Help with 1911 slide lock

[critter]

I have an old 1911 that has a lot of miles on it. Entire internals have been replaced and it shoots like a house afire. Never bobbles, highly accurate, etc.

Now the problem. The slide hold open notch in the slide has worn from use and is rounded where it should be square. Therefore, the slide often will not lock open or if it does, it may slam closed with simple gun handling.

Can the slide notch be somehow recut to square so that it works as designed? If so, how is that done? The slide lock lever is a replacement and is square as it should be.

Thanks IA.

 

[rcmodel]

First, the slide stop notch should not be square with the bottom of the slide rail.
It is angled foreword slightly to match up with the square surface of the slide stop when it rotates upward into it.

A worn-out slide stop notch is a pretty rare occurrence, even in very well worn guns.

I would suspect some other things might be causing the problem:
First, your mag followers aren't adjusted properly to fully engage the slide stop.

Second, the replacement slide stop is dragging on the slide or frame cut and not able to fully engage. It may also not be tapered properly at the top/front and is hitting the slide cut before it can fully engage.

Third, you have a slide that was not properly heat treated when it was made, and is in fact, so soft the notch is wearing out.
Who made the slide?

If #1 & #2 has been completely ruled out, I suppose the slide could be very carefully re-cut with a carbide dental bur in a Dremel, although I have never yet seen a 1911 slide that needed it in 50 years. They usually crack a rail, or crack above the dust cover well before the slide stop notch wears out.


rcmodel

 

[Bottom Gun]

This is the exact problem I had a while back with an Ace.
I can't help you though. I sent my Ace to Colt three times for repair and they never did fix the problem so I later sold the gun as is.

I hope you have better luck with yours.

 

[Jim K]

I have recut those notches using a steel cutting head in a Dremel tool. It requires a lot of care and a steady hand, but it can be done. The locking point is moved forward a bit, but that is not a problem. Do not try to recut the notch by cutting all the way through the side of the slide. If you do that, the slide stop can come out at that point instead of only at the disassembly notch.

But if the slide is soft (as some Spanish pistols and some clones are), the fix is temporary. One way to prevent this is to always release the slide by pulling it back, not by pressing down the slide stop, and by making sure that the slide stop is properly shaped and fully engages.

Jim