Colt 380 govt, hammer follows slide, safety is tough, etc

[wamj2008]

Hello,

I just purchased a Colt Govt .380. I performed the safety check of bringing the slide back, holding down the trigger, and letting the slide go. I did this about 20 times. Twice, the trigger followed the slide to the quarter-cock notch. I may be asking an obvious question, but is this a safety issue for this gun?

When the hammer is cocked, the safety itself is impossible hard to flip on. It's possible with a bit of effort, but the easy way to do it is to pull the hammer down ever further, right into the beavertail, and turn the safety on. I should mention that when the hammer is up against the firing pin, the safety is easily manipulated. If you move the safety itself past the safety spring, it does not "fly out."

I just bought this gun and am not familiar with detail stripping. I don't plan on carrying with one in the chamber.

Does it sound like there are some issues that need to be addressed before the gun is safe to use? Is it range safe at least for now? I think I might take it into the woods and see how she does. Thank you.

 

[Chindo18Z]

I had two of the Colt Government .380s when they first came out back in the mid-80's. Both exhibited the same problem (hammer follow).

I got rid of them. Later came to find out that the model was notorious for this issue. At the time, I was not knowledgeable concerning the mechanical details of the problem. I simply didn't trust the design and moved on.

It's not supposed to do that. However, in answer to your question, yes it should be safe to range test (keeping it pointed safely at all times).

I'd send it to Colt for repair.

 

[rickb2202]

i sent mine back to colt for this exact problem.they sent it back two months later.it still does the same thing!. the only thing that changed is im 90 dollars poorer!.be careful mine now drops the hammer when you relese the safety.so much for sending something back to colt for repair...