Colt 0991 Series 80 Enhanced Government Model, circa 2001. I was living in Rural Hall at the time.
Neighbor bought it lightly used from a local dealer. Pistol was dead reliable, and never missed a beat. About 1500 rounds into it, he noticed something odd with the brass. A weird "U" shaped bulge that was wider at the legs than at the curve...like a V with a radius in the bottom. The legs were toward the front of the case.
Puzzled, he brought the gun to me with a few rounds of the brass. I knew what it was immediately, and a field strip confirmed it. The lower barrel lug was being torn off the barrel, and had pulled all the way through to the chamber, causing the brass to bulge into the defect. The crack wasn't very noticeable and I had to look closely for it. Static on the bench, the chamber would simply spring back into position and the crack would close up.
I estimated that another 50 rounds would have caused it to fail completely.
Clue: It was a spec issue that was easily corrected, but it did require a new barrel. He decided to replace it with a Kart that I had on hand rather than go through Colt's warranty.
What tore the lug off the barrel?
Neighbor bought it lightly used from a local dealer. Pistol was dead reliable, and never missed a beat. About 1500 rounds into it, he noticed something odd with the brass. A weird "U" shaped bulge that was wider at the legs than at the curve...like a V with a radius in the bottom. The legs were toward the front of the case.
Puzzled, he brought the gun to me with a few rounds of the brass. I knew what it was immediately, and a field strip confirmed it. The lower barrel lug was being torn off the barrel, and had pulled all the way through to the chamber, causing the brass to bulge into the defect. The crack wasn't very noticeable and I had to look closely for it. Static on the bench, the chamber would simply spring back into position and the crack would close up.
I estimated that another 50 rounds would have caused it to fail completely.
Clue: It was a spec issue that was easily corrected, but it did require a new barrel. He decided to replace it with a Kart that I had on hand rather than go through Colt's warranty.
What tore the lug off the barrel?