1911 FTE problems

[1911Junky]

Thanks, yeah, I's worried I wasn't explaining it good.

You explained it well, but I figured if he had never done more than a field strip than he would probably not understand exactly what to do.

 

[Bay Ranger]

Gentlemen,

Thanks for going to the trouble of taking pics to accompany the descriptions.

I checked what you suggested and also took some pics to illustrate what I did.

First, the headspace looks good to me. The base of the cartridge looks even with the hood of the barrel. Again, the cartridge freely slides into and out of the barrel.

Second, the extractor does hold the cartridge when upright, however, since it will not stay flush with the back it tilts to the side due to the weight of the bullet. IN other words, it does not stay in a fully upright position as in the pic you sent. Is that a problem?

Now, I will change back to the old recoil springs today, clean and lube the gun as you suggest, and try and get back to the range this week to see what happens. Pending anything else ya'll might ask/suggest I will let you know what the result is.

BTW, the last 2 pics are my attempt to get pics of the ejector.

 

[CCHGN]

well, you saw Junky's pic of his bullet in his extactor, his was flat against the face. I suspect if you keep having the ejection problem, then a worn out extractor......they do take a beating on a 3" 1911, but you said that with the stock springs you didn't have the ejection problem, just a battery issue.

I would suggest,( like you said) put the old springs back in , clean it, then load a mag with a only a couple of rounds( try to find the lightest weight bullets you can find). Put the mag in and rack( slingshot)the slide. Does it go into battery that way? Then shoot it with 2-3 rounds and see what happens. I know, but I have to ask, you're not limp wristing it, right? That's most critical in a 3" 1911 .45.

 

[Bay Ranger]

Limp wrist? Me? Perish the thought from your mind!

Seriously, I've never had a problem (battery or ejection) with this gun until the last two months. Again, I have not fired this gun in may years. I don't know if that has anything to do with it or not.

Defender is cleaned, old springs are re-installed and is waiting for me to take it to the range ASAP. I will use only new WWB 230 gr. for my range session.

BTW, I'm gonna hafta use 230gr rather any lighter bullets. Hell, I've had a hard enough time finding any ammo, much less get any lesser bullet weight loads.

I'll be back in touch ASAP.

 

[1911Junky]

Limp wrist? Me? Perish the thought from your mind!

Seriously, I've never had a problem (battery or ejection) with this gun until the last two months. Again, I have not fired this gun in may years. I don't know if that has anything to do with it or not.

Defender is cleaned, old springs are re-installed and is waiting for me to take it to the range ASAP. I will use only new WWB 230 gr. for my range session.

BTW, I'm gonna hafta use 230gr rather any lighter bullets. Hell, I've had a hard enough time finding any ammo, much less get any lesser bullet weight loads.

I'll be back in touch ASAP.

No offense by this, but you did put some oil on it right? Look forward to hearing your range report.

 

[CCHGN]

I'm curious if you load a( loaded) mag and slingshot the slide, does it go into battery.......

 

[Bay Ranger]

Junky, no offense taken. I was just trying to add some levity. I appreciate your time and effort in trying to help me and I understand that you are trying to cover all bases.

I put some CLP Breakfree on all the metal to metal surfaces.


CCHGN, I will get the Defender out of the safe and try what you ask. We'll see what happens with the original springs.

 

[Kimber110]

IF/when you get this problem resolved, please let us know what you find: It really sounds like a worn, broken, or even a deformed extractor.

 

[Bay Ranger]

Kimber,

Will do. Junky and CCHGN have been really great with the help and advice I especially want to give them some feedback. Also, this thread may help others in the future that have a similar problem.

Currently my plan is to hit the range tomorrow

 

[Bay Ranger]

OK, here's my range report from today.

For the most part, everything seems OK in Defender-land.

Recall, I changed back to the original recoil springs. Started by loading 2 WWB rounds in a mag and "slingshot (as CCHGN) load 1 round. It went into battery OK. Fired and ejected OK and went back into battery OK. Fired the next round OK. Loaded up a full mag and shot the entire mag with no problems. Shot another full mag with no problems. Went to my old reloads. Loaded 2 in the mag, slingshot to load. Fired and ejected OK. Second round fired and ejected fine. Loaded and shot a full mag with no problem with the re-loads.

Loaded a mag of 2 rounds of Tula steel. First & second fired and ejected fine. Loaded up a full mag with the Tula. First round did not fully extract from the barrel and second round jammed into the non-extracted first. Cleared jam. Next 2 rounds fired and ejected OK and then another jam. I believe that happened 1 or more times with the jam.

Went back to the commercial WWB and finished off the 50 with no problems. Went back to my reloads and finished off the box with no problems.

My observations: (1) the Defender does not like steel cases (this was the 1st time I've used them due to the recent problems of getting ammo); (2) the original recoil spring are fine and they were not worn out as I thought; and (3) the Wolf standard springs cause ejection problems.

I don't really understand why I had the going into battery problem in the 1st place. That was what led me to change out the springs in the 1st place believing they had gotten weak. Perhaps it was "gunked" up?

I believe the pistol is now working fine. Of course, I'll want to put some more rounds down the barrel to make sure everything is really OK.

Junky and CCHgn, thanks for the time you took and your advice. Without your help I probably would have wound up taking it to a 'smith to correct the "problem". Beyond that, I learned some about trouble shooting (no pun intended) the problem. Thanks also to the folks that make this forum available so that we can exchange information and help others with problems.

 

[1911Junky]

OK, here's my range report from today.

For the most part, everything seems OK in Defender-land.

Recall, I changed back to the original recoil springs. Started by loading 2 WWB rounds in a mag and "slingshot (as CCHGN) load 1 round. It went into battery OK. Fired and ejected OK and went back into battery OK. Fired the next round OK. Loaded up a full mag and shot the entire mag with no problems. Shot another full mag with no problems. Went to my old reloads. Loaded 2 in the mag, slingshot to load. Fired and ejected OK. Second round fired and ejected fine. Loaded and shot a full mag with no problem with the re-loads.

Loaded a mag of 2 rounds of Tula steel. First & second fired and ejected fine. Loaded up a full mag with the Tula. First round did not fully extract from the barrel and second round jammed into the non-extracted first. Cleared jam. Next 2 rounds fired and ejected OK and then another jam. I believe that happened 1 or more times with the jam.

Went back to the commercial WWB and finished off the 50 with no problems. Went back to my reloads and finished off the box with no problems.

My observations: (1) the Defender does not like steel cases (this was the 1st time I've used them due to the recent problems of getting ammo); (2) the original recoil spring are fine and they were not worn out as I thought; and (3) the Wolf standard springs cause ejection problems.

I don't really understand why I had the going into battery problem in the 1st place. That was what led me to change out the springs in the 1st place believing they had gotten weak. Perhaps it was "gunked" up?

I believe the pistol is now working fine. Of course, I'll want to put some more rounds down the barrel to make sure everything is really OK.

Junky and CCHgn, thanks for the time you took and your advice. Without your help I probably would have wound up taking it to a 'smith to correct the "problem". Beyond that, I learned some about trouble shooting (no pun intended) the problem. Thanks also to the folks that make this forum available so that we can exchange information and help others with problems.

Glad to hear I all worked out. As in my first post I suspected the Tulammo, whereas, a lot of autos do not like that ammo.

That is one of the great things about this forum is that there are a lot of knowledgable people on here that are glad to help another forum member. Ever have anymore questions feel free to let us kow. We are glad to help.

 

[CCHGN]

No problem, imo, the more folks who have and enjoy 1911 the better. They're like a significant other, you have to understand them, but when you do, you both are alot happier.

 

[1911Junky]

No problem, imo, the more folks who have and enjoy 1911 the better. They're like a significant other, you have to understand them, but when you do, you both are alot happier.

LOL.....well said!

 

[barebones1]

I would like to add something on the tula ammo. it cycles fine in my ar15 but did the same as you discribe in my mini 14 target. I my opinion the coating on the steel is transfering to the inner chamber wall causing the cases to stick, I cleaned the chamber with MEK (methaethalketone). changed ammo and never had any more problems. I believe the chambers in the ar and ak47 are slightly larger and the tula runs ok. I was told the chamber in the m14 target was smaller that the standard mini thats why it had problems. I just do not shoot it at all any more.

cheers tom

 

[Ken232]

Alot of Guns dont like steel ammo..I refuse to shoot in in anything not made in the Soviet eastern bloc countries, for some reason they will chew it and spit it out like candy. After talking to a friend of mine that lived in yugoslavia for a few years he made one statement that made sense..American guns too tight..no loose tolerances. One person I know said they added .002" diameter (miked) to the chambering of his 45 and it eats everything you feed it as to before it would only like certain rounds. Who know this is just what I have been told..tho it do make sense