Help me tune my 1911a1 !

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Mayer

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Ok I've been working for awhile trying to get my 1911a1 to work properly.

Problems:

1. Failing to fully return to battery after almost every shot.
2. FTF which caused the bullet to hang with the nose stuck upwards at the front of the barrel and the base of the bullet closer to the magazine. I noted that the extractor was touching above the rim of the cartridge while it was flush against the breech face (I'll try to get pictures later today).

So seeing as this is a very old 1911 I stripped it and bought some new springs, cleaned everything, including the extractor tunnel which was just filthy. I haven't fired since doing this but with practice dummy rounds to test cycling its still doing ftf problem. I now need to test the tension of my extractor, I've seen several extractor tension tools on the internet for not that expensive so I will go that route soon but is there any way I can try to release tension without the tool?
 
You say it's an old 1911, how old ?

Have you tried a different mag ?

1911 feed ramp and barrel geometry is fairly critical, your failure to feed could mean that the barrel is overhanging the feed ramp, any chance you can take a picture of the ramp/barrel area with the slide back and post them ?

feedrampspecs.jpg
 
vhenem said:
You say it's an old 1911, how old ?

Have you tried a different mag ?

1911 feed ramp and barrel geometry is fairly critical, your failure to feed could mean that the barrel is overhanging the feed ramp, any chance you can take a picture of the ramp/barrel area with the slide back and post them ?

feedrampspecs.jpg
Click to expand...

Whao, that gap between the ramp and the chamber lip is HUGE compared to mine. It might be 1/64" on mine.

- Check recoil spring weight. Too light will let you run competition loads, but at a cost of reliability under adverse conditions. The standard recoil spring weight for 1911 Government models is 16-18lbs.

- Check the magazines. If you have a buddy who has a 1911 see if you can borrow one or two of his mags to see if they feed properly.
 
I'll have pictures tomorrow, magazines where going to be next on my list.

The lower is a para 1911a1 with a 10 shot hi-cap magazine.
 
Sure sounds like it is an extractor issue. The extractor can tweaked without tools, insert the extractor part way into its hole in the slide an bend just a little. they actually quite tough so bend firmly but not very much. Sometimes a little reshaping of the hook is requires as well. If you look on the brownwells site they have gunsmith tips Extractor tuning is one of the subjects. Go easy, it might take two three attempts to get it right. Have fun with the 1911
 
ottoman said:
Sure sounds like it is an extractor issue. The extractor can tweaked without tools, insert the extractor part way into its hole in the slide an bend just a little. they actually quite tough so bend firmly but not very much. Sometimes a little reshaping of the hook is requires as well. If you look on the brownwells site they have gunsmith tips Extractor tuning is one of the subjects. Go easy, it might take two three attempts to get it right. Have fun with the 1911
Click to expand...

Thanks man, I was a little hesitant to bend it that way but if I take my time and just work with it I'm sure I'll get it.
Should I stick the extractor half way in and stop at the middle notch or put the middle notch resting inside the extractor tunnel while bending it?
 
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