Broken Springfield Stainless Slide!

H

h_tolley

New member
Well it happened last Friday. I was at the range with my 2001 SA Loaded in Stainless Steel, I had just shot a round and had the slide lock back when the magazine still had a couple to go. Upon further examination, I found that the slide had broken in half and the front part was down range along with the recoil spring plug and the barrel bushing. There are a couple of people at the 1911forum, who have indicated they've seen similar things with the SA 2001 stainless models, always cracking or breaking in the same part of the slide. Here is a link to two photos of my slide after it had broken:

Broken Springfield Slide


It's a mystery to me how a slide could break in that area especially on a new pistol. For the record, I purchased the pistol new in mid March of 2001, and had put about 700 rounds through it. I have never used handloads or even +P in the pistol, not that it should matter given the place where the slide broke.

Springfield has indicated they will fix everything and make it right, but I would never recommend the purchase of a stainless model in the SA line. I've never heard of problems with any of SA's non-stainless models and obviously have never heard of this problem with any other manufacturer's products.
 
Oh this is just freakin Great. Now Springfield will get the Slide in the Eye treatment that Berretta got and still has not lived down. All due to one freak occurance.

Tolley - This is truely bizzare. The Slide just NEVER breaks like that! One in a million chance. More like one in 10 million. Springfield will treat you right. And the pistol you get back will be a better one than the one you first got.

My Springfield has been a real trooper... Its been abused. It's been mistreated. It's been neglected. And its only balked when fed crappy ammo using a crappy magazine.
And it still looks good!
 
Hey, I heard Beretta was manufacturing all of Springfield's slides. That could explain why it split after so few rounds.

I'm kidding.

That is the second picture of a Springfield slide I've seen broken in exactly the same place. The other pic was posted on the 1911forum.com some months ago. I did a search for it there a while back and couldn't find it.

This is all very strange. Let us know how Springfield treats you.

Shake
 
I just got off the phone with Springfield and was asking them some questions... Had a good talk with several women there. Do any Guys work there or are these fine pistols crafted by Valkarie Goddesses? I'm cool with that. After a few moments of conversation with Kim "Quality Inspector of the Hammers of Thor" she hooks me up to send in the gun. Gives me the RMA number and the UPS account number to ship it back to them over night. Wow. I wasn't looking to send the gun back... but hell, why not? Correia sent his back in and it was returned BLESSED. Okay, Springfield... Your On.

2nd broken slide you have seen? Hmmm. I think I will request mine be returned with a carbon steel slide.
 
When I saw this thread I called a friend who happens to have a new SS SA1911. He pulled it out of the safe while I was on the phone with him. He said it looked just fine at first, but after fieldstripping it he found a fracture inside the slide just behind the dustcover. He described it as a hairline fracture from the rails to about the middle of the slide. We hung up so he could call Springfield.

Well, I guess Kimber just won the which 1911 will I buy next month competition. I don't feel like waiting for a cease-fire so I can pick up various parts of my gun.:eek:
 
I'm going to have to strip mine when I get home. But it is a 1999 model so I don't expect anything, but better safe than sorry.
 
Major Bummer Man-

Way back when in the IPSC days I saw one of the parkerized slides fracture when it fell off the milling machine!
Whoever Springfield was using to harden their parts really screwed up.
Are the stainless slides cast? Still made in Brazil?
Good luck with your new Kimber! Roy
 
I'm sorry for your failure, but it makes me even happier that I bought my Para Ordnance. I am very sure the same thing could happen to a ParaOrd though. Good luck to you.


michael
 
Hate to say it, but including the posts over at 1911forum.com I count five instances of this happening (plus blades67's friend's cracked one would eaual six). The ones that have pics all are stainless steel versions. and the other ones are reported to be stainless.

It'll be interesting to see what Springfield does with this.

Shake
 
I'm getting a bad feeling about this...

Can't be sure from a picture, but that sure looks like a broken casting. That's Not Good.
 
Hmmm.
I am going to insist upon a Carbon steel slide. This is very bogus.
These 5 cases are all different cases or rehashings of similar stories? Are all these cases specifically Springfield Stainless pistols?
 
Wow, that's an eye opener. I'm trying to fill the coffers for a stainless SA right now...or I was, that is. Maybe that FAL is just a few days closer now. :) Time to do a little research...

- Gabe
 
This case is maybe only related to one lot that got a bad heat treating... Maybe.

I'll fill you guys in about the new slide type and what Springfield says... I'll probably be sending it in Monday and hearing from them shortly after that Tuesday.
 
I have seen about 5 cases of this on the net all fractures looked similar but I feel confident that it is not the same story being circulated. One poster on 1911 forum reported that Springfield ahd said that it was a bad batch with improper heat treating. The slides had been treated twice, inerror.
So Far no one has been hurt, or killed.

Springfield has not issued any recall though.

Make mine a kimber thanks. I had a V-10 ultracompact which was a hunk o junk in too many ways to describe, poor fit of all parts poor accuracy and it jammed with every kind of ammo, even with a wilson magazine. I traded it for a beretta.

YMMV
 
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