1911 Woes

N

Nightcrawler

New member
I took my Charles Daly 1911A1 4" barrel out shooting today. Its performance was dismal. I had two 8-round magazines loaded with PMP 220gr. FMJ ammo. For most shots, the slide wouldn't return all the way forward after each shot, making me have to tap it, and on both magazines it failed to lock back after the last shot.

Before anyone starts saying I should just sell it and buy a new pistol, keep some things in mind.

-I'm 19. I bought this as a private sale, as it was the only pistol available to me.

-I don't have a lot of money, especially right now. College.

If I were 21, I'd sell the razza-frazzin' thing and use the money to buy an East German Makarov and accessories from Federal Arms, or a revolver. I want a gun that fires every time I pull the trigger! My CD 1911 is a disgrace to John Browning's design. UGH!

Alright, alright, ranting off. The thing's performance goes up and down. It worked fine last week! Now it's down. I don't get it!



[Edited by Nightcrawler on 01-27-2001 at 06:48 PM]
 
Slow down chief. The slide not going fully into battery can be taken care of by a stronger recoil spring. Magazines seem to be an iffy thing with 1911's. Some people swear by Chip McCormicks while others despise them, same goes for other brands of mags. I own the Charles Daly FS model 1911 and love it. I have had no problems with itin over 600 rounds of ball and HydraShok ammo. The problems you speak of can be taken care of.
 
The failure of a slide to go forward fully may be attributed to several things:

1) New gun - it has to be broken in. It's too early to be disheartened. Shoot about 500 rounds through it and then tell us if it's still jamming. Sit at home (with it empty) and keep racking it back and allowing the slide to go home on its own momentum.
2) Lack of lubrication - oil the rails.
3) Poor ammo - underpowered and not enough energy to cycle the action. Try some different name brand ammo.
4) Shooter error - limp wristing or the shooter absorbs some of the recoil required for the action to function. Let someone else try the gun and see if the same thing is happening.

The last thing you should do is fiddle with the fit of the bushing and the barrel. A sloppy bushing makes the barrel slide forward easier, but it also sacrifices accuracy.

You can learn a lot from that gun as you get it to work better with reach range session. The proverb about turning lemons into lemonade apply here.
 
Did you clean it well before your range trip? Sometimes NIB pistols need to be cleaned and re-lubed first.

16 rounds, if I understand your posting, is not enough to break in the pistol. Parts have to wear in on some pistols.

Go up to a heavier recoil spring (add a EP firing pin spring when you do). http://www.gunsprings.com will get you to Wolff Springs, the know their gun springs.

Make sure it is empty and work the slide, dry fire it while doing so, working the slide will help mate the surfaces and dry firing will help your trigger control. Aim at something and squeeze the trigger, don't just pull it w/o aiming.


Come to the web site in my signature and look around, there is a ton of information on 1911's there. There should be, it is the 1911 Forum. :D
 
thing is...

...it worked FINE the last time I used it, using the same ammo (from the same BOX, actually). Sometimes it has good days, sometimes it has bad days. THe thing was cleaned and oiled when I took it out today.

As for the "shouldn't admit it a public forum" line. What, the make and model of gun? Why not? What good will it do to ask for technical assistance if I dont' say what kind of gun it is? Besides that, it's not like it's a SECRET that I own this pistol. Like all legally purchased pistols in Michigan, it's registered with the county sherriff.

If you were insinuating that I shouldn't have admitted my age, again, why not? I can't help that I wasn't born earlier!

And if you're referring to my financial situation. Well, guess what? College is expensive!


Anyway, I was thinking that it needs a new spring. Maybe after I get paid I'll take it to the local gunsmith and see what he can do. It's not that I dislike the CD, it has good points. It has an ambi saftey, nice for us lefties. Mine came with two sets of grips, the rubber ones being much nicer than the factory grips, and it's got a crisp trigger pull.

I've had it for awhile, but haven't been able to shoot it much. Probably have about 300 rounds through it now. Like I said, it has good days and bad days. Some days, with cheapo-repo 200 grn flat-nosed lead reloads, it performed flawlessly. Last week, it performed great with the same ammo I used today. Now the slide wasn't going all the way forward. I really don't understand this inconsistent performance.

I like the 1911. I really do. I never considered this to be a "keeper" gun. It's my first pistol. I'd prefer to get a full size model, maybe a Kimber or a genuine Colt. More importantly, I want a handgun I can count on should I ever need it. This one ain't it. Maybe it can be with some work.

Can anybody tell me all the pieces I'd need to purchase to put a full length slide on it? How much gunsmithing would such a modification require?
 
If frame on the short barreled Daley is like the frame of a Colt Commander, it will have a shorter dust cover than that of a full sized pistol. Putting a full length slide on the short frame will result in a gap where the slide and frame don't match up.

Back to your problem, have you tried different magazines? It could be that the rounds are catching on the feed lips enough to slow the slide and chambering.

FWIW:
I have a friend that has several 'Chucks' that he swears by, I have another friend that carries a "Chuck" as his duty pistol.
 
It sounds like the round is fully horizontal and in the chamber when the slide stops short of going into battery. You mention using lead bullet reloads, which can gum up a chamber or leade so a cartridge will not seat fully. If this is the case, you might remove the barrel, use a good metal solvent like Hoppe's, then use a bronze brush on a drill to really clean that chamber. Repeat until patches come out clean. Some chambers have more tolerance than others for any buildup.

Jim
 
Actually Nightcrawler, I have no qualms with your age and having a firearm. However, it was my understanding that 21 was the federal minimum for purchasing a hand gun, 18 for long gun. If I am wrong on this, I am sure someone will correct me. It is just that sometimes we volunteer information that is interesting, but not always completely relevant to the issue, in your case on the functioning of your gun. Sometimes the interesting information is what can get people into trouble if they volunteer information that includes breaking the law. So my comment was meant to be helpful without going into detail. Apparently, I failed to volunteer enough information.

I did not mean to cast any dispersions on you, your finances, or your gun.

All that being said, in regard to putting a full-sized slide on there, it may not be worth the expense. Assuming it will all go together, you would need the slide, firing pin, firing pin spring, firing pin stop, and sights on the slide - unless you can take the parts from your old slide. Then it would be ideal to have a smith match the slide to the frame. I personally think you would be better off to save your pennies and get a complete gun by a manufacturer you feel comfortable with. For what it will cost you to add a new slide, parts, and have the work done, the dollar figure would be a significant dent in the cost of a new gun.
 
Well..

I apologize. I understand your point of view, now. But I haven't done anything illegal. In Michigan, you need to get a permit to puchase a pistol from your local police department, then you have to register the pistol with that same police department. Here's how the law works.

In order to purchase a pistol from a dealer/gun store, you have to be 21. However, if it's a private person-to-person sale, as mine was, you need to be 18 or older. I honestly can't say I understand this funny loophole, but I'll take what I can get.

There's a gun show here in March. Perhaps I'll be able to find someone selling something I'd like there.

Anyway, thank you all for your input. I'm really just confused; I don't know why it has such loopy performance. Usually, guns that suck suck EVERY time, not just once in awhile. I'm just worried that it'll have one of those "bad days" when I really need the thing.

Could be worse, though. I shot my Nagant rifle today. One of the rounds, really old suprlus stuff, was a freaking dud. I swear, I chambered the round, squeezed the trigger, nothing happened. So I shrugged, cleared it, and reloaded the magazine.
 
Best-quality affordable 1911 - Kimber.

(Sorry your Daly sucks, but suggest bailing out ASAP and buying better quality gun.)
 
Before you bail, spend the $$ and buy one (preferably 2) Mec-Gar 7rd mags. Especially if you have been dropping your mags on hard surfaces (concrete, asphalt) during reloads. It is MY opinion and experiance bad mags have resulted in more 1911 failures than all other causes combined. I had a 1991A1 2nd or 3rd year of production that just ate everything from the factory. 185gr SWC lead target reloads to 230gr +p JHPs, mix the ammo, it just didn't matter UNTIL a USA mag was used. Then the gun became the prototype jamamatic. It wouldn't feed two mags back to back of anything. Switch back to Colt and Mec-Gar mags and it ate everything. I suspected the mag springs/follower, but just painted the follower orange and used it for jam clearing drills. YMMV, but Mec-Gars are cheap and I never had a problem with 7rd Mec-Gar mags.
 
Hello, Nightcrawler. I strongly suspect that replacing the recoil spring with one slightly stronger for your model CD and using a 7 rnd magazine will solve the problems you mention. Good luck. (My first handgun to keep for protection in my home when I was in college was a Star Model B. It cost me $70 for the gun and two boxes of ball ammo!)
Best.
 
Check at this Site

Try the 1911 Forum at http://www.1911Forum.com. They have a Charles Daley section that might be of help. Charles Dalys aren't the most expensive, or best fitted, M1911A1 clone out there, but I've generally found them to be acceptable. If it's what you can afford, then by all means work on it and get it to where it's functioning reliably - but without spending too much $$. Don't be too harsh, as has been said before, every manufacturer makes a lemon now and then. These forums are full of shooters who have had their problems with every make and model. I own a CD that's had some problems with extraction/ejection, but so did my Springfield and my Kimber Classic (which I sold over a year ago). Good luck.
 
Could be the mags, but...

The mags are new. They've never been dropped or anything. Their manufacture stamp on the mags say Mec-Gar and Made in Italy, and they're 8 rounders. I have a 10 rounder that is also from Mec-Gar. Not to nitpick, but a 1911 with a 4" barrel and a 10rd magazine sticking out of the pistol grip looks downright silly. LOL
 
NC, I have had NO success with 8 rd mags. I've got 22 Mec-gar 7rders with hundreds of rounds each. No bobbles, hicups, or burps. Beyond that there a cheap (not quite as cheap as springs) quick fix. You'll never have enough 1911 mags if/when you start competing in IDPA/IPSC. I prefer to have practice mags I can drop and not worry about damage that may occur. 5 is a good begining set, IMO.

One last thing, someone posted about cleaning if it occures after shooting lead bullets - good idea! Look at the barrel throat with a magnifying glass, could be a small burr gathering lead and brass.
 
Well I owned a Chuck, and as long as you don't think of it as a serious gun, its all good. Shot mine approx 4500 rnds., experienced this same type failure to feed approx. 1 per 50 rnds. Shooting w/ this gun all new mfg. 230 gr ball. Used supplied Mec-Gar, GI, CMC mags with similar results. Experienced in this time several broken parts, ambi safety and barrel bushing, which cracked up front right down the middle. Leads me to believe their steel and or heat-treat ain't quite right, parts too hard and stressed to be doing that. I have no doubt this gun could be made reliable, as I remember, +p hollowpoints ran great in it, higher slide speed probably getting the job done. However, I did try several springs and polished the chamber. I came to realize that as is I would never trust it for carry, and getting it reliable would be akin to dropping a 454(chevy that is) into a clapped out Yugo. So I sold it for a hundred bucks, towards a new weapon. All in all, as advertised, cheap 1911 clone, great fun to shoot at the range.
 
Double Naught Spy, you are incorrect. The federal law prohibits a licensed FFL from selling a pistol to a person under the age of 21. However, it does not prevent a private sale from someone who lives in the same state as the purchaser. There are some states that have laws prohibiting a person under 21 from purchasing a gun, but some states allow it. I'm not familiar with MI state laws.

M1911
 
If it was illegal...

then the staff at the sherriff's office who gave me the permit and allowed me to register the gun are my accomplices.. ;)
 
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