SA 1911 Ultra Compact -- 3 problems.

Hey fella's, Im new to the forum and I need some help diagnosing a couple of problems with my recent purchase. I have read the sticky post by 1911 Tuner but I could use some clarification.

SA 1911 Ultra Compact shooting 230gr FMJ round nose( Winchester, I believe )
I ran about 10 mags of ammo through it this past weekend.

First issue: The slide locks open with ammo in the mag.
Insert mag...pull slide = locks open most of the time
fire 1st round = locks always
rest of clip = sometimes locks open
I noticed that it seemed to lock open more often when shooting two-handed as opposed to one handed.
I looked to see if the rounds are pushing on the slide lock pin but it's hard to tell...any tricks to doing this? Should I use a feeler guage to check for clearance? If so, how much??

Second issue: Last round in mag (6 roung mag-SA NM blue) always jams nose up. Spring is fairly strong compared to other mags I have owned. the bullet stops with the nose caught on the top leading edge of the barrel throat with a slight overhang of the slide port covering the nose. This jam only happens on the last round. The gun has not jammed on any other rounds so far. Eject the mag and round pops out onto the ground.

Third issue: Ejector spits brass at my eyeballs. Yes, there are marks on the front edge of the ejection port- what does this mean?. OK, radius the bottom corner of the ejector...radius the end that butts up to the shell casing or radius the bottom of the face that catch's the lip of the round? Any pics of how it should look???

I purchased this gun used but in A+ shape, it showed very little wear inside and flawless outside. I have no idea on how many rounds have been through it but just looking at the internals I don't think very many.

Im not a super-technical gun guy but I do have machine shop experience so I am comfortable working on some of the minor stuff. Im thinking of changing the recoil spring and adding a radius to the ejector. Also, maybe try a Wilson stainless mag.

I appreciate any help you can give.

Thanks.

Thanks a million guys,

So, the first thing I should do is break out my dremel for some ramp work, right ???

Just Kidding!!!

I'll pay special attention to your suggestions. Are any of them reccommended done only by professionals???

Any good books or articles that could aid me in my tinkering? I usually let my brother handle any weapon issues because he's the real gun nut in our family. I almost hate to go to him with this, because he warned me about purchasing a shortened 1911. He doesn't understand that I'm willing to tinker with one in order to get what I wanted. As far as I see it, this way gives me a chance to aquire an in-depth knowledge of my weapon, and if I can't get it squared away I'll sell it.

I'll try to get started on it over the next few week's. I'm sure I'll be asking for your help again. I'll try to post some pics of the problem areas soon.

Again thanks, all of your help is greatly appreciated.

Mike.

I monkey'd with the slidestop pin lastnight. I took the slide off and slid a mag in to check the clearance with rounds in the mag. I did see a little copper on the peak of the slidestop so I brought it down about .010 trying to maintain the correct angles. It made no difference. I did notice that if I pull the slide at a controlled slower speed it wouldn't lock open but pulling it back quickly locked it open with maybe...maybe 1/16 of the catch making it up into the notch on the slide.

Could it be an inertia problem?? If so, how do you correct that?? Like I said earlier, I'm going to try a diferent spring and may try a new slidestop pin.

Thanks again,

Mike

Old Fuff, Thanks but I think you misunderstood what I meant(probobly the way I worded it...sorry!). The problem isn't the gun NOT locking open, it's that it locks open when chambering and shooting. Working the slide slowly feeds the round as designed. I may try to cut a few thousandths on a slant or cam in order to help the plunger keep the slidestop down until the follower pushes it up. I'll probobly end up purchasing a new slidestope before long.

As for the tinkering...I get your point, but I'm kinda enjoying it for now

Thanks for the input.

Well....I had nothing to do tonight, so I decided to modify the slidestop. I took a shade off of the top of the catch so it doesnt ride so close to the slide. I also nibbled a small relief that the plunger will rest in and not allow the pin to pop up until it is pushed by the mag. It seems to have worked, I can yank the slide fairly quickly now with no hang-up. The true test will be to throw some rounds thru it this weekend. If it still hangs I may order that bullet proof stop.

Well, it looks like I have a full weekend of fun comming up...dove season opens on Sat, and I get to tinker with my pistola awesome!!!!

I will keep you posted.

Thanks again.


Here are a couple pics of my new piece.......piece of what?? will be determined later.

Well, I took my gun for a workout this afternoon and I'm glad to report that it was a good outing. My handywork seems to have alleviated my problems, I shot about a hundred rounds of several varieties: garbage fmj's, a couple different makes of hollow points, and it even cycled the nasty Winchester brass enclosed base rounds that my other 1911 refused to swallow. The gun operated very well today.

Now, with that said let me pick your brains about the accuracy. This thing will not put a round where it's aimed. I wants to shoot about a foot and a half to two feet low and slightly(about 5 inches)left most of the time but will scatter holes allover the target at ranges of 10-20 yards. I know I'm not the best hot in the world but I definately shoot better than that, even with a short barrel. Could it be that the barrel is just sorry or may it be some other issue?? It has a cone shaped barrel that looks to be in decent shape. Are there any other areas besides the sights that I may need to pay attention too??


Thanks again for all of your help,

mike