Troubleshoot a fairly old Springfield.

J

John Travis

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A guy called me one bright Sunday morning and described a problem he was having with an early Springfield 1911A1. He'd just bought it at a gun show a day earlier and went to burn up some ammo.

Seems that the hammer was following the slide on every shot. Not to half cock. All the way down to the firing pin stop. No bursts or full auto, of course...but he had to use his Army Automatic clone like an 1873 SAA.

He was not happy. He'd made the transaction in the parking lot, and would likely never see the seller again.

I suspected a worn or out of spec disconnect...probably the former...and wasn't overly concerned because I had a couple dozen in the parts bin. I was wrong.

Field stripped on the table, the disconnect looked to be fine. Took it down a little farther to reassemble it with the grip safety left out so I could check the disconnect function...and when I pushed it flush with the top of the frame...it was getting clear of the sear feet just like it was supposed to.

Something caught my eye, so I detail stripped the frame and slipped the slide onto it...and I saw it plain as day. Most of these things are simple. That was not to be the case this time.

Bubba had struck again...hard.

Thinkin' caps on, boys and girls.
 
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I suppose Bubba could possibly have filed down the top of the hammer so that the slide could not take it back far enough to catch the sear. I had that happen with a M92 Winchester that I picked up used.
 
Schattenreiter said:
The dummahicky has been filed down past the thingamagig. Or in other words Dremal surgery
Click to expand...

^This. The slide had been filed such that it could not engage the disconnector (and move it down).
 
The clearance between the frame and the rail has been buggered with?
 
Ferrisfan said:
This. The slide had been filed such that it could not engage the disconnector (and move it down).
Click to expand...

And we have a winner!

Springfield's center rail has historically been pretty rough, with fairly deep machine marks. More recently, they've been stamping the serial numbers on them. The thing that caught my eye was a beautifully smooth center rail. Apparently, Bubba...worried about accelerated wear on the disconnect ...took a mill file to it to smooth out the toolmarks. He was likely very proud of his handiwork...until he shot the gun.

When I detail stripped the frame and put the slide in place and peeked at it, there was a gap that I coulda thrown a cat through.

I kid. I kid. It wasn't that bad, but I was able to slip a .020 feeler gauge between the top of the frame and the center rail. The rail just couldn't push the disconnect below the sear feet, so the sear couldn't reset and the hammer hooks just sailed right past it.

The guy contacted Springfield to ask about a new slide, but they wanted the gun so they could cherry-pick one to give the best fit, along with a new barrel...and only charged him cost. I thought that was a pretty good deal, all things considered. Of course, that was 30 years ago, and they may not be as generous today.
 
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