The Lone Haranguer
Member
The gun is a MK IV Series 80 Combat Commander, stainless (I think), purchased used, history unknown. It will rarely get through a single magazine without failures to feed, sometimes three or four times in a single magazine -- even frequently failing to load the top round of a full mag from slide lock -- despite cleaning, lube and three different magazines. (These are a Colt stainless 7-round with the dimpled follower to which I added a Wolff extra-power spring, a Wilson 47D and a Mec-Gar.) I have also replaced the recoil and firing pin springs with a Wolff 18 lb. (standard weight for a Commander) and the accompanying extra-power for the firing pin (it can't hurt).
At first the round was very low on the breechface, barely coming up under the extractor and angling sharply upward, what the troubleshooting guide (if I understand it correctly) calls a "rideover." Although the new recoil spring is much stronger than the one I took out, the extra-power spring in the Colt mag helped this. Now the round is higher on the breechface but gets stuck at the leading edge of the case on the barrel hood. Unfortunately, I neglected to look at the cases for any markings indicating "stem bind":banghead:. I did manually cycle rounds through the action and noticed dings in the very edge of the case mouths.
I am very suspicious of the extractor. When I remove the slide and push a round up under the extractor, it holds the round without too much effort, but the round swings up and down considerably, probably 15 degrees in either direction. For comparison I checked my SIG GSR (similar in design except the extractor is external), and it has less than half this movement. Looking at this picture of an extractor ...
... the forward edge of the claw appears to be sharp, clean and parallel all the way to the top. Mine is not; as best as I can tell without a magnifier, it looks out of square, perhaps even battered. This leads me to wonder if the round is swinging up too high and hitting the barrel hood when the slide runs forward. ??? The gun does extract and eject OK.
If I put a new extractor in it, what are good brands? I think I like the Cylinder & Slide one, as they specify it is made from a spring steel.
Is this gun really stainless? It appears to be, but some postings I've read elsewhere lead me to wonder. The serial number prefix is FC.
Recommended lubricants? I have on hand Mil-Comm TW25B grease, Tetra Gun grease, and Break-Free CLP oil in the squeeze bottle. I will entertain other suggestions. I like the idea of a light grease for a carry gun, as I know it will stay put.
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At first the round was very low on the breechface, barely coming up under the extractor and angling sharply upward, what the troubleshooting guide (if I understand it correctly) calls a "rideover." Although the new recoil spring is much stronger than the one I took out, the extra-power spring in the Colt mag helped this. Now the round is higher on the breechface but gets stuck at the leading edge of the case on the barrel hood. Unfortunately, I neglected to look at the cases for any markings indicating "stem bind":banghead:. I did manually cycle rounds through the action and noticed dings in the very edge of the case mouths.
I am very suspicious of the extractor. When I remove the slide and push a round up under the extractor, it holds the round without too much effort, but the round swings up and down considerably, probably 15 degrees in either direction. For comparison I checked my SIG GSR (similar in design except the extractor is external), and it has less than half this movement. Looking at this picture of an extractor ...
... the forward edge of the claw appears to be sharp, clean and parallel all the way to the top. Mine is not; as best as I can tell without a magnifier, it looks out of square, perhaps even battered. This leads me to wonder if the round is swinging up too high and hitting the barrel hood when the slide runs forward. ??? The gun does extract and eject OK.
If I put a new extractor in it, what are good brands? I think I like the Cylinder & Slide one, as they specify it is made from a spring steel.
Is this gun really stainless? It appears to be, but some postings I've read elsewhere lead me to wonder. The serial number prefix is FC.
Recommended lubricants? I have on hand Mil-Comm TW25B grease, Tetra Gun grease, and Break-Free CLP oil in the squeeze bottle. I will entertain other suggestions. I like the idea of a light grease for a carry gun, as I know it will stay put.
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