1911 commander springs

The problem you describe can be a couple of things. The first thing that comes to mind is Extractor may need to be tuned. It never hurts to replace the RS, loose the buffer. Then I would look at magazine. Does it do it with both? or just 1. Will need to mark the magazines to know.

If you have a good lockup on the barrel, move the slide back far enough you can stick a stick (q-tip) into the breach, locking it open, to keep it from loading the bushing/barrel when closed. If you do not you will loosen the fit. See if the FL guide rood is a 1 piece design. If so just take it down prior to disassembly. There is no harm in going back to the std RS guide.

The Commander generally comes with a standard short guide rod and closed end recoil spring plug although Colt has shipped some variants with the full length rods and open end plugs. Either will work well with the correct strength spring. Colt spec is 18 pounds and that generally works well. You can vary a little depending on the load and your personal tastes/shooting style. Do NOT use a heavier spring to correct feeding problems. That only masks the issue and is hard on the gun. The bushing can be tight to the slide and still have enough operating clearance on the barrel.... if properly fitted. Barrel spring is a concern with tight bushings (another bad fitting result). To test for spring remove the top half from the frame, leaving the barrel and bushing in the slide. Place the slide upside down on a bench top and press down on the breach end of the barrel. If the breach end goes down when you press on it and comes back up when you release pressure then you have barrel spring. Report on that and we can guide you in correcting that. Buffers work in some guns and don't in others. My belief is that is due to tolerance stack and variable tolerances between different manufacturers. Shorter than 5" Gov't models commonly have problems if the gun is not modified to work with a buffer. Removing it is your best course. To test for feeding issues, you can remove the extractor and operate the gun without it, both hand cycling and live fire. That will reveal whether the extractor is inhibiting feeding. Extractor tuning is another detailed subject. Also press up on the bottom of the magazine when firing to check for a low mag catch shelf. EGW makes one with a raised shelf that holds the mag about .020" higher in the gun.

I agree; lose the buffer.

Don't think the buffer would cause a failure to feed, but you could try it without it as the start of a process of elimination.

Does it failure to feed with both magazines? Anytime you get a fail to feed you should mark the mag. If it happens with the same mag you have zeroed in on the problem. The mag may have been dropped, feed lip slightly bent, a small burr present etc. Mag spring might be weak.

In addition to what's already been said you could replace the recoil spring and see if that helps.

A tight barrel bushing is not going to cause a malfunction. After cleaning, greasing it up with some high grade bearing grease before reinstalling and periodic disassembly might loosen it up a tad.

Fat Boy said:

I have removed the bushing and in the process tried to steps outlined above as to pressing down on the breech end of the barrel with the slide upside down on the bench. No movement up or down at all.

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BBBBill said:

Barrel spring is a concern with tight bushings (another bad fitting result). To test for spring remove the top half from the frame, leaving the barrel and bushing in the slide. Place the slide upside down on a bench top and press down on the breach end of the barrel. If the breach end goes down when you press on it and comes back up when you release pressure then you have barrel spring.

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Just to be sure that you did it correctly.....

Good luck. Just FWIW, the best thing to do with a buffer is to throw it away. I know all the cries about damage to the frame, etc., but those guns are designed so the slide literally bounces off the frame and in doing so retains some energy for the forward stroke. If all the energy is absorbed (as with a buffer), malfunctions result.

Also, if someone has fooled with the bushing, make sure it is not too tight. The barrel has to move freely into and out of battery; if someone installs a too-tight bushing that prevents the barrel from moving properly, the gun will malfunction. (The slide movement may actually be trying to bend the barrel, a sure recipe for a malfunction.)

Jim

My bet is that it will run just fine with the factory spring and guide rod. Please let us know how it turns out.

Some of those bushings are made quite small inside and large on the outside for a tight fit both ways. But if the inside is not carefully fitted, the barrel cannot move freely (the link pulling down and the bushing holding the barrel straight act to try to bend the barrel as the gun opens!). An easy enough fix once the problem is diagnosed, but often hard to find..

Jim

Fat Boy, have you had a chance to test the gun?