Help me diagnose my 1911....please.

[Trendkill]

As some of you know...I aquired a Series 70 Colt Mk IV 1911 from my friend who passed away.

I recieved it on tuesday after the 10 day B.S. waiting period...and took it apart to clean. Before I disassembled it I was checkin it out a little , so I went ahead and let the slide rack forward from the locked back position. All was well....so I did it one more time and the hammer followed after it went into battery. The hammer didn't go all the way down of course...but it did drop into the half-cock position. It kept doing the same thing in different attempts.....bout 50% of the time.

So I figured I'd clean the hell out of it....and maybe that would help a little.

Nope.

Any ideas what the hell is causing this....????

[SCMA-1]

Never drop a slide on an empty chamber. Although, some single action pistols are fairly tolerant of this practice, the 1911 is one of the least tolerant. You can end up damaging the sear/hammer engagement surfaces from the shock of the slide slamming closed without a round in the chamber to buffer it.

Try the same thing with a snap cap or dummy round and it shouldn't happen. If the hammer continues to drop to half cock, then the you will need a new hammer and sear.

SCMA-1

[Sheldon]

That's why they don't recommend dropping the slide on an empty chamber. It is possiblle the engagement surfaces between the hammer and sear are damaged. You may need some work and or replacement parts to get the hammer to stop following the slide.

[JTROKS]

Do not drop the slide on an empty chamber. Sounds like your 1911 may have had a trigger job. First make sure the gun is clear and unloaded with no mags. When you cock the hammer and pull the trigger does it have a light trigger pull? Maybe the person you got it from used it for bullseye shooting, with modern 1911 trigger jobs the problem you described doesn't happen until the hammer/sear/disconnector and spring requires attention. I'm wondering if the gun is set up for target loads or standard ball. I advice you to seek a professional gunsmith that deals with 1911s to provide you what your 1911 is set up for. For example, if your 1911 is set up to shoot very light target loads and you load it with some +P 45 ACP loads it may spell disaster. Again, do not drop the slide on an empty chamber.

[ojisan]

Could also be the arm of the leaf spring is not putting enough tension on the sear, or there is lots of gunk still inside gumming up the works.
But if the slide has been dropped repeatedly, there very well may be parts damage.

[roc]

i let a friend handle one of my 1911s a few months back and he racks it back and let it rip home with an empty chamber. my heart sunk as it all happened too fast for me to stop him. i was lucky that nothing bad happened to it but it is a big no no!

btw, SCMA-1, you know this guy i think your Garand is being treated a little better than my 1911 was.

[Trendkill]

Yes....it is a light trigger.....and yes...I was a tard for droppin the slide on an empty chamber. Didnt know 1911's were sensitive.

I had planned on taking it to a "Smith" to have him check it over. I am a little iffy about such a light trigger...so I totally wont mind having the trigger brought back to what would be factory specs.

[SCMA-1]

i let a friend handle one of my 1911s a few months back and he racks it back and let it rip home with an empty chamber. my heart sunk as it all happened too fast for me to stop him. i was lucky that nothing bad happened to it but it is a big no no!

btw, SCMA-1, you know this guy i think your Garand is being treated a little better than my 1911 was.

OOHHHH NOOOES!!!!! I know who you are talking about. Hope it's not damaged, dude.

[J-cat]

Could also be the arm of the leaf spring is not putting enough tension on the sear, or there is lots of gunk still inside gumming up the works.
But if the slide has been dropped repeatedly, there very well may be parts damage.

+1

+1

and

+1

[The SoCal Gunner]

Clean it and give it another try. Are you racking the slide all the way back or are you short stroking it?

[dfletcher]

Could also be the arm of the leaf spring is not putting enough tension on the sear, or there is lots of gunk still inside gumming up the works.

But if the slide has been dropped repeatedly, there very well may be parts damage.

That's my vote and an easy fix. 1st finger on the left, correct? Since he can disassemble and reassemble the gun I'd say take it down, give it a good forward bend and try again.

[brassburnz]

There's nothing wrong with your 1911. Sounds like your friend had a trigger job done to the gun. If it has a nice crisp trigger pull, don't mess with it. Don't drop the slide on an empty chamber. It ruins the engagement surfaces of the hammer and the sear.

You could probably add more pressure to the sear by adjusting the sear leaf on the sear spring. This will help prevent hammer follow. Most the bullseye shooters I know don't use the slide stop to drop the slide. They use their off hand and sling shot it. For some reason, it tends to be gentler on the gun.

[Trendkill]

There are two things that this could be.

1. You have a bad trigger job and the sear is slipping

2. Your disconnector is worn.

Try this. Pull the trigger and hold it. Pull the slide back all the way and lock it while holding the trigger. Drop the slide while holding the trigger. Holding the trigger binds up the sear so it won't be damaged when you drop the slide on an empty gun. Now, if your hammer fell when you dropped the slide, your disconnector is worn and its not the trigger job. You might also want to check the half moon that the disconnector goes up into. Sometimes that's enlarged to accomadate a new disconnector and it gets cut too big. So either its a worn disconnector or some crappy gunsmith ruined the slide. sorry for the bad news.

Hammer didnt fall....and I racked that thing like an S.O.B. , with the trigger pulled of course.

[Trendkill]

I have another thread about this gun here. There are pictures of it too.

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=208039

[SCMA-1]

Put a little more arc in the sear spring; that should take care if it for awhile. If you start getting hammer follows when chambering a round, then it's time to have the sear/hammer engagement surfaces dressed or both of those parts replaced.

SCMA-1