Springfield 1911 A1 is Jamming.

D

Doug.38PR

Moderator
A few weeks ago, I cleaned my springfield GI .45 for the first time by breaking it down, taking the slide and spring off cleaning out the burned powder and oiling it inside.

This gun: http://www.springfield-armory.com/prod-pstl-1911-GI.shtml

Today, I fired it for the first time since I cleaned it. It started jamming about 1 out of every 15 shots I'd put through it. The slide would catch a unfired cartridge hanging it between the firing port and the magazine inside the slide.
In addition to this, when it wasn't jamming, the slide wouldn't lock back into place after the gun was empty, instead it would cock the gun as though there were still rounds to be fired. I would do this around 1 out of every 3 times I'd shoot it.

What is the problem? Does it have something to do with how I cleaned it? It was firing just fine before I cleaned it.

Please help.

Thank you,
 
Can't help you much without more information. Did you change ammo or magazines is the first question we always ask?
Did you put the recoil spring on the right way?
Is the slide stop snug against the lower end?
Is it moving freely up and down?
 
Sounds like the slide stop was not properly engaged by the slide stop plunger and the detent.

How far did you strip the weapon?

Is the tube between the slide stop and the safety on the left side of the pistol secure or loose?

Did the plunger move out of the tube when you removed the slide stop?

Did you match up the cut in the slide to the retaining lip on the slide stop and pushed it all the way home (up against the side of the pistol) when you replaced the slide stop?

Geoff
Who looks for the simple things first. :cool:
How to find the simple things in life. Look in a mirror. :rolleyes:
 
Oooooo. Not familiar with all of these technical terms. But here goes in answering your questions.

1) No I did not change Ammo. The gun came with two 7 shot mags and I bought a 10 round magazine yesterday and used it. (The 10 magazine seems okay.)

2) I stripped the gun down to what is under the slide. It involved taking the slide off, the spring out, the tube for the spring out, the barrel out and the wooden gripps were removed and that is it. I put it all back as I remembered to where everything appeared to be in working order (at least until I started shooting it)

3) The slide is able to move freely up and down without a magazine in the gun and with a magazine (empty) it is locked back with the ejection chamber open.

Once I put the gun back together after cleaning it, everything seemed to be secure and working. Until the problems encoutered while shooting.
 
The most glaring problem here is that somehow the nose of the bullet is hitting your slide stop and knocking it up or the slide stop plunger has lost it's tension and can't function right. Did you remove the slide stop and thumb safety spring and plungers and could there be some dirt in the plunger tube? This one puzzles me. I wish it were easier to diagnose problems Online, but if I could see the gun, I would know on a couple of minutes what the problem is. Thanks for the extra information. It helps narrow things down a bit.
 
I took the gun to the gun shop I bought it from while I was in there to get a few other items and ask one of their automatic salesmen about it.. The fellow I ask was under the impression that the gun was "stovepiping" and this could be the result of one of two things. (He wasn't 100% sure of this but this was his thought) 1) the factory magazine springs could be weakened over having being kept loaded for a while. 2) my wrist being flexable while shooting instead of locked firmly. With my wrist flexable, according to this fellow, the rocoil (on automatics, particularly 1911s) will flip the gun upwards and the motion will result in the slide not going all the way back as it's supposed to causing it to slide back in place too soon trapping the catridge and sliding back into place after the last round is fired instead of locking back with the chamber exposed.

any thoughts on this?
 
The magazines are probably not the greatest. Weak mag springs can cause the follower to skip it's job of holding the slide back after the last round. It's a good guess. I think some good Power mags from CMC would solve that problem.
"Limp Wristing" a 1911 can also cause problems like you describe with a stovepipe or double feed. Also the ammo has to be in tune with the recoil spring weight. Your man at the gun store may have solved the mystery for you. The 1911 IS a difficult gun to master in many ways. It has some features that make it hard for some people to shoot it reliably and it is sensitive to a lot of factors such as you have described. Many times people blame the gun for problems that are ammo or magazine related.
Get some good magazines, some good ammo, and have someone at the range who is a 1911 shooter try it out. Then we will know more about what the solution is. Don't give up! Good Luck!
 
That's funny, Dave, I chose a 1911 because they're so resistant to limp wristing. I have a nice, loose milspec that will cycle if you fire it with two fingers.

Do you have troubles with limp wristing 1911s?
 
I wondered why you chose 1911's. I don't have any problems with anything being limp.

36943917.jpg


"Come and see a fat old man sometime, little sister!"

These 1911's are loaded, hence the trigger fingers are on the "Safety Button."
 
Things go limp when you get shot. No way around it.

I had trouble, most notably with Glocks, but never any trouble with 1911s.

They just shoot, and shoot, and shoot.

The only 1911's I've run into that I could make fail by holding them "softly" were those that were "tightened", smaller than government size, or both.

Yup, that's originally why I chose a 1911, Dave, precisely because milspecs run under all conditions, including limp wrists, off hand wrists, or wrists that have been partially shot away.

I'm a True Believer in the old warhorse, and believe that it's earned it's reputation for reliability.
 
I didn't have any problem with my 1911 until this started happening last week. Prior to this problem the gun has had around 500 rounds through it (which I also understand is right around the amount needed to get the gun broken in)
 
Doug: Something changed when you cleaned the gun. This is what is what I call common sense. I really have no idea what changed as you have stated that nothing changed. Sorry that I can't help you. I give up.
 
strip it again

strip it down again and re-assemble...as you do so verify all is as it should be and try it again...I suspect a bad magazine..are you using reloads?....
 
Go Figure

Saturday I broke it down again, cleaned it. (without the manuel in front of me), put it back together and.....I think maybe what it was was that I put the slide spring under the barrel in backwards. Seems to me that it would work the same either way it is put in. But just to see I turned it around and popped it back down in the gun. I then took the gun to the range after church sunday and put 50 rounds through it with no problems at all even when spraying rapid fire. Gun works as good as new. :)
Does the way the spring is put in make that much difference? how?


Thanks for all y'alls help,
Doug
 
Thanks for telling us you solved the problem. The obvious answer is Yes, That made a difference in short stroking the slide. Glad it runs OK now.
 
You should replace the mags anyway, however. The factory Springfield mags are garbage. You'll have a problem with them eventually.

Wilson, CMC Powermags or Tripp Cobra mags are all good choices (I use Wilson 7-round mags in my Springfield and it loves them).

- Gabe
 
Dave Sample said:
Thanks for telling us you solved the problem. The obvious answer is Yes, That made a difference in short stroking the slide. Glad it runs OK now.
Click to expand...

As I understand it the "open end" of the spring is supposed to go back toward the trigger and the "squeezed end" (for lack of better terms) is supposed to go into the spring cap under the bushing? Could you do me a favor and tell me what you mean by short-stroking the slide? Like Doug, I've assumed until recently that it didn't matter which way the spring went.
 
You have it backwards. The closed end goes on the recoil spring plunger and the open end goes into the plug. If the spring is in backwards, it can stop the slide from going all the way back. It may not cause any problem in most guns. Remember that we are talking about a Metric 1911.
 
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