commygun
Member
This is a weird one and I’d appreciate any insights.
I’d fired about 8 rounds through my (very clean) FN 1900 when the slide froze tight, just a couple millimeters out of battery. The slide froze completely with no play whatsoever. There was a case in the chamber.
Taking it home, I determined that the case in the chamber was fired and was able to remove it by removing the screws that bind the breechblock to the slide and pushing the breechblock back by depressing on the recoil spring guide with a pencil. Case ejected.
Then I tried the usual wishful thinking involving oil-soaking and mallet-tapping. None of that made a difference.
By very little mechanical acumen and a lot of dumb luck, I was able to remove all the parts from the slide with the slide frozen in place. I’m surprised that was possible. None of the parts showed any damage. So now it’s just a bare slide jammed on a complete frame as shown in the bottom photo below.
If you’re familiar with the 1900 you know the recoil assembly is over the barrel. The top photo (the best I could do) shows the view down that tube. You can see the horn-like frame fork that stabilizes the 1900’s long recoil spring guide. I’m wondering if this is where the problem lies. On both sides of the forks there’s something between the forks and the slide walls. It’s even on both sides so perhaps that’s just how the slide was machined but, if so, it was machined to an extremely close fit with the frame fork. I just don’t know where else the problem could be. Usually, the slide is pretty much retained by the barrel and the breechblock so it isn’t like there are long slide rails to gall or crack.
Any thoughts? Until the moment the slide seized, this has been a trouble free pistol, FMJ reliable and no bad habits. However, it’s also about a 115 years old and, I admit, I’m a little leery of getting too aggressive with the old hammer. I can pad the slide against damage but if one of those frame forks break because they’re jammed to the slide then the gun becomes nothing more than parts.
I’d fired about 8 rounds through my (very clean) FN 1900 when the slide froze tight, just a couple millimeters out of battery. The slide froze completely with no play whatsoever. There was a case in the chamber.
Taking it home, I determined that the case in the chamber was fired and was able to remove it by removing the screws that bind the breechblock to the slide and pushing the breechblock back by depressing on the recoil spring guide with a pencil. Case ejected.
Then I tried the usual wishful thinking involving oil-soaking and mallet-tapping. None of that made a difference.
By very little mechanical acumen and a lot of dumb luck, I was able to remove all the parts from the slide with the slide frozen in place. I’m surprised that was possible. None of the parts showed any damage. So now it’s just a bare slide jammed on a complete frame as shown in the bottom photo below.
If you’re familiar with the 1900 you know the recoil assembly is over the barrel. The top photo (the best I could do) shows the view down that tube. You can see the horn-like frame fork that stabilizes the 1900’s long recoil spring guide. I’m wondering if this is where the problem lies. On both sides of the forks there’s something between the forks and the slide walls. It’s even on both sides so perhaps that’s just how the slide was machined but, if so, it was machined to an extremely close fit with the frame fork. I just don’t know where else the problem could be. Usually, the slide is pretty much retained by the barrel and the breechblock so it isn’t like there are long slide rails to gall or crack.
Any thoughts? Until the moment the slide seized, this has been a trouble free pistol, FMJ reliable and no bad habits. However, it’s also about a 115 years old and, I admit, I’m a little leery of getting too aggressive with the old hammer. I can pad the slide against damage but if one of those frame forks break because they’re jammed to the slide then the gun becomes nothing more than parts.
