1911 Question

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el44vaquero

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When I drop the slide and have the grip safety compressed, it causes the hammer to fall to halfcock. If I don't have the grip safety compressed and drop the slide, the hammer stays in place. What could be causing this?
 
Are you dropping the slide on an empty chamber? You shouldn't.
That is letting the trigger bounce the hammer off the sear, and far enough to let it fall to the stop. It will eventually batter up the engagement until it won't hold full cock at all. The grip safety blocks the trigger and by going through contortions to drop the slide without a normal grasp on the gun, keeps the hammer from following the slide down.

If it is doing it while chambering a round, it is already beat up and likely needs recutting or replacement of the hammer and or sear.

The very least it could be is insufficient sear spring tension, but don't bend the spring as a bandaid if the hammer or sear is battered.
 
So you'd recommend swapping out the sear spring and replacing the sear?
Click to expand...

I agree with what Mr. Watson said. The sear spring may be fine, it may not have enough tension. The sear hooks could be battered, as could the hammer's full cock hooks. At least that's how I understand it, but I'm not an expert.

I'd recommended having a good 1911 smith look at it. The sear and hammer must also be fitted to one another; which I found out from Old Fuff and others here when I asked about chaning out 1911 hammers. That stuff is way out of my league. I think a well qualified gunsmith is the safest and best option.
 
Like I said, if the hammer is following when loading the chamber, something is already wrong. Get it fixed. I am not a gunsmith and I would not mess around with a gun that would not hold full cock.
 
I have a couple thoughts. Rather than tell you what to fix, I'd suggest you have it fixed by a professional. Those parts aren't ones for you to experiment new gunsmithing skills on.

Can you send it back for warranty work, or do you need a gunsmith recommendation?
 
You didn't say if you had a adjustable trigger. If you do you might try adjusting it. If that does'nt work, I agree with the others that you might have worn parts that need replaced.
 
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