1911 Mid-Range- locking open after every shot

Brian James

Brian James

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1911 Cold Mid-Range in 38 Special. I am experiencing a frustrating problem with the pistol that I hope someone may be able to solve. I own 3 magazines for it, one is brand new. No matter which mag I use it the pistol locks open after every shot.

In further detail, the magazine has 5 rounds in it, shot 1 shot, and the slide comes back and does not strip the cartridge our of the magazine and proceeds to lock open. If I drop the slide it picks up the rounds and it loads perfectly.

Does anyone know how I could trouble shoot this problem?

Brian

PS I’ve used several different types of ammo.
 
Are you left handed? I had a similar issue with my 1911 and it was the way I was holding it. Yes, I'm left handed.
 
I'm quite confident I'm not putting the side lock on, but will go to the range to verify. I'm right handed, and using an anatomical grip on it. It does not have a ambi safety.

Thanks for the input thus far.

Brian
 
Brian James said:
I'm quite confident I'm not putting the side lock on, but will go to the range to verify. I'm right handed, and using an anatomical grip on it. It does not have a ambi safety.

Thanks for the input thus far.

Brian
Click to expand...
broken spring on the slide lock lever allows the slide lock to jump on with even small pressure during recoil, or the grip is pinching the spring, or the grip is loose and moving during recoil
 
Consult a manual, like Jerry Kuhnhausen's. It will discuss the troubleshooting for your problem.

E.G.: Your slide stop can be modified with a detent cut.
 
I went thru exactly the same issue with the same model pistol years ago. Someone had replace the slide stop with a standard 1911 slide stop and this was the cause. The front of the casing was catching the standard slide stop on every shot causing it to engage. Some careful filing and polishing of the nose of the slide stop cured the issue. Using dummy rounds you should be able to see the issue and where to remove the metal.
 
Thank you for all the replies. After a visit to the range Saturday I did a variety of testing and determined the problem to be a combination of things. I was using reloaded 38spl ammo from the previous owner who mixed in nickel plated +P. Not knowing any better I used to the +P brass, which does not feed feel in the pistol. Jam every single time.

The other issue was the pistol had a shock buff installed in it, which I removed.

After those two corrections the pistol worked on a much more consistent basis. Not flawless yet, but much better.

Brian
 
Take the top end off and insert a loaded magazine into the frame. Looking down into the frame from the top of the gun, observe the slide stop to see if it is coming into contact with the nose of the round. If it is, dress the slide stop to clear. Also, you might want to cut a deeper indent into the surface of the slide stop. This will engage the slide stop plunger more aggressively and keep it from bouncing up in recoil.
 
Brian James said:
...The other issue was the pistol had a shock buff installed in it, which I removed....
Click to expand...

Ahhh, the too thick shock buff syndrome.

... but tell me, if the shock buff was too thick and not allowing the slide to cycle rearwards enough to pick up another round, how was the slide able to lock back on every shot?

I don't think it was the shock buff causing problems. However, I do run into similar issues specifically with Kimbers with a shock buff installed. Thinner buffs are sold to remedy this problem if you are adamant about shock buffs in your guns.

Before the plastic craze, we fashioned shock buffs out of leather. The leather was thinner and lasted longer than the plastic ones produced today. ... and didn't deteriorate like they do now.
 
Just to let everyone know, the problem was the spring for the slide lock was not working anymore. I replaced the spring and the problem was solved. Such a simple solution.

Brian
 
:confused: A spring for the slide stop on a 1911? That's new ... which spring exactly would that be? :eek:
 
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