1911Tuner
Moderator Emeritus
Okay...last one. This one also came under my notice about 2 years or so ago...A stainless Colt XSE Combat Commander. One of the better ones that I've seen. So much so, that I eventually bought the gun.
For the first 1000 rounds or so, it was flawless, and the owner had a happy
face everywhere he went. The problem started suddenly, and had me stumped for a week.
Evidence of short-cycle malfunctions on with an occasional stovepipe
failure to eject. Bolt-Over Base feeds on the last round on nearly every magazine. Occasionally one the next-to-last round. Wolff springs had no effect. A lighter recoil spring had no effect. An 18-pound recoil spring made it worse. The gun passed the gravity test with flying colors, and would nearly chamber a round under gravity alone. Feeding was flawless, except for the Bolt-Over stoppages. There was never a failure to extract,
and no other malfunctions were evident. On the occasions that the gun fed the last round, the magazine locked the slide on empty with only one failure to lock.
The slide to frame fit was excellent, with a tiny bit of side play and none
in the vertical plane when the rails had a little oil in them.
Extractor tension was perfect, and the ejector was tight and undamaged.
The recoil spring was OEM, and tested at 16 pounds even. There was no
coil bind in the spring. There was no interference between the barrel bushing and front lug. There was no interference between spring plug
and guide rod...on the side or the head.
All magazines tested good in other guns, and were flawless in the XSE
prior to the onset of the problem.
Once it started, the problem never got worse, with any stoppages
occurring at about the same rate of frequency.
I never saw what the problem was...and If Kelie hadn't come down to the shop to ask me for money to go to the grocery store, I probably would never have seen it, even though I had examined the gun under a strong light with a loupe for any hint of what the problem could be. She spotted it, and I couldn't fix it. It was returned to Colt for the repair under warranty.
Hint: It's the little things that getcha... <--This is what the gun was doin' to me...
Ready...Set...GO!
For the first 1000 rounds or so, it was flawless, and the owner had a happy
face everywhere he went. The problem started suddenly, and had me stumped for a week.
Evidence of short-cycle malfunctions on with an occasional stovepipe
failure to eject. Bolt-Over Base feeds on the last round on nearly every magazine. Occasionally one the next-to-last round. Wolff springs had no effect. A lighter recoil spring had no effect. An 18-pound recoil spring made it worse. The gun passed the gravity test with flying colors, and would nearly chamber a round under gravity alone. Feeding was flawless, except for the Bolt-Over stoppages. There was never a failure to extract,
and no other malfunctions were evident. On the occasions that the gun fed the last round, the magazine locked the slide on empty with only one failure to lock.
The slide to frame fit was excellent, with a tiny bit of side play and none
in the vertical plane when the rails had a little oil in them.
Extractor tension was perfect, and the ejector was tight and undamaged.
The recoil spring was OEM, and tested at 16 pounds even. There was no
coil bind in the spring. There was no interference between the barrel bushing and front lug. There was no interference between spring plug
and guide rod...on the side or the head.
All magazines tested good in other guns, and were flawless in the XSE
prior to the onset of the problem.
Once it started, the problem never got worse, with any stoppages
occurring at about the same rate of frequency.
I never saw what the problem was...and If Kelie hadn't come down to the shop to ask me for money to go to the grocery store, I probably would never have seen it, even though I had examined the gun under a strong light with a loupe for any hint of what the problem could be. She spotted it, and I couldn't fix it. It was returned to Colt for the repair under warranty.
Hint: It's the little things that getcha... <--This is what the gun was doin' to me...
Ready...Set...GO!