GSG 1911 .22 ongoing problems FIXED! Updated May 21

[Yogi05]

I'm having problems with my GSG 1911 .22 and have since I bought it.

I have the gammit of troubles. Fail to feed, fail to eject, stove pipe, you name it.

Most times the first three or four rounds of either mag experience some failure or other and I cycle the slide for the next round. Once it gets past the first three or four, it often will fire the remaining 6 or 7 with no issues, other times it's essentially a repeater. (cycle every round manually).

I tried several types of ammo through it, and just when I think one brand works better, it begins to fail.

I have three different mags and just when it seems one mag is at fault, the others fail.

Blue Line helped me out with some parts but they didn't solve my problems. I have replaced the recoil spring and retainer, and installed an updated guide rod. Neither helped.

I have polished the feed ramp, both barrel and frame, with a dremel tool and either a super fine stone, or felt(type) buffer. No difference.

I've tried every lubricant known to man....well, maybe not every one, but lots of different ones.

It often seems like the slide drags and doesn't come fully back to cycle the next round or eject the previous round.

When you release the slide with the lever, the slide just seems a touch slow. It doesn't really snap into battery.

I shrugged this off for over a year thinking it's because of the alloy. Light. And didn't really expect it to "slam" into position.

Last weekend a friend tried this pistol and commented that the slide seemed slow as well, without any suggestion from me.

I'm thinking of trying to mark the slide with some kind of coloring and see if there is maybe a high spot, or a contact point that may be a machining issue slowing the slide action.

I should have reported these issues right way. It's out of warranty now of course. And somewhere around 8 to 10 000 rnds through it. Many of them one at a time

Looking for a "high spot" on the slide or frame sound feasable? Any other ideas?

 

[Blue Line]

PM Sent

 

[EggMcMuffown]

del

 

[superted]

If this was a normal 1911 in 9mm, .38 super or .45 I would suggest removing the recoil spring AND the disconnector and 'cycling" the slide by hand (without a mag) to determine if indeed the slide is 'dragging". With recoil spring AND disconnector removed - the slide should slide fully rearward when the muzzle is pointed up at a 45 degree angle.

Then do the same with an empty magazine inserted.

Then do the same with a FULL magazine inserted. If you are not comfortable doing this with live ammo - remove the firing pin for this excercise.

If all pass scrutiny then proceed to the next step by using spent .22 cases (or live rounds) to check the extractor/ejector system to assure their correct function.

If these pass scrutiny then I would try a different recoil spring - from your comment re: does not go into battery AND the fact it works once you get a few rounds out of the magazine I suspect it needs/wants a HEAVIER recoil spring, but do some experimenting. Its not uncommon for the slides of 1911's to appear as though they are "dragging" when the magazine is full yet function properly with almost empty mags because the recoil spring is not heavy enough to bring the slide back into full battery due to the increased tension/friction applied against the slide by the full magazine. The manufacturer must have some recommended spring weights but check to make sure the correct weight spring was not "shortened" at some time thereby reducing the ability of the spring to bring the slide into battery and lock up. Hope this helps.

 

[brewmech]

I am having the same issues and just haven't found the time to look at it. My problems seem identical to those you are having. If you find out the problem i would appreciate a pm with the cure. Thanks.

 

[Yogi05]

If this was a normal 1911 in 9mm, .38 super or .45 I would suggest removing the recoil spring AND the disconnector and 'cycling" the slide by hand (without a mag) to determine if indeed the slide is 'dragging". With recoil spring AND disconnector removed - the slide should slide fully rearward when the muzzle is pointed up at a 45 degree angle.

This was the plan. As well as marking the rails on the slide and frame with something with the consistancy of ink should show wear in the color if there are binding points.

In your opinion, should the slide fall back to full open with gravity when held up to a 45 degree angle? Can't say as I ever noticed.

Then do the same with an empty magazine inserted.

Then do the same with a FULL magazine inserted. If you are not comfortable doing this with live ammo - remove the firing pin for this excercise.

If all pass scrutiny then proceed to the next step by using spent .22 cases (or live rounds) to check the extractor/ejector system to assure their correct function.

Again, I imagined I would get to this stage but wasn't sure an empty casing would cycle.

If these pass scrutiny then I would try a different recoil spring - from your comment re: does not go into battery AND the fact it works once you get a few rounds out of the magazine I suspect it needs/wants a HEAVIER recoil spring, but do some experimenting. Its not uncommon for the slides of 1911's to appear as though they are "dragging" when the magazine is full yet function properly with almost empty mags because the recoil spring is not heavy enough to bring the slide back into full battery due to the increased tension/friction applied against the slide by the full magazine. The manufacturer must have some recommended spring weights but check to make sure the correct weight spring was not "shortened" at some time thereby reducing the ability of the spring to bring the slide into battery and lock up. Hope this helps.

The spring is brand new from manufacturer and makes it the second spring installed with no difference in performance.

I don't think there are different spring weights available for this pistol like the "real" 1911's. Many parts are interchangable with 1911's but I'm not sure if the recoil spring is one of them. Brings up an interesting idea though. I have at least one spare spring from a 1911 and I should have a look at the dimentions to see if it might work. As a test if nothing else. To see if it changes anything at all.

Everything is helpful !

 

[Yogi05]

I am having the same issues and just haven't found the time to look at it. My problems seem identical to those you are having. If you find out the problem i would appreciate a pm with the cure. Thanks.

Sure! Get me to do all the work..... Oh, wait... NL? Yup, I'll let you know.
Likewise if you figure it out please.

IF I ever find the problem I'll post it .

 

[superted]

Further to what might be dragging on the slide - another item I would check on a regular 1911 is if the ejector is dragging on the slide. Check that by stripping the slide (barrel out) - point the gun at a bright light and assure you can see a small gap between the ejector and the ejector groove in the slide. When installing or replacing ejectors I've often had to file down the INSIDE face of the ejector so it doesn't drag on the slide.

About the 45 degree angle - that may be a little too "shallow", but with the stripped slide AND both the ejector AND the disconnector removed from the frame - by experimenting with the angle - you can at least determine if the slide WILL slide rearward in one continuous motion without snagging on the way back at some reasonable angle (less than 90 degrees!!!!!).

From your description - I still feel the mags are the culprits!!! When troubleshooting a 1911 for feeding/function problems I start by checking the ammo (which is not an issue in this case), THEN checking the mags, THEN checking the shooter's grip (with practice one can cause ANY 1911 to "choke" simply by NOT applying a sufficently strong resistance to the recoil to allow the slide to cycle properly (but again in this case I doubt if this is the problem) ONLY after assuring ALL these possiblities are eliminated would we start looking at the gun itself. Unless its an actual breakage of a part (which is POSSIBLE but not likely) - 80% of the problems are solved before the gun itself comes under scrutiny.

Regarding the mags - if you can - try polishing the inside to allow the follower to move up and down more freely AND also apply an good dose of oil to the inside of the mag. In my IPSC competition Para .38 Super mags - contrary to popular opinion - I kept the inside of the mags both VERY polished AND very clean AND very well lubricated and they never "choked". If mags had to be dropped in sand/mud/dirt - I had enough extra so I didn't have to use them until they were properly cleaned.

If all else fails - load your mags only half full - at least you can have the pleasure of shooting some rounds uninterupted!!!

Wish I could actually get my hands on your gun to trouble shoot it!!!

Good luck and don't give up. There's NOTHING that can't be fixed!!!!!

 

[Yogi05]

Update in case someone is watching

150 rounds today. 3 failures to eject (closing slide caught the shell on the way out. It didn't eject fully), 3 failure to feed (didn't pick up next round from magazine) and two out and out duds (can't count those). I wasn't counting this, but I think a couple of the failures happened at the same time i.e. the shell didn't fully eject out, and the next round was not picked up.

Winchester 555 bulk ammo.

When I took the slide off I removed the barrel, guide rod, and spring. I put the slide back on and checked to see if it fell backward under gravity. It did, until it hit the disconnector. Moving it gently from then on, I found that it felt to be binding at the front of the slide.

Looking closer at the front, as the slide moved back I could see that the right side of the slide appeared to come in contact with the frame, the "dust cover" part at the front of the frame.

Took the slide back off and I could see very small wear marks inside that part of the frame, and on the right side only. On the left there were no marks and with the slide in the same position you could see a little daylight as opposed to the right side where you could see nothing between the slide and the frame.

I took a small flat file, and a curved file for the contour of the slide and worked that area of the slide for less than a minute. Barely removing a dust of material. Then ran over it with Crokus cloth (for extremely fine sanding).

I'll have another look at it shortly and see if there's any fresh marking.

I won't consider this fixed until I get less failures, and I have run considerably more ammo through it with no issues. But I will say it is definately better than the last time I used this pistol. It was essentially a single shot that time.

I think the ammo not being picked up from the magazine is a seperate issue and I'll address that next time out. Maybe spread the top fingers of the mag a little to allow the ammo to sit a touch higher. I always found these mags finicky.

 

[Yogi05]

Further to what might be dragging on the slide - another item I would check on a regular 1911 is if the ejector is dragging on the slide. Check that by stripping the slide (barrel out) - point the gun at a bright light and assure you can see a small gap between the ejector and the ejector groove in the slide. When installing or replacing ejectors I've often had to file down the INSIDE face of the ejector so it doesn't drag on the slide

.

Appreciate the help BTW. The ejector on this particular setup is part of the barrel. I had a glance at that before, and as I was disassembling. The same principle would apply as a grown up 1911, but the positioning would be reversed (I'm thinking). The slide has to move along the ejector. There is a groove for it in the slide. (working from memory here).

From your description - I still feel the mags are the culprits!!! When troubleshooting a 1911 for feeding/function problems I start by checking the ammo (which is not an issue in this case), THEN checking the mags, THEN checking the shooter's grip (with practice one can cause ANY 1911 to "choke" simply by NOT applying a sufficently strong resistance to the recoil to allow the slide to cycle properly (but again in this case I doubt if this is the problem) ONLY after assuring ALL these possiblities are eliminated would we start looking at the gun itself. Unless its an actual breakage of a part (which is POSSIBLE but not likely) - 80% of the problems are solved before the gun itself comes under scrutiny.

We think alike. When I first had issues with this gun I tried a whack of different ammo, then bought two extra mags, marking each one if I had a failure. They all experienced failures which should in essence rule them out. I'm not going to be conclusive on that yet because as I said, I think there may be two issues in all this.

Regarding the mags - if you can - try polishing the inside to allow the follower to move up and down more freely AND also apply an good dose of oil to the inside of the mag. In my IPSC competition Para .38 Super mags - contrary to popular opinion - I kept the inside of the mags both VERY polished AND very clean AND very well lubricated and they never "choked". If mags had to be dropped in sand/mud/dirt - I had enough extra so I didn't have to use them until they were properly cleaned.

The follower is plastic on these. I did disassemble them way back to make sure they were clean and not binding. Only so much you can do with plastic. The frame of the mags is some kind of metallic stuff. Problably a cheap alluminum of some kind. There may be a way to do something with that.

If all else fails - load your mags only half full - at least you can have the pleasure of shooting some rounds uninterupted!!!

But, but........ It won't be TEN !

Wish I could actually get my hands on your gun to trouble shoot it!!!
Good luck and don't give up. There's NOTHING that can't be fixed!!!!!

20 + yrs fixing cars, there's nothing that can't be fixed, or modified to convince myself that it IS fixed

We used to say, in a heavy european accent...
"I fix....I can't fix, I f**k up, NOBODY fix !! "

Thanks again for the help

 

[Blue Line]

.

Appreciate the help BTW. The ejector on this particular setup is part of the barrel. I had a glance at that before, and as I was disassembling. The same principle would apply as a grown up 1911, but the positioning would be reversed (I'm thinking). The slide has to move along the ejector. There is a groove for it in the slide. (working from memory here).



We think alike. When I first had issues with this gun I tried a whack of different ammo, then bought two extra mags, marking each one if I had a failure. They all experienced failures which should in essence rule them out. I'm not going to be conclusive on that yet because as I said, I think there may be two issues in all this.



The follower is plastic on these. I did disassemble them way back to make sure they were clean and not binding. Only so much you can do with plastic. The frame of the mags is some kind of metallic stuff. Problably a cheap alluminum of some kind. There may be a way to do something with that.



But, but........ It won't be TEN !



20 + yrs fixing cars, there's nothing that can't be fixed, or modified to convince myself that it IS fixed

We used to say, in a heavy european accent...
"I fix....I can't fix, I f**k up, NOBODY fix !! "

Thanks again for the help

Please let us know if there is anything we can be of assistance with. We try to monitor these threads to learn about issues with the pistols and to help people in the future as well as to provide feedback to GSG.

If there are any parts such as magazine springs or followers that you need please let us know.

Best regards,
Ryan Patterson
National Director of Operations
Blue Line Activities Ltd.

 

[browningautorifle]

I know this will probably bring wrath, but I had a couple of pistols that were a bit problematic like yours. I bought a .22 chamber ream and reamed the chamber out. It seems by the minor amount of metal removed that maybe a sharpened reamer was used and it left the chamber a bit tight. Problems(in my case) solved. I think I did 1x.40 cal, at least three .22 pistols and one .22 revolver. You could say I loosened up the chamber, but the reams were new SAAMI spec...

 

[Yogi05]

Please let us know if there is anything we can be of assistance with. We try to monitor these threads to learn about issues with the pistols and to help people in the future as well as to provide feedback to GSG.

If there are any parts such as magazine springs or followers that you need please let us know.

Best regards,
Ryan Patterson
National Director of Operations
Blue Line Activities Ltd.

Will do...thank you. I may end up sending the thing to you guys afterall, but I'll tinker away with it for a little while and see what comes of it. Lets call it a learning experience

I know this will probably bring wrath, but I had a couple of pistols that were a bit problematic like yours. I bought a .22 chamber ream and reamed the chamber out. It seems by the minor amount of metal removed that maybe a sharpened reamer was used and it left the chamber a bit tight. Problems(in my case) solved. I think I did 1x.40 cal, at least three .22 pistols and one .22 revolver. You could say I loosened up the chamber, but the reams were new SAAMI spec...

And this solved the fail to eject-type issues as well?

I've always questioned the "two tooth" feed ramp on this one. Very difficult to do something exact to this sort of thing without holding it in some kind of jig. I'm always worried about doing something to it that skews the angles or edges.

 

[superted]

browningautorifle could be right about the chambers - years ago - had several guys bring me .38 Super raceguns "all tricked up" from gunsmiths including new match barrels - after cleaning guns would shoot about 100 rounds then start failing to eject/jam etc. Solution was to ream the chamber and remove a very small "ridge" running the length of the chamber that was not apparent until AFTER the reaming - it would show up as a bright line all the way down the chamber.

And BTW a buddy of mine and I took possession of a pair of GSG's today! Shooting them this weekend - will keep fingers crossed.

If you have all those years as a mechanic - I can understand your "obsession" to find a fix!! I call it the dog/porcupine syndrome - the more the dog gets wacked with quills the madder and more determined he gets to kill the porcupine and the more he gets wacked and it becomes a viscious circle!!! Believe me - I've been there!!! Hang in there!!

 

[leadchucker62]

gsg

good day:
i tried different ammo's in mine and found that the fed bulk pack copperwash hp,work the best and are accurate in my gun.and their cheap!
i ordered my gsg1911-22 from dlask in bc,with a trigger job and a dlask steel flat mainspring housing.i also got the red buffers from dlask i have about 4500 rnds on the one thats in it.
i was having feed issues with my gun with the three mags and joe dlask told me to polish the feed ramp,which i did and it solved the problem.another issue i was having was the machine screw that holds the barrel to the frame would work itself loose about every 200 round,again the smith said to use blue locktite,again,problem solved.
i just recently installed an adjustable rear sight with no dots and had to switch to the tallest supplied front sight to get the right poi,with some adjustability of the rear sight either way.
for you guys with gsg1911-22,dlask arms has kensight adjustable rear sights(steel) on sale right now,if i remember correctly they are 69.99 and a great improvement over stock.
he is supposed to be coming out with a steel front sight to accompany the rear.and i cant wait.

this gun has approx 5000-5500 rnd through it and my only breakage was the crappy X profile guide rod.i e-mailed dlask about it and got a new improved one and spring under warrenty.


Z

 

[Yogi05]

How important are those red buffers?

I had the original black rubber ones obviously, which disintegrated and spread sticky crap along the insides.

Somewhere in CGN someone told how they had done away with them altogether and had no issues and I found no difference in performance or lack of since I stop bothering with buffers.

Also, I'm shaky on this, but I seem to remember a dealer saying they don't supply them any more? They make no difference.

As far as the "crappy X profile guiderod", that is the new one I just installed. Are they not an updated guiderod? Did I just move backward with that?

It'd be great if someone could show a picture of a cylinder reamer so I can see what's involved with that. Seems to be a neccessary thing to do.

Once again, appreciate the help a lot. Don't know if I'll get out this week(end) to try some more tweaks, temps are dropping drastically. -30 tonight supposedly.

 

[3strokes]

I have the Dlask with trigger-job. (Been about a year now)
No Problems.

Back when the posts started appearing on the net regarding the bushings that broke, Scott (I believe) told me that my unit already had the steel bushing. I had lost the washer (the old black one) and Scott sent me the new guide rod, a new bushing (just in case), a new spring and washers.

I've installed these and the gun is terrific. I get the very odd FTE or FTL but it's usually with crappy, low velocity ammo. With HV ammo, it's great.

I have the original magazine and two more I purchased later. I noticed
that the original magazine's spring is quite "light" compared to the other two. I did not notice any difference in ejecting or loading from one magazine to another. I usually shoot three magazine-fulls per 10-minute relay.

All in all the GSG magazines are very easy to feed by hand (and thumbnail).

But I have heard and read that individual units can be quite capricious while the gun next to it functions flawlessly.

When I was deciding between the Chiappa, the Kimber and the GSG, I am glad I went for the GSG. Chiappa was reported to be cheaply constructed and the Kimber was a bit expensivish.

Glad I stuck with the GSG. A fello club member has the Kimber 1911 in .22 and is complaining about almost chronic FTE and FTL.

Blue Line's service I have found to be A+++

 

[bacardi]

I am thinking to get the GSG 1911 in 22LR, and now I am reading all of these issues. ARe these issues common on this model from GSG???

 

[Blue Line]

How important are those red buffers?

I had the original black rubber ones obviously, which disintegrated and spread sticky crap along the insides.

Somewhere in CGN someone told how they had done away with them altogether and had no issues and I found no difference in performance or lack of since I stop bothering with buffers.

Also, I'm shaky on this, but I seem to remember a dealer saying they don't supply them any more? They make no difference.

As far as the "crappy X profile guiderod", that is the new one I just installed. Are they not an updated guiderod? Did I just move backward with that?

It'd be great if someone could show a picture of a cylinder reamer so I can see what's involved with that. Seems to be a neccessary thing to do.

Once again, appreciate the help a lot. Don't know if I'll get out this week(end) to try some more tweaks, temps are dropping drastically. -30 tonight supposedly.

The washer was replaced with a polymer one and they added a spacer to put more tension on the barrel bushing to prevent it from turning and hitting the guide rod to prevent it from breaking. I personally had issue with the Winchester 555 bulk ammo and shoot the federal 525 bulk or cci mini mags through mine. Finding a high velocity ammo that the GSG likes is part of the fun as all the 22lr ammo I tried shot in different spots on the target. Lots of customers like the federal bulk 525 and the Blazer lead rounds as they are obit cheaper.

Best regards,
Scott

 

[Yogi05]

I am thinking to get the GSG 1911 in 22LR, and now I am reading all of these issues. ARe these issues common on this model from GSG???

Even though I am having trouble with mine, and it seems others are too, I suspect its a small percentage compared to the number of these pistols out there.

That said, other manufacturers have trouble with their models as well. Sig Mosquito a friend had was very troublesome until he found a certain type of ammo worked well. Kimber .22's apparently have a few problems as well.

Despite my problems with my GSG, I wouldn't be afraid to buy one again.

Lots of new model cars have to get bugs worked out too before they become a trusted model.