Slide Damage near breach face?

[Mello]

I need a diagnosis. Here is a description of the supposed damage I've noticed just recently. Please forgive me if the description is less than stellar, as I do not know the proper name for this area of the slide.

Here goes:

Okay, if you were holding a slide in your hand, muzzle facing you, and looking at the breach face, you'll see the slide narrow a bit. This is where the barrel hood fits into the breach face. Now, if you look at the inside edges on the slide, both the left and right side, you would see that on each side it narrows and is roughly about an eight of an inch thick on each side, built in towards the breach face. If it were my slide you were holding you would see some slight damage to each of these edges. What I want to know is whether or not this is normal wear or a sign that I need a new recoil spring. The wear is very slight, but I'm not sure if it's the beginning of a serious problem or not. I do not have a digital camera or I would send a picture, sorry.

I tried asking some prominant gunsmiths but they were most likely way too busy to answer my question, and I am not being sarcastic. Hopefully someone will understand my description and give me some sound advice/diagnosis. I'll try my best to provide pictures in the very near future, if possible. I know it will make answering my question much more easier.

Thanks,

Mello.

[jn316]

:fp: Pictures would be helpful Please

[niemi24s]

A photo would be helpful, but in the meantime the sketch below might be helpful in pinpointing the location of the damage. From your verbal description I think you're describing the forward edges of the breechface guide blocks, but would like to make sure.

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p232/niemi24s/P5310001c.jpg

If this is the area of the damage, does the barrel show any signs of similar damage?

If the colored areas are NOT the damaged areas, please locate them in relation to the colors.

[wichaka]

It sounds like possible maching marks, but an actual pic of the area would really help.

[Mello]

HalleluYAH!

My descriptive powers actually cam through in a pinch! (In all actuality I chalk it up to your experience in understanding the M1911 design :) ) The diagram was perfect and the colored areas above my external extractor on each side is where the damage resides. I have a Kimber Gold Match II, by the way.

To be completely clear:

The damage is on the upper part of the breach face guide blocks. On the left side of the breach face guide block edge, above the extractor, there is a very slight bead of metal from extreme force, but not to the point that it has destroyed or done any irreversable damage to the breach face guide block. Now, the right side has some damage also, in the upper area above the curvature of the guide block. This area has been slightly chamfered. On both the left and the right sides of the guide block edges the bluing has been worn away (Of course).

I have examined the barrel and haven't found and parallel damage, though I really did expect to. I've only had this gun for around two months or so and have put about 2200 rds through it. I ordered some Wolf Springs earlier this week and they should arrive sometime next week. I'm staying with the stock weight that was recommended by Kimber...#16.

I bought the pistol used (It was minty all around and looked like whoever owned it before me only put a few rounds through her). I think everyone who buys a used gun tends to say the same thing, but it did look like it had hardly been shot at all. After I broke it in I only had minimal problems with FTF's and FTE. Since putting more rounds through the pistol I haven't had any problems, minus this damage I have just described. I am not really sure if the damage was there before and I just didn't noticed it or it has gotten that way since shooting the gun. I think the latter is closer to the truth.

Thanks,

Mello.

[Mello]

P.S.,

The barrel looks fine but maybe the barrel caused the damage by an inexperienced smith at Kimber? If the barrel hood was releaved of some material at the narrow end (The hood?) and it was done wrong I imagine the contact from recoil could, over time, cause the peening of the breech face guide blocks? Does this sound like a possible cause?

Mello.

[Mello]

Okay...here's a diagram I wipped up using MS Paint. I've never uploaded a pic on the forum before so I hope it works out okay.

Here's the image:

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z114/greyswindir/BreechFaceGuideDamage01.jpg

The parts of the diagram that are highlighted in yellow indicate where the damage is on the breech face guide block's edge. Thanks for the help everyone. If you need any more information just give me a yell!

Mello.

[niemi24s]

Only thing I know of that'll cause damage in that area is the barrel hood. To see if the current barrel's causing it, coat the back of the barrel and guide blocks with magic marker or sight black, and cycle the slide a bunch of times.

Keep in mind the slide must contact the barrel to drive it into battery: either by hood/breechface contact or chamber aft/guide block contact - or possibly a little of both.

However, the bottom half of the left-hand yellow area in your pic looks too low to be caused by the hood.

If the current barrel is found innocent of causing the damage and the gun shoots OK, I'd just touch-up blue the areas and enjoy it. Cheers.

[wichaka]

An actual pic would really help............

[Mello]

Yeah, yeah, I know, a pic would be nice but I just don't have a digital camera! I thought my diagram was pretty spiffy too! :( A picture is always better but the diagram pretty much sums up the problem. The left edge is slightly peened. Think of casting bullets. Sometimes, when you cast bullets and the blocks are not aligned you get what is called "fins" on the the side of your bullets. The left side of the breech guide block has a very slight fin from the barrel impacting it. I'm talking very, very slight, nothing as extreme as with a finned cast bullet.

Now for the right side....It is not finned but chamfered. Have you ever chamfered a brass case before? Same thing only the angle is slightly different and on the edge of the right breech guide block. Simple!

But...I will try and supply some pics as soon as I can. I think jn316 is most likely right, just shoot it and don't worry about it, but I still would like an experienced diagnosis. I'll see if a buddy of mine who is visiting me tonight can supply me a digital camera (If he even has one!). I still appreciate all of your interest.

Thanks all,

Mello.

[niemi24s]

FWIW, the outside corners of the hood should be chamfered 0.015 to 0.025 inch at 45 degrees - at least on a USGI barrel. If the hood of your barrel has sharp corners, that could be the problem.

Please don't get flustered by our continued requests for pix. None of us has your gun in hand and we don't want to give erroneous advise based on a possible misunderstanding of the problem. Cheers.

[Mello]

Nah, I was just using a little humor. I understand that pictures of my slide would make identifying the problem a lot easier. I really wish I still had my old Olympic digital camera (Had to pawn it a few years back for some cash). I'll take a look at my barrel hood and see if it is chamfered or not. Remember one thing, I'm just a rank amature compared to most of you guys. I've only owned my own M1911 for about two months or so now. I have some good revolver experience and have always been good with my hands. I am quick to learn new things and have a love for all things technical.

Please, don't ever think I'm being rude or unappreciative, I've just got a dry sense of humor sometimes. I'm very happy to have found such a great site with so many kind and knowledgable people willing to help me out. I apologize if I've came off to anyone in a bad way, it wasn't my intention, that's for sure. Thanks again for all of the help and suggestions.

Mello.

P.S.,

I think I may be a little mixed up about the barrel hood. Is the barrel hood the end of the barrel were the stamp is or is it more precisely the narrow part that fits into the breech face? Told you I was a rank amature! :D

[pdoppenheim]

I'm just a rank amature compared to most of you guys. I've only owned my own M1911 for about two months or so now.

Mello, Actually, two months experience makes you a sharpshooter. Three months experience makes you a marksman. Welcome to the Forum. We're all learning here. Some of us (OK, me) have been around so long we get to learn the same things over again. And I'm no expert.

I once referred to a mentor of mine as an expert. Later, out of public earshot, he explained that he did not consider himself an expert. He then explained to me what an expert is. Ex means former. A spurt is a drip under pressure.

[Mello]

Thanks for the kind words. I often think about knowledge and whether or not the one who has it the longest is necessarily wiser than those who have just learned the same knowledge. I once got into discussion with a man about the scriptures. He was someone who believed all prophecy had been fulfilled (a preterist). After speaking to him I read some Josephus and a few other ancient writers. Because they were new to me the man ridiculed me and acted as if I was inferior. I just never understood his self-superior attitude. After all, he read the same information as me and he may have read it 20 years before me, but the information never changed. We both had the same information yet he felt because he had the knowledge before I did it made him smarter and wiser than me. Go figure. People are crazy and egotistical, and the smallest of us will belittle another to make themselves feel better. I'm glad there are still some humble people left in the world. I respect humble people very much and appreciate their efforts to make others feel comfortable.

Thanks brother,

Mello.