Took a handgun basic training course last weekend outdoors. Put about 300 rounds through it. During the course of it, my mags ended up on the rocky/ sandy ground. Thereafter, I had a few times where the slide came forward after the mag was empty, and some FTFs. The weapon was pretty dirty at this time, so that may be part of it. My friends said the follower didn't come up all the way and engage the slide stop. This only happened with the stock Colt and my Kimber mag. My Nighthawk and MecGar mags were not associated with any malfunctions, and have plastic followers. During reloadings, I could tell there was grit in the mags. It seems really odd that they would be so dainty that a little grit would cause the follower to not come up fully. A friend said "Welcome to the wonderful world of 1911s!" Again, I can't believe a weapon platform chosen for military service would be so finicky. It was suggested that perhaps my thumb hit the slide release and caused it to come forward. Definitely possible I guess. Is this why a lot of 1911-istas insist on Wilson Combat 47D mags?
Also, when I was firing, the instructor tapped me on the shoulder and asked how old my pistol was. Told him it had about 500 rounds through it at that point. He was curious because the spent casings were ejecting in a really high arc, like 3-4 feet above my head, and I'm 6'. He felt I needed a higher tension recoil spring because the slide was coming back too hard and causing the high ejects. Is it that, or a function of the ejector and/or extractor, as was also suggested to me. If it's recoil spring, what is the stock tension, and what poundage should I maybe go up to? To me, this isn't really an issue unless it's damaging the weapon. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Also, what is the name of the 1911 "bible", for the life of me I can't remember the author's name!
Also, when I was firing, the instructor tapped me on the shoulder and asked how old my pistol was. Told him it had about 500 rounds through it at that point. He was curious because the spent casings were ejecting in a really high arc, like 3-4 feet above my head, and I'm 6'. He felt I needed a higher tension recoil spring because the slide was coming back too hard and causing the high ejects. Is it that, or a function of the ejector and/or extractor, as was also suggested to me. If it's recoil spring, what is the stock tension, and what poundage should I maybe go up to? To me, this isn't really an issue unless it's damaging the weapon. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Also, what is the name of the 1911 "bible", for the life of me I can't remember the author's name!
) because I had had spring kinking problems with a 1918 mfr'd Colt 1911 and it fixed it so well. "Answer to a question that hasn't been asked," "solution to a problem that doesn't exist" in many opinions, but it solved a real problem for me in one pistol, and I like the bit of extra weight, the fact that it shoots so well, and intangibles, like "it looks neat"