Polishing mag catch

[Dr.Mall Ninja]

I just bought a Rock island armory 1911, and the magzine isn't releasing all the way 9 times out of ten when i try to drop it. my friend says that its the mag catch not being polished, i emailed rock island and they told that they will fix it for me. I'm just wondering if this is something i can do myself or pay a gun smith to do(cheaply) I just hate to be without my 1911 for 3 weeks or however it would take if i sent it in.

 

[Dr.Mall Ninja]

my other question is, what is the going rate to have this done?

 

[evert]

could be other things causing the problem as well:
-too long gripscrews
-magazine follower has slipped past slidestop.
-bad magazine

 

[tommyt]

Send it back. That's best long term.

 

[navyretired 1]

The magazine shold show where your not releasing but 99% of time its mag release. Just general polishing might fix problem and cause others. the best bet is to clearence release where it hangs up then polish a little there so it doesn't drag on mag. This is a easy fix and not worth shipping charges or minimum gunsmith charges and wait time. Isn't this a gunsmithing site so yo can get advice or help when yo exceed yor ability?
This kind of QA is why the manufactrers pick up bad reps. It's a five minute fix requireing just Mk1 Mod 0 eyeball.

 

[Drail]

This sounds like the mag catch is out of spec and not allowing the catch to move in far enough to clear the mag. I would send it back if you don't think you can fix it yourself. There may be a burr or the stud hole just wasn't drilled deep enough to allow full travel in the frame. (or the stud is longer than standard.) Ask them if you can just have a new mag catch shipped to you.

 

[Walkalong]

Once the mag moves about 1 1/2 to 2" it is no longer affected by the mag release unless it is binding from the other side. How far out is the mag when it stops? Like evert posted, it could be long grip screws. His other ideas are good as well.

Another thing is that many mag releases, when pushed in hard/all the way, will push on the mag. I have fixed all my mag releases so that they can be pushed hard and still not bind the mag. Try just pushing the release enough to disengage the mag and then releases it. See if it binds when pushed hard.

RIA will fix the problem, whatever it is. Sending it back is sometimes the smart thing to do.

 

[navyretired 1]

If you look at walkalongs thumbnail you will see all the area's that can cause problems. Directly opposite where it says polish here is the locking shelf and on this one if you inlarge picture you'll see bumps and rough surface. These can drag on a magazine as like someone else said the first inch or so of downward movement. Almost all things that can drag on magazine leave marks, just look for marks and then for cause of marks. walkalongs picture shows that someone at least did some work on mag release but didn't get all the bad spots.
Most new parts you buy are straight from the mold and require all surfaces being fitted and polished. MIMS parts used to be called sintered parts which is powdered metal technology and used to be the problem with the cheaper handguns, they would just start flaking apart. The technology seems to be improved but still is just compressed powered metal in a mold. That is why barstock parts is more expensive but I still prefer old forged parts. You can't put as nice a polish on MIMS parts as you can on forged or barstock parts

 

[Walkalong]

walkalongs picture shows that someone at least did some work on mag release but didn't get all the bad spots.

I got all the spots that cause problems. Yes, there are a couple of round circles which I assume are mold marks, as well as a spot where it is not filled out well. I removed material in the area shown by the arrow so that when the mag release is pushed in hard it no longer contacted the opposite side of the mag from the mag catch slot. The mags will drop free no matter how hard the mag release is held. Wish I had a before pic. I extended the "cut out" about 1/32 or so and polished it. Almost to the shoulder. I hope that is clear. Probably isn't.

 

[Dr.Mall Ninja]

whenever a the mag fails to drop, it comes down about 3/4 of an inch.

 

[rcmodel]

The easiest thing to do is take the mag catch clear out and see if the mag still hangs up.

It could be too long grip screws sticking inside the mag well and rubbing on the mag.
It could be a trigger bow with warped sides dragging on the mag.
It could be a cracked mag with spread feed lips.
It could be several things.

But if the mag catch releases it, and lets it drop 3/4", it seems unlikely it wouldn't let it fall the rest of the way out.

rc

 

[No_Expert]

I recently bought a new Armscor Rock Island Armory Tactical 1911 .45 becasue it was cheap ($460) and I wanted to build yet another good pistol without having to do all the frame and slide metalsmithing. I also do this kind of thing for the education. Every one I work on has a whole new set of problems to troubloeshoot and fix.

I stripped the pistol down and started with the trigger, working my way up. Once I got the trigger, mainspring, hammer, disconnector, sear and sear spring like I wanted them, I started testing. Everything went fine including no problem dropping magazines. There were some ejection problems, but I ususally save that sort of thing until later to fix. I continued working my way along, changing out the beavertail for a new one, tighteneing the barrel bushing/slide fit, tuning the ejector and extractor, etc. Continued test firing along the way.

All the sudden today it wouldn't drop an empty mag. Had to rip 'em out. Same problem as Ninja eperienced. Stripped her down and started reassembling a piece at a time. No trigger drag, so I installed the mag catch. Voila! Mag wouldn't drop. Mag had a scratch down the front from pulling it out, plus a few other wear spots. Painted the mag bare metal spots with the trusty magic marker and tried it again. When I pulled it out, the only bare area was the scratch down the front of the mag. Tried a couple of other mags with same result.

Took out the mag catch and polished the face bright, then coated it with the marker, reinstalled and tried again. Mag still hung. Pulled out the mag catch and the marker was wiped off the center of the face of the catch.

To make this long tale a little shorter, I went through a repeated file, coat with marker, test cycle until the mags started dropping freely. I had to file a fair amount off the catch face. Now, what happened, I have no idea. This gun dropped mags for several hundred rounds with nary a hitch. Then, all of a sudden, it refused to let them go. It seemed like the mag catch had rotated slightly counter clockwise looking at it from the starboard side. However, it refuses to budge if I try to make it rotate. I know the frame didn't suddenly change, so I have no idea why it quit working. I've never seen this happen before.

Bottom line is, it seems that Armscor is having a mag catch problem. What I have discovered is that these pistols have a really heavy coating on them, frame slide and every part inside. What looked like a nice smooth frame and slide when I bought it has all kinds of rough spots and tool marks under the coating. The mag catch was heavily coated, too.

I'm still going to make a great pistol out of it. It's going to take replacing and fitting every part but the frame and slide.