Officer's 45 ACP---TUNER????????????

[ken grant]

Bought a used Officer's that had been re-worked by Wilson's a few years back(over 10) and have had many problems with it. It has all the Wilson goodies--
Reverse plug,single recoil spring,barrel & bushing,FLG rod,safeties,trigger and 4 leaf sear spring.
Got most of the problems fixed now except for one.
When I got it,it had not been fired much and set in a safe for many years.
The problem I am having is a failure to return to battery. Not as bad now as it was when I first got it.
Empty and well lubed, if you eased the slide foward,it would stop just out of battery and a small push with the finger would make it go the rest of the way.
After shooting it several hundred rds. ,now it will go into battery on its own when you ease the slide forward but you can feel a little snick when it locks up.
Shot it today and sometimes(not often) you can feel a slight delay in lockup.
I had a few times when I noticed the slide was not all the way forward and a small push with a finger sent it home.
This time something was different tho,I had two failures to fire. The primer had very light marks on them.
What I think happened was that the slide was not locked up and pushing the slide forward with the hammer kept the firing pin from getting a full blow.
The snick you feel when easing the slide foward is enough in battery to let you drop the hammer. When you feel it,the slide is less than 1/8 inch out of battery.
The slide stop has a slight drag when you let it hang down free but not more than others I have so I dont think it is riding the link.
WAITING ON TUNER AND FUFF

 

[Old Fuff]

Ya' could put hooks on it an go fishing ...

After working with sub-compacts years ago, I sort of learned my lesson ...

Anyway, does this "hitch" in the slide going into battery occur when you lower the slide on an empty chamber? Also, does inserting or removing the magazine make any difference? The barrel in those little critters drops at a sharper angle because of the short slide, and if it's standing on the link even a little bit that could make a big difference. So could extractor tension, which is the reason I ask about dropping the slide on an empty chamber.

We'll see what Tuner says, because he actually will work on these, foolish as that might be .. But I would remove the link and see if it makes any difference, or try a link wih a slightly oversized slide stop hole.

 

[mete]

The link is certainly a good possibility. Sub-compacts --more problems.

 

[1911Tuner]

Battery

I'm leanin' toward the link theory. There's a possibility of a mislocation or tolerance stack with the slide and barrel lugs, causing the front corners of the barrel lug(s) to barely snag the rear corners of the slide lug(s) as the barrel cams up into the slide. This can also be caused by the barrel's rise timing a little too early. Riding/Standing on the link can do it, as can a problem between the slide and the barrel hood.

See if it makes a difference with the muzzle pointed up at about a 60 degree angle as opposed to down. If the hitch goes away with the muzzle pointed up...or gets worse with the muzzle pointed down...the corners of the lugs are hitting just as the lug(s) try to engage.

 

[ken grant]

Hitch

The pistol feels the same with or without the mag.
It also feels the same no matter if it is pointed up or down.
All of this is with the pistol empty.
With the slidestop hanging down,there is just a little drag when you rotate it with the slide in battery and there are no rub marks on the pin that I can see.

 

[1911Tuner]

re:

Slidestop pin dragging as the slide goes to battery is normal. It's under tension from the recoil spring and the rear radius of the lower lug. Drag with the slide to the rear and the barrel pushed down and back isn't good, though a tiny amount of drag won't hurt anything. Most Norincos do that.

Hitch is still there...muzzle up or down...Sounds like either a very tight vertical lockup or the barrel is riding/standing on the link. Also could be the barrel hood has light interferance with the breechface and a tight horizontal lockup. Check those areas. Tight lockup...horizontal and/or vertical is good for accuracy, but not so good for dirty reliability. I like to see vertical lockup with zero play at the hood when pushed, but still go into battery smoothly.
Horozontal lockup, provided by lack of clearance at hood and breechface... I like to see a couple thousandths clearance there and on the sides of the hood to slide fit for best reliability when dirty.

Standin' by.

 

[ken grant]

hitch

With the slide to the rear,there is no drag at all on the slidestop pin.
There is no play at all in the barrel with the slide locked,side to side or up and down. The lock-up is very tight right now.
The hitch was much worse when I got the pistol as it had not been fired much and as I have shot it(300-400rds.) it has gotten better.
Now the slide will close itself when you ease it forward,wouldn't do that when I first got it. You had to give it a little nudge with your finger.
What do you think about giving the barrel lugs the slurry treatment?
Tuner would be proud of me now as I have changed all the mags for this pistol to flat followers and Wolf springs

 

[1911Tuner]

re:

Aha! If it's gotten better with use, it was probably just a hair too tight.
Use the slurry. Glop it onto the lower lug, the link, and the locking lugs.
A dab in the rails probably wouldn't hurt. Don't put any on the hood or breechface. Cycle the gun about 100 times...reapply the slurry...another 200 cycles should show a lot of improvement. Be sure to completely rinse all traces of slurry out of the gun. If that doesn't cure it, you may need to take about a thou off the face of the hood...but don't do it just yet.

 

[Jim Watson]

Dang it I wish my FLG would get into the computer age so he could contribute here. He maintains that there are points of possible interference in the OACP that aren't present in full size pistols, due to its peculiar cone barrel-bushing design and steep barrel angles locked to unlocked. I'd paint or smoke the whole barrel and see if it were rubbing someplace odd.

 

[ken grant]

New info

Marked the lugs on the barrel and the pin for the slide stop with a Magic Marker and worked it many times.
Didn't find any places binding.
Took a strip of printer paper(don't have many tools after the fire) and put it between the hood and breachface. That made it much harder to lockup.
Tried 2 pieces and it wouldn't lockup at all.
Gonna do the slurry and see what happens and then shoot it a lot more.

 

[brickeyee]

"Took a strip of printer paper(don't have many tools after the fire) and put it between the hood and breachface. That made it much harder to lockup.
Tried 2 pieces and it wouldn't lockup at all."

That is a little tight for a working pistol.

 

[1911Tuner]

Tight

Brickeyee...I agree. Let's see what the slurry bringeth before we put file to hood. Shouldn't take more than a thou or two. Sounds like Wilson was tryin' to make a target queen out of a belly gun... :banghead:

Ken, While you're at it, asemble just the top end...bushing and all...and hold it up to the light to see if there's any clearance at the sides of the hood.
I like to see a little bit of light there.

 

[ken grant]

I see a little light on the left side of the hood but none on the right.
I also see a sliver of light at the end of the hood but not at the right corner.

 

[1911Tuner]

Slivers

Ken say:

>>I see a little light on the left side of the hood but none on the right.
I also see a sliver of light at the end of the hood but not at the right corner.<<
*****************

Tight AND uneven...um hmm. um hmm Well well...

Go ahead and slurry it first...see how it does. If you dress the hood, dress the rear face only...and only at tight area...LIGHTLY with a smooth-cut mill file. Two, maybe three light strokes and check it. Cut perpendicularly to the bore axis, from the top of the hood toward the bottom...diagonally...so that the file runs off the hood in the direction of the tight spot instead of toward the center. Overlap the file just a little shy of halfway across the hood face, and apply a bit more pressure on the area you want to cut. Dress any sharp burrs with a stone.

Leave the tight side for now...