Intermittent "bounce" after return to battery

[Murray]

I'm just gonna ask after combing over a ton of threads here without any luck. I'm almost certain I've seen this somewhere before.

I'm around 2-3k rounds in on the RIA full size GI, and just started noticing what I can only describe as an intermittent bounce after firing a round. It feels like a mild second impulse around the time the slide gets back into battery with the next round.

Does this ring a bell with anyone or anyone have some follow-up observations I could try to make to home in on what's going on? I'm giving it 80/20 odds it's just me and the way I'm gripping or responding to recoil, but maybe someone else has heard this one and knows where the culprit is most likely hiding. Or it could just go away next weekend - thanks for reading either way.

[BrettID]

No, can't say that I have. Only comparable issue I had was about a year and a half ago with a RIA Tac Ultra that was new. At close to 150 rounds I had a strange recoil. It had to happen a second or third time before I understood what it was; double firing. It happened every other magazine or so. Amazing it happened so fast. Not the same issue as yours. But like myself you may find that it is a start to a bigger issue. Or not. Short story to my solution was I sent the pistol to NV and about a week later Armscor sent me a whole new gun.

[Steve in Allentown]

Is it possible that you're feeling the muzzle dip as the barrel slams into battery? Muzzle dip can be reduced by using a lighter recoil spring. It's common to replace the OEM firing pin stop with a flat bottom firing pin stop to allow for the use of a lighter recoil spring.

Here's a video showing the effect of using various recoil spring weights.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUecHstU4QQ

[Jim Watson]

Maybe it is push feeding and you are feeling the extractor snap over the rim.
Maybe it is bumping over the disconnector, although that is farther back in the counter recoil stroke.

You don't say it is following or doubling so I don't know what Steve is testing for.

[Steve in Allentown]

You don't say it is following or doubling so I don't know what Steve is testing for.

I went off on a riff chasing the idea that it might be doubling due to bad hammer/sear engagement or hammer follow. I just yanked all that out of the post. No sense muddying the water.

[Murray]

Wow, thanks all for the quick replies! Now I feel obligated to hit the range again this weekend #sadnotsad.

I'll be paying much closer attention to exactly how each shot feels. After watching the video, I would totally get a high speed camera to help see these things, and who would've thought those tiny changes to the shape of the firing pin stop would make such a difference? answer: probably a genius from the early 20th century. I have a set of the Wolff spring I can swap out to see if I can tell the difference and maybe replicate/amplify the behavior. I don't think it's quite time to replace the recoil spring yet, but this really has me interested in getting a feel for what the narrator was talking about.

My foray into reloading had me starting in the 170s for PF, while the factory ammo is generally hitting the 180s, which is fine by me. I'm not interested in anything hot, just what does the job.

And for Jim, yes, I'll count rounds to be 100% next time, but I sure hope I'd notice a two for one deal on a trigger pull. Not saying I would, but I sure hope so. It could be earlier in the firing cycle that I'm getting that bounce feel, too. All of my guns so far have been faster and more accurate than I am.

For BrettID - I'd sure hope they'd replace what could turn into a little machine gun. Plus the waste of ammo. yikes. Two mentions of double fires makes me want to keep count to play it safe.

[T-TAC]

In a full size 1911 the recoil spring change interval is 2000 rounds.
Add to that some companies used recoil springs that don't even measure up to proper factory spec poundage.
Order yourself a Wolff conventional recoil spring. They come with a new firing pin spring.
Proper poundage for the .45 is 16 lbs and if it's a 9mm go with 12 lbs.
Good time to clean out the firing pin and extractor channels in the slide.
Both springs go in with the larger open end forward.


https://www.midwayusa.com/product/3415121962?pid=985384

[CAWalter]

It does sound as if the the barrel's forward movement is being stopped by the link when in battery instead of the lower lug, and springing back.

CAW

[Murray]

Thank you both - I have several ideas to work with now. With any luck, I'll have the skill to figure out which one it was someday.

Out of what we've got here, I really like the action spring replacement as a good next move. Last weekend I got a few rounds through the gun and didn't notice the bounce, but T-TAC hit me with some new knowledge, too. For some reason, I had it in my head that maybe 5k rounds was my line before the spring needs replacement. I don't know where that came from. Probably "thuh int'rnet".

Looking at it again, I'm seeing a few sources giving me the same 2k number, which I passed a couple of months ago. Without that sweet looking high speed camera, my best bet is probably to swap out the spring for the T-TAC approved 16lb spring and see how things go. I noticed the spring felt pretty stiff when I first got it last April now that I really think about it, and it's definitely much weaker today.

I'm also probably about due for a detail strip pretty soon here. This is one of the Rock Islands, which I was able to see firsthand really does come heavily coated in some sort of grease that is definitely not lubricant. I'll probably split the difference to give the extractor and firing pin assembly a cleaning before I get into another full disassembly come Spring.

Finally, I'll save the latest malfunction for another thread. I'm 99%+ sure that's the magazine. It's time to learn about the intervals for replacing those as well.

[Kenny78]

Don’t mean to necro post, but one observation is that it might be an occasional chunky feed. On the margin of a ftrb, but it makes it home. Had one doing that before I got into deep subject of extractor profile etc. it was an odd feeling and if you aren’t too far down this rabbit hole it can be an odd sensation