Possible problem with brand new 1911?

[johntaylorny]

I just got my brand new in box Kimber 1911. Has a 3" barrel as I intend to use it for concealed carry. I didn't even clean it yet.

Anyway when I try releasing the slide by pulling back on it, 90% of the time it wont release. It just stays in position as if it is jammed. I have to pull down on the slide release. Any idea why this is happening? There is nothing in the barrel. The slide will just not budge.

 

[Mags]

Call Kimber and they will send you a modified slide stop to install free of charge. By the way you might try cleaning it first, new guns come with thick gummy grease that slow things down. Also with 1911s particulary Kimbers it is reccomended to put 500 rounds down the barrel to finish fitting the parts. Didn't you read your owner's manual?

 

[blitzen]

Do you have a magazine in the mag well?

 

[PT1911]

Kimbers are extremely tight from the factory... put the recommended 500 rounds down the tube and then dont look back... A LOT of people give up on NEW Kimbers becauese of issues in the early round count... consequently, A LOT of people get great used Kimbers at a steal


Also, is this happening with the gun loaded, on an empty mag, or no mag? if it is with no mag, I would suspect some gumming on the mag release...

 

[Mags]

Do you have a magazine in the mag well?

Poor guy, I hope it's not that obvious.

 

[ants]

Brand new, a little tight here and there.

In many cases, 500 live rounds may not help a sticky slide stop, because it only engages once per magazine, not once per round. Unless it is bent or broken (or the slide stop plunger and/or spring are damaged) a sticky slide stop simply needs to be worked in place, exactly as you are doing. At home, empty. Just put it through its paces 100 or 200 times while watching TV. Insert mag, withdraw slide until slide stop engages, drop mag, withdraw slide and manually release slide stop if necessary. Eventually it will wear itself in, and perform as designed.

 

[blitzen]

Yea, my Les Baer that has ten gazillion rounds through it and is still very tight won't let the slide go forward unless I push the slide stop.(with a mag in it)

 

[Oro]

Do you have a magazine in the mag well?

Hopefully, that's all you are experiencing.

When you CAN slingshot the slide with a magazine in, you know you are well over-due for a new magazine spring.

 

[JellyJar]

My EMP 40 which I bought brand new would not always lock back on an empty mag until after several mags through it. It is the tightest gun I have ever owned. Now that I have several hundred rounds though it it works fine. It needed a break in. Same with your Kimber, perhaps?

 

[JDGray]

Anyway when I try releasing the slide by pulling back on it, 90% of the time it wont release. It just stays in position as if it is jammed. I have to pull down on the slide release. Any idea why this is happening? There is nothing in the barrel. The slide will just not budge.

If indeed, your doing this with an empty mag inserted, the 10% of the time when it will release, would have me worried. It is very hard to depress with a mag inserted.

 

[wilkersk]

Need more info. Plus, clean it, shoot a couple hundred rounds through it, then clean it again. Then see how it functions.

I provide a valuable service in my area. For people who mistakenly buy those unreliable Kimber "jam-o-matics", I will take them off your hands and only charge you postage and FFL handling fee.

 

[Harvey]

I just got my brand new in box Kimber 1911. Has a 3" barrel as I intend to use it for concealed carry. I didn't even clean it yet.

Anyway when I try releasing the slide by pulling back on it, 90% of the time it wont release. It just stays in position as if it is jammed. I have to pull down on the slide release. Any idea why this is happening? There is nothing in the barrel. The slide will just not budge.

Please be more specific. If you are trying to release the slide with an empty mag in the gun by pulling back on the slide, it's not supposed to release. That's why they call it a slide stop, and yes, you must indeed manipulate the release lever forcefully for the slide to rack forward with an empty mag in place.

Sounds to me like the gun is working just fine. Try it again with a freshly inserted loaded mag (or sans mag) and report back.

 

[jr_roosa]

With a 1911 with the mag out, the slide cut-out will push the slide stop down when you pull back on the slide. It should stay down and not pop back up after you let the slide move back to battery. You actually need to move the slide back far enough to do this before you release it, so shock buffers and whatnot can make this hard to do in a short pistol. There is no spring tension pulling the slide stop out of the way on a 1911 except for a very tiny bit provided by the pin.

On my springfield, I sat watching TV with the slide out moving the slide stop up and down against its pin to smooth things out for about half an hour, and that made it feel a little less tight. You might want to try this as well as working the thumb safety, dry firing, and working the slide back and forth a few hundred times (don't let it drop every time, just work it back and forth). It will help smooth things out a little.

-J.

 

[Mags]

By the way since it is a Kimber, my Kimber Pro TLE would lock back on occasion during firing with a loaded mag. I just called Kimber Tuesday and my new slide stop arrived Friday free of charge. I installed it Friday and it installed alot easier than the old one making me think the new one must have had more material removed. I have yet to fire the pistol with the new slide stop installed.

 

[m2steven]

many pistols are designed to be difficult to release the slide if the magazine is inserted and it's empty. Hit the mag release button and try the slide release (or slingshot if that applies) and see if it's easier.

I have a recent purchase which in the manual states that it's a specific design mechanism which purposefully makes it most difficult to release the slide when a magazine is locked into place (and it's empty).

It's a safety thing.

 

[Gun Noob]

Do you have a magazine in the mag well?

Poor guy, I hope it's not that obvious.

He wouldn't be the first person on this forum to have that particular "problem".