaced while working on the mags. Also the firing pin stop was very loose causing misfires. I seem to have it running OK now, its a good shooter but the SA OEM mags appear to be Promag -- basically junk.

Since the Kimber UC is in my carry rotation, I replaced the extractor with a Milspec one I'd had on hand as a spare when I replaced a broken extractor in my Series 70 Colt circa 1995.

--wally.

 

[Dave Sample]

Used Guns.................are a crap shoot. 1. The owner saw a new version of a gun that he couldn't live without and traded in a wonderful shooter. 2. The gun was traded in because it did not function worth a darn! The gun stores I have visited are full of Number 2's for sale and the staff has the Number 1's on their hip. The folks that sell guns do not care if they work or not, and have no way to tell whether they will come back to haunt them or not. I have bought or traded for a lot of Number 2's, but it didn't matter because I could make them run. I worked for a gun store as a sub- contractor for a while for a man who used to go to gunshows every week end and see what he could buy that I could rebuild and he could then sell or trade off. The obvious problem with this one is the extractor, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it. It could be at least six other things I could think of, off hand. I like to see them in person before I suggest a fix unless it's a no-brainer.

 

[anapex]

Ok a little update, I tweaked the extractor a little bit before going to the MD Highroad shoot and it went through half a dozen magazines with no problem. So it seems like that was the problem, we'll see how long my fix lasts. Just in case who makes good replacement extractors?

 

[45Badger]

Wilson Combat "bulletproof", EGW, Ed Brown "Hardcore".

All work well. You can ususally pick them up on Ebay or Gunbroker, or 1911forum.com.................

 

[1911Tuner]

Where to Buy?

Brownells...Your one-stop shop for the 1911 Colt-Browning
autopistol.

Luck!

Tuner