1911 Skool: Troubleshoot it

J

John Travis

Happy to be here
Supporting Member
Joined
Dec 22, 2016
Messages
1,052
Location
Lexington, NC or thereabouts.
Subject: Springfield GI Mil Spec

Issue: Damn thang ain't actin' right.

In the beginning, the pistol ran like a Singer sewing machine. Then, Bubba went to dinkin' around with it and changed a few parts, including the sear, hammer, disconnect, and all the springs. He also did away with the ILS system and installed a standard mainspring housing and all the proper innards that go along with it.

And, it ran just fine for a time...and then, it didn't.

Bang, and the slide stopped in the rearward position. Release the trigger, and it ran forward, loaded another round, and fired on command. Lather-rinse-repeat.

I'd seen it happen before, so I pretty much knew what was up. Different gun/different Bubba/same problem.

Thinkin' caps on, aaaaaaaaaaaand GO!
 
Trick question, it doesn’t matter what is causing the problem, just dremel the feed ramp and increase the weight of the recoil spring.

I’m stuck on it working for a while then consistently not working.
 
A wise man once told me you show your 1911s to your friends and your Glocks to your enemies 😆
 
Sounds like the opposite problem to your other puzzler. Spring leg was a little short and binding on the disconnector foot while the trigger was held to the rear. No idea why it worked for a while then stopped working tho
 
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When the trigger is held back the disconnector should stay down. It moves up as you release the trigger. So I’m not just stuck on why it’s inconsistent but also why it moving up would allow the slide to move forward.
 
Catfish said:
No idea why it worked for a while then stopped working tho
Click to expand...

Excellent diagnosis, and almost spot on.

What Bubba had done was install a new aftermarket sear spring and neglected to prep it by stoning the front corner of the center leaf. Over the course of a few hundred rounds, that sharp corner slowly ate into the disconnect, making the reset surface concave. It eventually reached the point that the slide couldn't push the disconnect into the frame, while managing to ride over it. When it tried to run forward again, it hit the disconnect and stopped. When I got it apart, not only was the disconnect wrecked, the center leg of the spring had a slight kink about an eighth inch from the top.

His reason for changing the spring?

"Man, 'cuz I don't want no MIM in muh gun."

Don't know how I managed to keep a straight face.
 
I think, once upon a time, JT made a comment that has kinda stuck with me about how moronic bubbas can be. And it went something like “I wanted to do X to the gun because I wanted it to run better.” But what is “better?” It either runs, or it doesn’t. If it goes bang every time, don’t mess with it. “I wanted it to feed smoother so I took a dremel to the feed ramp”. “Why? Was it not feeding before?” “No, it was feeding, I just wanted it to feed more betterer”.
 
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