[Bones]

I took my very first 1911 :thumbup1: out to the range yesterday and I fired the first shot. No problem, then I took a second shot the barrel freezed up about 1/4" from the face of the gun with the traveling backwards. As a consequence it did not eject the caseing and was stuck in there. I had to take off the barrel bushing and tap the face of the barrel with a soft faced hammer to get it to come loose, so I took it apart and shaved down front faces of the barrel ribbing any other suggestions as to what the problem might be?

Also I think I might have a cheap mag problem. I load 7 rounds into the magazine and it won't feed into the firing chamber, but I load 6 rounds and it will. Any comments on this?

Thanks for all help.

 

[Sangrun Hunter]

Is this a Brand new 1911? I know people who have had the dreaded 7 in the mag jam and 6 always worked until they had worked the gun in.

Personally, my 1911 was used and I have jams sometime with cheapo blasting ammo similar to what you have described, but very few anymore since I touched up every hard edge in mine to make it work a little slicker.

 

[Nick]

do you have a good slide and barrel or are they worn out pieces of brazillian garbage. Someone else would be more a help then me on advice for your first problem. But the other day ago, i took care of a magazine problem i was having that is exactly what you are talking about. 1st round jamming but the second having no problem. First thing to do though is try different mags, if that doesnt work... Is there any play in your mag...ex. if you push the mag further up towards the barrel, after the mag catch is locked-does it go much further? Thats the problem i was having with mine. This wont help you much either since you may not have access to a welder/weldor but I had to put some welds on the magazine. Right on the top of that notch that the magazine relase slides into then grind them flush. Now the mag fits real snug but still jams when used on 1 of my 1911's.
anyway, I was suprised a while back as to what new parts/good parts can do to the function of a 1911. The best thing to do is just play with it, stare at it. You dont nessasarily need to shoot live ammo out of a gun to know that its gong to work properly. maybe this helped? good luck

 

[Oldgunner]

I think the first thing is to never ?shave(d) down front faces of the barrel ribbing?. These ribs are what hold your barrel in battery when the action is closed and during firing, by shaving the faces you?ll screw up the accuracy of your weapon. It?s OK to take the corners off a little and I mean just a C Hair to tune it up if it jams but don?t over do it. Being tight is what most of us try to achieve, besides there are other things like the barrel link that influence this fit also. As far as the casing not ejecting, was the case stuck in the action with the open end up? That?s called a ?Stove Pipe? and is a common problem and can usually be fixed. If you have a buffer installed try not using it. If you don?t have a buffer there are new springs you can try (Wolff?s the best), 16 lb is the factory standard for the recoil spring so maybe try 15 or 14 or even less. Or if your OK with using a stone on the ejector you can put a slight angel on the face of it to change the angel it kicks the casing out at. The most involved fix is installing a new longer ejector, it?s pined into place and not a real hard fix but is more involved than the others. I recommend that you pick up one of the many books out there on the 1911 and not try any more permanent changes to your gun till you?ve read it.

Wolff Gun springs is at http://www.gunsprings.com/1ndex.html

 

[Bones]

It is a brand new 80% build and I was using wolf ammo. I ordered a the 1911 parts kit from Dare Gun Room. Oldgunner the reason I shaved down the barrel ribbing was that the fitting manuel that Dare Gun sold me suggested this. Also when I initially put the gun together the ribbing was SO tight that the gun would not unlock (ie cock back) and even shaved down it is still a very tight fit. It was not a "stove pipe", it was like the gun fired the bullet, and the slide traveled back about 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch and then jamed. The bullet casing was still held on by the extractor at this point thats why I was thinking it was more of a "locking" problem with the barrel and slide. Any more suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[Merkava]

Check your barrel bushing to barrel fit and the recoil spring and cap.They may be getting seized after you fire the shot in which case you can try new parts or shave down the inside of the bushing...but this will screw over any accuracy the gun has.Good luck

 

[Oldgunner]

Check your barrel bushing to barrel fit and the recoil spring and cap.They may be getting seized after you fire the shot in which case you can try new parts or shave down the inside of the bushing...but this will screw over any accuracy the gun has.Good luck

Yep, good advice. The barrel link can be had in different sizes (distance between the holes) and is what I?d try at this point if the bushing seems OK. I?ve shot a lot of Wolf ammo and have no problem with it, but find it a little dirty at the end of the day. Dirty isn?t a problem with me either because I use a homemade cleaner, so I field strip and soak the whole gun (remove grips) overnight before I clean it completely. The cleaner I use to soak my guns is a formula from makarov.com and is something like Ed?s Red.
Good luck and let us know what happens.

 

[Bones]

Solution, well sort of.

I got a new barrel link from Wilson (The shortest one they offer). Then I took it back to the range. <Jam Again> <Colorful explicative deleted>.

Took it back home and striped apart the gun (again). I then took my slide stop and put it through the stripped apart barrel link (still connected to the barrel) and rotated it as if the gun was firing. Turns out the shorter link was causing the slide stop to "catch" on its action making the downward motion of the barrel unsmooth.

Then I took my barrel and shaved off a little bit more of the locking lugs and finally took some REALLY fine (2000 grit) sandpaper and polished the locking lug area of the slide, the locking lugs on the barrel and the underside of the barrel where the slide stop rides. I put it back together and it cycled a hell of a lot smoother than it did before.

Then I took it to the range (short prayer said) and loaded her up and pulled the trigger. :thumbup1:

IT ACTUALLY FIRED WITH NO JAM!

I kept firing it for about 90 rounds.

I still have a few problems that maybe you folks can help me with:

1) At the last round I fired it jamed back at the very end of the slide extension. It took me pounding on it with a hammer to get the slide to rock back forward.

2) When I took it apart I noticed even more material than I had taken off was missing from the end of the barrell lugs. Do most barrels require this level of fitting, or did I just get a garbage parts set?

3) Any ideas for finishing? The gun parts are matte blued and the frame is steel.

Thanks,
Bones