Smooth Slide Travel

[BigO]

In all of the fooling around with my new Charles Daly midsized I have handcycled the weapon quite alot , and have noticed that the seems to be a hitch or bump just as the slide stop is about to line up with the takedown notch , this is after the barrel has unlocked completely .
It is distinctive to the point that I need to apply just a little more pressure to continue the rearward motion of the slide travel , and can feel it again as the slide comes forward after it's full rearward travel , and the slide seems to surge forward on it's return to battery .

It did this with both the factory FLGR and recoil spring in place as well as the new short guide rod and new recoil spring + plug I have installed .

My full sized model travel is completely smooth even as the barrel locks/unlocks from the frame .

It's been a long time since I owned my Commander and I can't remember if it did this also , and am wondering if it has something to do with the stronger recoil spring used in the Commander models or if it is a timing thing .

I am guessing it is the motion of the link as it cams/rotates into place/different positions as the slide travels that I am feeling .

I have only about 50 rounds through the gun and so far it is 100% reliable . I haven't shot it since changing the whole recoil spring guide/plug set up though .

Can this bump be a sign of problems to come ?

[Hunter]

You might be feeling the disconnecter riding the disconnecter rail and the bump is the disconnecter groove. Could be too much tension on the sear spring.

[Hawkmoon]

What Hunter said.

[1911Tuner]

Yep. That would probably be it. To see, hold the trigger rearward and cycle it twice. Bet the hitch goes away.

[BigO]

Well I took both guns apart and looked for any differences in the way moving parts operated the midsize one had it's barrel link hanging up as it swiveled back and forth and on the Gov it moved freely . So I punched it out on the mid and sanded it on the flats where it was to wide to pass freely in the tunnel off of the barrel legs , that helped just a little but the problem was still there so I stripped her down and gently bent the left and center sear spring fingers up to remove pressure off of the sear .

This has made a big improvement in both the slide travel "although the bump is still slightly there" and the trigger pull .
I have been very slowly cycling both guns by hand and trying to feel the slide as it travels and finally felt this bump in the Government model although it is ever so slight compared to the midsize .
I am guessing that it is the middle finger on the sear spring only that I should be bending to reduce the tension on the disconector and the left finger is what effects the trigger pull more than anything else .

Would one of you gentlemen please confirm that the middle finger is what I should be working on here before I continue , as I don't want to reduce the trigger pull anymore than I have already . It is 100% better than it was when I first got the gun a few weeks ago .

I realy want to thank all of you for your patience and help with these projects , it feels realy good to fix a problem yourself and gain understanding and knowledge of something rather than simply paying someone to fix them for you , when I reassembled the gun this time I rolled the grip safety in and everything worked the first time , I'm learning slowly yes but learning non the less .

Thanks Again Guys .

[Hawkmoon]

I am guessing that it is the middle finger on the sear spring only that I should be bending to reduce the tension on the disconector and the left finger is what effects the trigger pull more than anything else .

Would one of you gentlemen please confirm that the middle finger is what I should be working on here before I continue , as I don't want to reduce the trigger pull anymore than I have already . It is 100% better than it was when I first got the gun a few weeks ago .
Yes, the middle finger bears directly on the sloped bottom surface of the disconnector. That's the one that would potentially affect that "hitch" if there spring is strong enough to make the slide have to really work at pushing the disconnect down. Do re-check your trigger pull if you adjust it, though, because both fingers do affect trigger pull weight.

Another thing to check is the length of that middle finger. I recently put together a pistol and experienced a heretofore uncharted anomoly: If I cocked the pistol (whether manually by the hammer or by racking the slide), when I would pull the trigger the hammer wouldn't fall. I could feel a very faint "click" somewhere inside the workings, but nothing visible happened. But if I pulled the trigger a second time, the hammer would fall.

After chasing down several fruitless avenues of correction, I thought to remove the sear spring and hold it up against a new one. I was becoming certain that the problem related to the disconnector, but I wasn't sure how. What I was thinking was that the spring in the gun must have too much tension on the middle leaf. What I found was that the middle leaf on the spring in the gun was a good 1/16 to 3/32 of an inch longer than the one I pulled out of the parts drawer. So instead of pushing UP on the sloped surface, the tip was pretty much at the top and was pushing the disconnector forward against the trigger bow more than it was pushing it up. I ground the tip down to the same length as the other spring, reinstalled it, and the problem was gone.

[1911Tuner]

Might wanna check for hammer follow by locking the slide back and thumbing the stop down to release it...once...on an empty gun. The center leg of the spring resets the trigger and prevents if from nudging the disconnect when the slide goes home. Not an issue when firing because the trigger is held to the rear and the disconnect is out of the picture...but it can be a problem during a slidelocked reload and slide release. See the sticky: "Function of the Disconnector" for a more in-depth explanation.

The hitch that you feel is normal, and will vary a bit from gun to gun, depending on a few dimensions and tolerances. The sear spring tension has an effect on it too, but is only occasionally a problem. If you'll cycle the slide slowly, you'll feel the bump in both directions. Pull it fully rearward and ride it forward slowly while watching the center rail hit the disconnect. You'll
see it cam down at the place that you've mentioned.

Do NOT file or stone the top of the disconnect.