Slide locks back, round loose in chamber

[Espike]

Hi all, I'm new to the forums and thought i'd say hello by bringing my issues to you guys. I just bought a brand new Gold Cup Trophy last week. I took it to the range on Friday and fired maybe 15 rounds through it when the slide locked back. I thought it was empty and was performing as usual. However, when I dropped the mag for a reload, a round fell out of the gun! It happened again with the other mag but this time I looked in the chamber and saw the round just sitting there on top of the magazine! Im thinking magazine issues but im new to 1911s so I might be missing something. It happened quite often after that. I fired a total of 100 round through it and it happened roughly 5 times, and only on the last round. The gun came with two new colt magazines. one 7rd and one 8rd. The 7rd has a "two-pronged" follower (for lack of knowledge on what its really called) and the 8rd has a flat follower if that helps. O, BTW I was using WWB ammo if that helps as well.

[log man]

In spite of it's newness or is it really new, this symptom is commonly a mag problem as the mag is releasing the round ahead of the slide. Oil in the mag is another contributor, the inside should be clean, but no oil. And welcome to the forums!

LOG

[garrettwc]

OK, I was in too much of a hurry when I read this the first time. So it was with more than one mag, and always on the last round.

Have you checked the extractor tension?

[niemi24s]

Hi Espike:
:wc: to the Forum!. . .when the slide locked back. I thought it was empty and was performing as usual. However, when I dropped the mag for a reload, a round fell out of the gun! It happened again with the other mag but this time I looked in the chamber and saw the round just sitting there on top of the magazine!. . .only on the last round.Just making sure - was this "round" an unfired cartridge or an empty case?

Regards

[Espike]

Have you checked the extractor tension?

How do I do that, what am i looking for and what could to fix it?

And, its unfired rounds that sit loosely there.

[log man]

Extractor tension would be indicated if the last round was firing and then failing to eject the empty case. It isn't getting that far, the unfired round is coming out of the mag before the slide by the forces of inertia or by being bumped by the disconnector rail and is being flipped out ahead of the extractor and the follower can now come up and engage the slide stop. OH OH. Degrease the mags and see if that helps.

LOG

[niemi24s]

How do I do that.. . Check extractor tension by removing the slide and the barrel from the slide.

• Slip a loaded cartridge up under the extractor. The nose should hang down a little bit and the cartridge should remain in place if the slide is given a moderate shaking. It should fall out if shaken vigorously.

• Slip an empty case up under the extractor. No amount of shaking should cause it to come loose.

More info from our Tech Issues section: http://www.m1911.org/technic2.htm

Regards

[Espike]

So, I checked extractor tension as instructed, the rounds held on very well. What I ended up doing was cleaning the mags thoroughly and then I squeezed the lips on the top of the mags together (ever so slightly) with my fingers. It seems to have fixed the problem when cycling the gun manually, but only range time will tell if my fix holds up.

[garrettwc]

Then I bow to Log man on this one because he seems to be on the right track. I was thinking a severely loose extractor might have been releasing the round before it chambered, but that being eliminated it is definitely a mag problem.

[niemi24s]

. . .the unfired round is coming out of the mag before the slide by the forces of inertia or by being bumped by the disconnector rail and is being flipped out ahead of the extractor and the follower can now come up and engage the slide stop.But when the disconnector rail bumps into the cartridge in the magazine, I think the slide is already too far forward to get locked back by the slide stop.

If so, that leaves the first possibility, above: last round escaping the magazine due to its inertia as the slide comes back during recoil.

This, in turn, I think, points to weak magazine springs. If they are weak it could be confirmed by putting 2 cartridges underneath the magazine spring before the next range trip. If the last round feeds OK with the extra spring pressure, it's time for new springs.

But is it even possible that Colt (of all people) would furnish new magazines with weak springs?

Would also be a good idea to push the magazine follower down with a stick and insure they get pushed back up smoothly by the spring - without any hesitation or binding.

Regards

[log man]

But when the disconnector rail bumps into the cartridge in the magazine, I think the slide is already too far forward to get locked back by the slide stop.

If so, that leaves the first possibility, above: last round escaping the magazine due to its inertia as the slide comes back during recoil.

This, in turn, I think, points to weak magazine springs. If they are weak it could be confirmed by putting 2 cartridges underneath the magazine spring before the next range trip. If the last round feeds OK with the extra spring pressure, it's time for new springs.

But is it even possible that Colt (of all people) would furnish new magazines with weak springs?

Would also be a good idea to push the magazine follower down with a stick and insure they get pushed back up smoothly by the spring - without any hesitation or binding.

Regards
Yep very true inertia is more of a conclusion based on it locking open than being bumped ahead of the extractor which would end in a failure to close in battery or close and not even know it happened.

LOG

[wjkuleck]

But is it even possible that Colt (of all people) would furnish new magazines with weak springs?
That was my reaction too.

I'm going to set aside several of my 7-rounders from the Checkmate group buy to use as baselines for future troubleshooting!

Regards,

Walt

[niemi24s]

Lest we forget the role the follower dimple is supposed to play in this sort of thing - Espike, do the followers of these new Colt magazines have a dimple?

[JTQ]

I have had the same problem with my Checkmate 7 round hybrid lipped magazines. The last round is out of the mag lose, laying on top of the magazine, with the slide locked back. The recommendation for a fix I got, was to replace the magazine springs. I've installed Wolf 11 pound springs, but have yet to test them.

My factory Colt magazines have not given me any problems.

One observation I have about the Checkmate magazines is that dimple (pimple) on the follower is quite pronounced. It requires some concentration to load the first round in magazine and to manually unload the last round since that dimple really holds on to the cartridge rim. My Colt magazines also have the dimple, but it is much less pronounced.

Jim