1911, hammer half cocked after releasing slide

[UpperAtmosphere]

I picked up an old, very nice Clark Heavy Longslide recently. On inspection at home, I noticed that when releasing the slide, maybe 30% of the time the hammer would drop to half-cock instead of staying all the way back. I black flagged the gun until I can get this fixed, as I don't want a machine gun going off.

Initial wisdom says "try retensioning or switching the leaf spring." So I did, and it didn't solve the problem.

I did a little different research - must have typed in something differently on the search bar - and come across a thread elsewhere that has this post:

When Jim Clark Sr was alive, his triggers on 1911 would drop to half cock when the slide ws released. You were instructed to depress the trigger before slide release. A little disconcerting, but it worked. If this an older 1911, might be his work. Or as stated below maybe some wear.

Eyebrows arched a bit when I read that - it's absolutely a Jim Clark Senior gun, but it DOES fly in the face of logic.

Can anybody provide some independent confirmation of the above?

 

[Carl N. Brown]

All I can say is, wow. If it drops to half cock on slide release, wow.

My use of a handgun includes defense encountering an unforseen threat while ATVing in Bear Hollow. I would not want a sidearm that dropped the hammer to half cock on slide release. Period. I cannot even see that acceptable in a "range toy" or target only pistol. Am I missing something in the description?

 

[rcmodel]

In the old day, holding the trigger depressed when dropping the slide an a match gun was SOP to prevent damage to the finely tuned sear and hammer notch.

These days, hammer notches and sears are more refined, more precisely cut, and it shouldn't be necessary when loading the gun from a loaded magazine.

Dropping the slide on an empty chamber is another matter entirely.
Because the slide velocity / impact is much faster, & harder without the friction of pushing a round out of the magazine.

If you are experiencing hammer follow when dropping the slide on an empty chamber??

STOP IT!!!
You are causing further hammer & sear damage.

If it does it when loading from a mag, your hammer notch or sear angle is worn, and the gun needs repair.

rc

 

[Jim Watson]

As rcmodel says, old line bullseye guns were commonly loaded by closing the slide while holding back the trigger or holding the hammer.
And don't drop the slide free fall on an empty chamber with anything but a GI gun with about a six pound trigger pull.

 

[UpperAtmosphere]

I have only been attempting this with snap caps loaded into the magazine, no empty chamber about it.

Will try holding the trigger down as I release the slide and see what happens.

 

[tipoc]

Go to the range. Load a mag with three rounds (this will avoid the dangers of going full auto as before you'll realize it's happening it'll be done), insert the mag in the gun, drop the slide and shoot the gun normally. The object is to see what the gun does when fired. To see if it fires, reloads and fires again normally or at what point does it choke. Use factory ball ammo.

If the hammer follows the slide down you need repair along the lines of what rc said. It will be a hammer sear interface issue.

If the hammer falls to the half cock then recock it manually and try again. The object is to see what the gun does when fired. If still no go then call Clacrk Custom and speak with them.

If the hammer does not follow the slide down and operates as it should then you have no issue.

This is an old school gun that was built for bullseye competitive shooting by one of the masters. The trigger pull was light for such range shooting and the owners of these bespoke guns were familiar with how to handle them. You did not drop the slide on an empty chamber as it could damage the sear over time. You manually lowered the slide rather than dropping it if no round in the chamber.

By the way Clark Custom will do work on any of their guns at a reasonable price. If it needs work send it there and they will do the work to your specs.

tipoc