What is wrong with my 1911?

stormbringer

stormbringer

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Ok guys..........

I have a problem with my 1911 and I do not know where to look for a solution.

I have found that it "hangs up" on the last round.
ie an empty mag but one in the chamber.

I can squeeze off the initial rounds just fine but the last one.....NADDA!

I have tried several mags to see if it was a mag issue to no avail.

The expedient field cure is to quickly RAP the base of the mag and it seems to jolt it back into shape and I can fire off that last round.


I found a way to duplicate the problem 100% of the time.

With a mag in the gun I rack the silde and hold down the Slide stop. At the same time I keep the trigger depressed.

The slide goes forward and I release the trigger....

Then I try to fire it again................NADDA!!

smack the bottom of the mag..............

BINGO now I can squeeze the trigger.


Any ideas??
 
That is interesting. A couple of things are different about the last round, after it has entered the chamber: it is the magazine follower and not another actual cartridge that is "next in line", and the tab on the magazine engages the slide lock. I think it has to be something with one of those that is interfering with the trigger action until you rap the magazine. Are all of your mags the same make and model? Is the follower unusually different in its position to a cartridge when the mag is empty? Could the magazine somehow be binding into the trigger bow when it's empty?
 
I have tried a variety of mags.

Most are Chip Martin and Wilson............

All seem to be the same in terms of follower positioning.


I will try and hunt down the original 7 round mag and see how it acts.
 
Very very interesting...

It does not happen with the ORIGINAL mag!!!!


It does not happen with a POS No name 7 round mag.

It is something to do with the position of the mag in the gun.

I now find that it is not so much the WHACKING that corrects the problem.

I can just push "backwards" on the basepad....towards the heel of the grip and I hear a "click" and I am good to go.
 
Yeah I had same problem with all my Chip McCormack and Wilson mags.. they seemed to do this after awhile with the last round. Figured it might be a bad follower or weak spring? Do you have a brand new mag you could try? Maybe all your mags are equally worn? On the Chip McCormack do you have the 8 round ones with the tilting top ramp?

A Pachmayr mag I bought solved the problem..at least for now.. I dont shoot the .45 as much as I use to these days though.
 
I have chip and wilson 8 and 10 rounders.

I do not have any new ones but this has been a re-occuring theme that has been bugging me but I never bothered to look into it.

Now heading into the Nats I decided that I better look into things a bit.

I just checked with the SPRINGS out of the mag and.............the problem went away!!????

That would seem to me that weak springs are not the issue.
 
either way..try a basic cheap factory type mag... might solve your problems..
 
stormbringer said:
Ok guys..........
I found a way to duplicate the problem 100% of the time.

With a mag in the gun I rack the silde and hold down the Slide stop. At the same time I keep the trigger depressed.

The slide goes forward and I release the trigger....

Then I try to fire it again................NADDA!!

smack the bottom of the mag..............

BINGO now I can squeeze the trigger.
Any ideas??
Click to expand...

To determine whether your disconnector or sear might be causing this can you answer these questions... After the slide goes all the way forward (assuming that it locks in position properly):

Q. Does the hammer fall while you are depressing the trigger? if it does the disconnector is faulty and needs to be replaced.
Q. Assuming the hammer does not fall, while you slowly release the trigger, do you hear a faint click as the disconnector is pushed back in place by the sear spring? if you hear the click you should be able to pull the trigger and the hammer should drop, if not the sear spring is weak and needs replacing. Try bending the spring leaf on the sear spring first before you buy a new spring. :)

If you have a trigger which allows the travel to be adjusted, reset the travel to full before tying the steps above.

I am poking in the dark here but it's possible that your sear spring is weak and it does not push the disconnector back in place after the trigger is released. Sometimes if the mechanism gets gunky in the sear/disconnector area you may get similar issues. Disassemble the gun and make sure it's cleaned and lubricated properly (i.e. no excessive grease/lubricant, etc.).

By bumping the mag/gun bottom you may be giving the mechanism that extra "kick" which makes the disconnector realign so that you can then fire the gun.

BTW is that a series 70 or series 80 1911?
 
Could it be the position of the cut for the mag latch is very slightly different, so the new mags sit a tiny bit lower? Spring pressure is low for that last one, so just a bit less might make the difference...?
 
Hello, stormbringer

I seen this happen to fellow shooters 1911, I looked at it carefully for quite a while. I noted that it only done this with eight rnd mags. My findings concluded that the mag was being cocked a bit by the slide lock bumping the disconector that is visable looking up the magwell. I disassembled the gun filed and polished a bit off, around .010 or .015. Once there was clearance she worked fine. This is an easy fix, but be carefull not to remove to much. :cool:

Goodluck

Deadeye
 
Q. Does the hammer fall while you are depressing the trigger? if it does the disconnector is faulty and needs to be replaced.
Q. Assuming the hammer does not fall, while you slowly release the trigger, do you hear a faint click as the disconnector is pushed back in place by the sear spring? if you hear the click you should be able to pull the trigger and the hammer should drop, if not the sear spring is weak and needs replacing. Try bending the spring leaf on the sear spring first before you buy a new spring.
Click to expand...

The hammer does not fall when I keep the trigger depressed while cycling the slide. So it is not the disconnector

I do hear a click when I release the trigger after cycling.......but NOT when I have an empty mag in the firearm. As mentioned above a "jiggle" of the mag in a rearward direction causes a "clilck". Then I can fire the action.

I do have an adjustable trigger........I will play with that tonight then start on the other possibles listed as well.

Thanks guys!!
 
If the trigger is not resetting (like you described with your empty mag) the mag may be contacting the trigger bow. I had a similiar challenge about 4 years ago with my SVI...
 
Wow ..... I thought I knew a few things about 1911's - but I guess I'll just sit and listen for awhile. Some very knowledgeable comments.

Had the same sticky problem with new Wilson 8 rnd mags until I filed a sliver off the slide release.
 
Quigley said:
If the trigger is not resetting (like you described with your empty mag) the mag may be contacting the trigger bow. I had a similiar challenge about 4 years ago with my SVI...
Click to expand...

Would that not happen with a empty as well as a full mag? Or does the spring pressure due to the round being in place force the mag backwards....just like when I wiggle it.

Icefire said:
Slide may not be locked cause of the folowers? if you push forwad on the slide, does it help?
Click to expand...

The slide is fully forward......it is just the disconnector or Sear that is sticking inside I think.......now to find out why

BTW.....my factory mag is a 7 round Chip Mc Cormick

It works with the 7 rounder but not the 8 or the 10.




Now I am on a mission!!
 
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