Colt Government MKIV .380

[TheNev]

Hey guys, wanted to get an opinion.

My dear ol' dad has a Colt Gov't .380 he bought used years ago. It has developed a problem feeding a new round into the chamber. It fires fine, extracts fine, the magazine seems ok. I'm thinking it's a recoil spring problem.

He usually only has this problem with wolf or Russian surplus ammo. When he fires Winchester or Federal, hardly any problems. That led me to believe it was an extractor claw problem because the wolf and the russian surplus stuff have different rim thicknesses than the Winchester and others. My PPK/S fires all that stuff just fine.

I watched him shoot it at the range, and it looks to me like the recoil spring is too weak to load another round.

Does this sound about right?

 

[Unclenick]

Usually this is a magazine issue, but some guns are also just picker about bullet shape and load range. The lips of the magazine may not like the varnish on the Wolf cases (unless it is Wolf brass?) or the bullet nose length may slow down the feed with added resistance. You could try changing the recoil spring, but you might want to look for a spare mag if you don't have one? Check how its lips look and are shaped compare to what you have? If it is different, one of the two have some wear bending and need to be reset. Perhaps the new one will work with the Wolf as it is? You can also give it a new spring and polish up the lips on the inside with a Dremel tool and a felt bob and some Dico Stainless Steel polishing compound, which works great on any kind of hardened steel, like spring steel. It can be got from Harbor Freight and from any Ace Hardware, I believe. At least, it could last year. The polishing will smooth feeding a bit.