Springfield FTE question

[Malone LaVeigh]

Yesterday I had a problem I haven't had before with my Springfield Champion. On the last round out of 3 of 4 magazines I shot, the casing would fail to eject and feed part way back into the magazine. That would make the magazine impossible to eject, so I had to pry the last shell out with a tool.

I was using two mags, the originals that came with the pistol. First two were new MFS Hungarian ammunition, and I had the first failure on the second mag. The second loadings were Miwall factory reloads, and both failed on the last round. I have had a few random FTE/Fs in the past. I usually clean the gun religiously every time I shoot. However, I had not cleaned the pistol the last time I shot, which was about two weeks prior, and less than 50 rounds.

Any ideas? This is my main home defense gun.

 

[The Real Hawkeye]

Send it to Springfield Armory Warranty Repair along with a letter explaining in detail the problem, and tell them what ammo you used. They will get it working right. They have the best customer service there is.

 

[GoRon]

How many rounds are through the gun total?

The shorter guns wear out recoil springs quicker than the full size Gubmnt models.

Did the failures happen with both mags for sure? Maybe it was the same mag having problems. You should mark your mags and note which mag was in the gun whenever there is a failure.

New mag springs are cheap, they could be weak. You wouldn't think they would both start failing at the same time though.

 

[Lone_Gunman]

Send it to Springfield Armory Warranty Repair along with a letter explaining in detail the problem, and tell them what ammo you used. They will get it working right. They have the best customer service there is.

I hope their customer service does better by you than by me. I think they have the worst customer service there is.

Before I sent it off the Springfield, which I would do only as a last resort because their service is so bad, I would definitely try different mags, and also some fresh factory ammo.

Could this be an ejector problem? It sounds like the extractor is doing its job.

 

[Malone LaVeigh]

I've only put about 1000 rounds through it in four years. Both mags had the problem on the second loading, only one on the first. I keep both of them loaded with the pistol. The first emptying of both mags was the ammunition I had been keeping in them. Only one had the problem that time. The second time both had the problem.

Maybe they're getting old. They are the originals, and I generally keep them loaded. Where do you get mag springs?

The funny thing to me was that I was finding the empty cases stuck halfway back in the mag. That means that they had to have been partly extracted and found their way back onto the follower. I don't think it ever got as far back as the ejector, unless I'm not visualizing the cycle right.

Maybe I'll go check out the Springfield site and see what I have to do to send it to them. Thanks for the help, all.

 

[GoRon]

I would replace the recoil spring before you send it in, Springfield may even send you one if they think it may be the culprit.

Wolf also sells springs for your gun http://www.gunsprings.com/1ndex.html

I don't know about the mag springs, they aren't standard 1911 size magazines are they?
Springfield probably sells mag springs for them. It sounds like something else is going on other than mag problems. You wouldn't think they would both fail at the same range trip.

Have you shot that ammo in your gun before? Maybe it has a different recoil impulse that is causing problems due to the shorter slide. Might want to pick up a box of Winchester White Box just for kicks.

Here is the STI screensaver that shows the cycle of the 1911. It is their Trojen so it has a double recoil spring.http://www.stiguns.com/docs/STI_TrojanScreensaverSetup.zip

Tuner and the other experts will be along eventually and have some suggestions I'm sure. I just shoot em, not work on em

 

[Forrest]

Your problem doesn't have anything to do with your mags or your springs. Possibly, though on the spring issue, anything you can do to slow down the cycling of a short gun will help more often than hurt. I wouldn't bother trying on the hammer spring on a Springer to slow it down, they are plenty stiff as is. Check recoil spring, replace if suspect.

Your fail-to-eject is because the case rim has dropped off of the extractor hook. The hook may be mis-shaped (very likely in the case of most anybody's guns), or the extractor tension is way too light (even more likely.)

With rounds remaining in the mag, this extractor issue will be camoflaged. When the last round, has come up out of the mag, there will be space for the dropped-off case to find a home in the mag feed lips.

The extractor hook should be shaped in such a way that it does not touch the beveled portion of the case as a case is slipped up against the breech face and under the extractor. If it does, it will interfere with extractor tension. Fix this.

The extractor hook may also be re-contoured in such a way that case rims coming up to it are allowed easier entry. This involves also a cut into the extractor pad. These two cuts allow easy entrance, and easy release of the case.

For the easy entrance and easy exit to happen, you have to assume some type of "control." The control of the case is done by extractor tensioning. Do it with a hammer in the vise, do it by sticking the extractor in the FP tunnel, don't matter much, I prefer the vise and hammer, but you have to make the extractor grip the case. The proper grip is rim vs pad, not rim vs hook. Finding the proper extractor tension will most likely solve your problem.

But don't forget about clocking. The extractor cannot be able to rotate as it wants due to poor fit at the FP stop. Extractor clocking is prevented by the fit of the firing pin stop. It may take some time figure out how to prevent clocking of the extractor on your particular gun. It should be done prior to establishing proper tension on the case rim.

All the little things you do that you think will solve most everything, will be found out on "x" pistol if you allow an extractor fit which lets the hook rotate. Rotation allows the case to drop off, even on what you thought was a properly tensioned extractor.

 

[Malone LaVeigh]

GoRon, thanks for the great screensaver. I've been studying it like I shudda studied the good book.

I never pictured the chamber end of the barrel falling like that. I think that must be the key to how those last cases are getting back into the magazine. I can think of 3 possible reasons, maybe y'all can let me know what you think of them:

1. The mag springs are too weak to put enough pressure on the follower to keep the case out;

2. The breech end of the barrel is falling too low;

3. As Forrest suggests, the problem is in the extractor, in which case I haven't a clue how I'd follow the suggestions. Quite over my head.

I guess one of these days I need to carve enough daylight minutes out of my day to call Springfield...

Thanks to you both.

 

[ShelbyV8]

Clean the gun real well and try some American made ammo before you send to gun off for repair.

 

[1911Tuner]

re:

The extractor is clocking. It already has enough tension to stuff the empty back into the mag, so more won't help. Fitting an oversized firing pin stop will. I recommend EGW's square-bottomed stops, with a .075 radius on the bottom.

It only happens on the last round because on all the others, the upcoming round keeps it from falling off the breechface...and because it also aids ejection by bumping the empty as the slide uncovers the magwell.

Possible that the nose of the extractor is climbing the forward angle in the extractor groove, but this normally just breaks the extractor without causing your problem.

PS Save yourself a few headaches and order a good extractor while you've got Brownells on the line. About half the OEM Springfield extractors I've encountered lately have been bad.