Broken Springfield Stainless Slide!

I have a SS 2000 Loaded model and it has never missed a beat. It was the first fullsize 1911 I ever bought and the only thing I have changed was the trigger. I really enjoy shooting this pistol and I hope I never have any trouble out of it, but if I did I feel like Springfield Arms would do the right thing....keep us posted.
 
I don't know.
If they don't, the gun is going up for sale ASAP... or trade for a blued 1911. ( I don't like Parkerized ) I think they should and I think they will. I'll let the group know if they do or not.
If they don't, Springfield will never have such an adversary as I. Kimber? I don't know... They still use a lot of MIM parts. I don't mean to start a flame or anything, but I dont like MIM in any part of any gun. I dont care what the arguement for them is. Might as well caste the part out of Zinc. :barf:
There are some other very good 1911 options. Rock River Arms, Safari Arms, Wilson (The KZ45), etc. Even IMI makes a good 1911. Maybe even a Charles Daley. I dont know. All I know is that the Stainless Springfield will be OUTTA HERE... And I will make a big old SPRINGFIELDSUCKS.COM web page if I have to.
 
Damn, I'd hate to get rid of my 2001 Loaded Stainless. It's a shooting machine. My local store has a blued 2000 carbon steel Loaded for sale, and I could probably trade my Stainless for it, but I don't want to part with it just yet. It's been lightly customized, so it's "my" 1911, and I prefer Stainless over blued. If the front of the slide ends up going downrange, Springfield will be buying me a new gun, and then some. So far, I've had no indication of an imminent failure.
 
Waaaait...

Shouldn't you guys wait till you find out exactly what the problem is?

Is it with a particular lot, or the entire SS "Loaded" series?

Skorzeny
 
Wait?
Maybe.
But how do you go about finding out what is really going on? Educated Guesses are just guesses. Assumtions are hazards waiting to happen.

If I wanted to gamble, I'ld go to Vegas.
 
This is the second that I have heard of, a loaded springfield that I bought and then sold had the hammer shear off.
 
I called Springfield yesterday and got complete denial from the customer service rep. She did express interest so I referred her to the two sites I know of which have talked about this (TFL and the 1911forum site). I'll call back again in a couple of days and see if I get the same reply. I gather from what I've read so far that these failures have been with full length slides. Maybe my "compact" isn't hinky?
 
Guys, Springfield still has not contacted me about my pistol. UPS says that they have recieved it and someone has signed for it...
I'm over here waiting for word on my child while I pace back and forth in the waiting room.
How long does Springfield take to get back to you?
 
Stainless is not inherently weaker metal, but as some have said, it's a lot easier to harden than to heat treat. It requires a more complicated heat treat than plain old tool steel and WAY more precise temperature control and control over rates of cooling. Cool it too fast, and it's hard--like glass or slate.
Now, all my heat-treat experience is with carbon steel for blades and tools, nothing to do with guns and I don't use stainless, but I just don't think the grain should be anywhere near that large. That just can't be a proper heat treat. For all I know, though, that might be the result of a casting mistake. I know absolutely nothing about casting steel.

This is how 440C knives got a bad name. People were using 440C, which is a stainless high in Chromium, without learning to heat treat it correctly. Predictably, that meant brittle knives that didn't hold up well, and a lot of serious users dismissed "that stainless stuff" and went back to carbon steel. With the right heat treat, 440C can be very tough and still hard enough to hold a pretty good edge.

Maybe if this is a 2001 problem they can dip into the spare stainless slides from older production. Surely the parts department and custom shop have some set aside.

It's always possible, now that I think of it, that a bad casting left a cold shut or some other kind of inclusion at that point in the slide. If it were a casting problem, that would explain why it happens in the same place every time. A cold shut would be a small air pocket or inclusion in the steel, which keeps it from reaching the right temp in that area and/or cools it down too fast in a small area. Often the difference causes fractures there just from the heat treat--then the slamming of the slide would crack it along the fractured area. Same thing could happen if the slides are forged. Stainless would be more susceptible because it's less tolerant of temperature variations. The same thing could be happening in the carbon steel slides and just not affecting them if it's small enough.
 
I'll sadly second that, blade. Still waiting for my hi-cap to come back after, what, 6 weeks?

And I have had to call THEM, they never call me. "We'll check into it and call you."

Don't hold your breath. Nice to talk to, but lousy service when you get down to the nuts and bolts.

Oops. I checked. 7 going on 8 weeks.
 
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