Very Very Un-happy With S.a Gi. 45

[ShaSheemas Claw]

WEll I Ordered up New Parts From Williams (Over Sized F.P. Stop and Extractor, both BulletProof) I was shooting Remington 230 FMJ. The gun feeds, fires, and ejects good except, the cases are still ejecting at my face not as much mind you but there still throwing them at me. Since I filed on the ejector and the extractor a little bit how much do you Springfield will charge me for these parts? I'm gonna ask them to use and fit the Wilson F.P Stop and Extractor. I guess I'm gonna call up Springfield Armory and send it in and have them fix it. Other then this problem its a nice gun, but this is irratationing, when you spend good hard earned money on a 450+ gun it should work perfect all the time and every time for ATLEAST five years of good use. Period!!!! All of my Com-Bloc Stuff have all had atleast 1000 rounds ran through them and never have I EVER had a FTF,FTE, or a STOVE PIPE. My MAkarov only cost me 190 bucks and that little thing can run circles around most things. (Just lacking in the power level) My Mak has over 1500 rounds threw it without a hitch. So why can't these big companies make some decent equipment.They need to stop skipping on parts just to turn a couple bucks profit. By the way this was the first 1911 and the first American designed gun I've purchased and it will probably be the last, I think I'm gonna stick with Com-Bloc stuff from now on, They might have been our eneimes in the Cold War but they sure as hell know how to produce some damn RELIABLE WEAPONS. This is probably gonna a be a bad experience. I can feel it already. :(
Sadly Dissapointed

ShaSheema

[schapman43]

Sorry to hear your not happy. It sounds like your gun is functioning the way its supposed to. From what I've read the GI has a higher ejection port that was designed to throw shells up and back. That way when a soldier was firing out of a fox hole or bunker the brass wouldnt be hitting the guy next to them. There is nothing wrong with the gun. It functions the way its supposed to. You need to have the ejection port lowered and flared.

[gottripletsNC]

I would change the extractor and FP stop myself, its not near as hard as you think. I would'nt send it back to SA, they will want too much for labor, only takes about 5 or 10 minutes to fit the FP stop, and to tune the extractor, its pretty easy as long as you follow the instructions that come with the parts from Wilson Combat. I really think that the factory extractor you have is clocking a little bit, and that is causing a higher trajectory on spent shell casings. I agree that a 400 dollar gun should shoot right out of the box, and mine does, but its GI specs. Loose fit, sloppy operation, so that if any grit or dirt gets into the parts, there is still some play in the parts continue working.
Don't get discouraged....

[1911Tuner]

Howdy guys,

The brass isn't ejecting back into your face. It's being knocked backward by the slide because it's ejecting at 3 O'Clock, striking the lower edge of the port...rolling up...and into the path of the top of the port as the slide recoils.
You'll see brass marks on the edges of the port.

This is a fairly common problem with the GI Springfields...about one in three...
and it's not the gun's fault. The ejector is just wrong. Lowering the port won't help much. Replacing the ejector with a Brown extended part...and adjusting the length to allow live-round ejection is most of the cure.

The other part of the fix is to radius the bottom corner of the extractor hook
a little, and lightly breaking the corner on the backside to the hook so that the case will twist free without the front of the extractor getting into a bind
in the case's extractor groove.

There's also a possibility of the extractor hook being a little too deep from the tip to the bottom of the slot where the case rim contacts. Use calipers to measure from the tip to the backside...and then from the tip to the bottom of the slot, and subtract the difference. The difference should be
.032 to .035 inch. If it's too long, drag the tip sideways across a medium stone, being careful to keep it level...until it's in spec. Swipe the bottom corner in a sort of "rocking" motion to radius it, and LIGHTY break the top corner. Use a smooth mill file to cut a light bevel on the backside of the
end of the extractor...on the side opposite the hook to give it a little rollout clearance.

The ejector should be filed straight across to shorten it until it will eject a live ball round without hanging up in the port. Careful...if it wiggles around
just right, the primer can detonate on the end of the ejector. Test-fire the gun to see where the brass ejects. If it kicks out too high, file an angle on the bottom corner of the ejector to raise the point of impact with the brass.
Easy...A little goes a long way. Take a few strokes and test-fire. Repeat
until the ejection pattern changes. If it kicks out at a forward angle, lightly file an angle on the right side to cause the case twist free toward the rear.
Angle the top right corner a little to fine-tune the pattern until it ejects at 2 O'Clock or thereabouts. You can bias it toward the front or the rear with the side angle on the front of the ejector. Personally, I lean toward having the brass exit at 15 degrees right rear, and land 3-5 feet from the gun...but the distance is of no consequence as long as it gets clear of the port and doesn't
hit me in the face.

Luck!

Tuner

[ShaSheemas Claw]

Sorry to say it guys, but I've given up hope of thinking I can fix it myself :( I put a 30 degree bevel on the ejector, and that didn't help and the other night I think I went a little to much. The F.P Stop and extractor from Wilsons seems to drop right in nice fit, I know it stopped the clocking, but it still doesn't cure my problems. Oh well it doesn't matter cause the brass keeps flying at me. And YES it is hitting me in the FACE about 5 out of 7 ejecting rounds. Now I don't even want to touch the New Wilson Extractor encase I might screw that up. I think I'm just going to send it in and have Springfield fix it. Then when I get it back I'm thinking of maybe trading it for something else. I was maybe thinking about a High Power or something. I'm beginging to lose faith in the 1911 design. Worst part is that I've already spent about 550 on the gun already. (2 New CMC Mags, Grips, and Wilson Parts) And this thing still isn't working, (Well working , but not working right) thats more than what I paid for my Romanian Sar-1, with Added on Bulgarian Furniture, 10 mags, adjustable rear site and muzzle brake, and that thing has worked with out a hitch for over 3000 rounds without one hiccup.
Still Dissapointed


ShaSheema

[Spitfire]

Well if you are that dissatisfied with it just sell it to me before you send to back to Springfield to have the work done. Send me an email with what you would want for the pistol.

[1911Tuner]

Howdy ShaSheemas,

The OEM ejector is out of spec, and tryin' to file a directional angle on it is a waste of time...Been there and did that on mine. Check your PMs

[Thompsongunner]

Saw this over at the Glock site. Thought you might find it helpful!
T.


Ejected brass keeps hitting me in the head. What's wrong with my Glock?
There is nothing wrong with your Glock. The most common cause of getting brass in the face is an improper or weak grip (limp wristing). If you've worked on your grip and still think the problem is the gun, let an experienced Glock owner shoot your gun and see if they have the same problem.

[ShaSheemas Claw]

The Gun was sent off to Springfield on Friday. Thanks for the offer Tuner, but I think Spriengfield should fix their own screw ups. I shouldn't have to put any money into it for a long time (Thats just the way I feel). If I wanted to buy parts build something up I would have just boughted a frame and parts. Gunner I've shot a few Glocks and have never had this problem, only in-countered it on my BRAND NEW Springfield. Hopefully Springield will do right by me. Here's a copy of the letter I sent with the gun:

Dear Customer Service Manager And Gunsmith:

Hello on October 29 of this year I purchased a Brand New Springfield Armory GI .45. This is the FIRST Springfield Armory product that I have owned. I paid 428 dollars for it out the door. Well the gun has a few problems that I was very disappointed to find out. The firearm feeds, fires, but the ejection part is the problem. It does eject the cases, but the gun ejects them right at my face! This is just not satisfactory. The firearm did this from the word go. Well I’ve been around guns for a while about 8 years, I’ve worked on various pistols and rifles, so I figured I could probably fix this. So after reading some books and talking to some of the local gun-smiths, they said to put a 30 degree bevel on the ejector and to bevel the extractor. Then after doing some more reading and talking to the local smiths they told me that maybe the extractor is turning, so I purchased a New Wilson Combat Bullet Proof Extractor and Oversized Firing Pin Stop. These parts stopped the turning of the extractor, but they still did not cure the problem. I did not even try to fit the new extractor in fear that I might screw that up. So here is the pistol back for service. I’m very disappointed in the performance of this pistol. When I spend four hundred dollars of my hard earned money on something that is Brand New it should work perfectly out of the box for ATLEAST 5 years of heavy use. Period! I should not have even of had to take a file to the extractor or the ejector it should have worked correctly the first time, and every time in my opinion. Now it looks like I’m going to have to shell out some more money to get this firearm to work properly, Even though I’m willing to foot the bill, I really do not think I should have to. What the gun-smith will probably need to do is to
A) Fit a New Ejector.
B) Fit the New Wilson Bullet Proof Extractor (Provided)
C) Fit the New Wilson Bullet Proof Firing Pin Stop (Provided)
D) Check to see if sights are correct. (Seemed to shoot low, but that may have been due to Flinching, knowing that ejected case are going to be hitting me in the face.)
E) Maybe need to lower and flare the ejecting port. (Let Me know)


Let me know what this work will run, or if any of this work is covered in the lifetime warranty. I guess I should have just bought a Loaded Stainless Steel Model for as much money as I’m going to be putting into this firearm and it is not even a month old. Before I purchased this pistol I was thinking about buying one of the M1A Rifles that you’re company manufactures, but now I’m hesitant in making that purchase. Please help me to regain confidence in your company and in your products, I’m sure you will do right by me. Please give me a Call when a price is decided upon for the work that needs to be done to get this firearm up and running reliably, like it should be.
My Phone number is (***) ***-**** If no one is available please leave a message and I will get back to you. I’m usually home from work at around 3 o’clock.

To the Gunsmith That Works on this Firearm.
The spent cases are getting thrown back into my face and some will even hit me in the forehead. The case does not seem to be getting kicked up and out to the right like it should. (It should be ejecting at about the two o’clock position if the front site of the gun would be the 12 o’clock position.) I hope I’m making sense to you. And the Bullet seemed to be striking low, but that could be because of me flinching, because I’m expecting an ejected case to hit me in the face.



Sincerely

I'll keep you guys posted on how everything works out. I really like the gun, I'm just a little dissapointed so hopefully they can fix this, so I can be happy and rave about my Springfield :).
I'll let ya guys know, and thanks for all the help.

Sincerely

ShaSheema