Cracked 1911 barrel lug - time to test the lifetime warrenty

[cindynles]

Somewhere between 6,000 and 7,000 rounds through my SA Loaded and I found this tonight. Looks like the "bow tie" was not cut on the VIS and the stress finally caused the lower lug to crack. Tomorrow I'll get to test out the Springfield lifetime warranty. This is another reason to clean your guns regularly, you find things like this before it becomes a catastrophic failure.

[SonofWWIIDI]

Bummer, hope they take care of it!

Good luck. And keep us posted.

[OldGeek]

Might just be the picture, but it looks like the left side of the lug was sitting proud of the right side and the frame might have taken a beating on that side as well. I'd lobby for a new barrel and frame.

[cindynles]

I called Springfield this morning and less than 5 minutes later I had a pre-paid shipping label and RMA # in my hand. Nice customer service.

[UnWired]

Ouch! I just cried a little seeing that.
Well, SA will hopefully get you taken care of. Weird issue... never seen that before. I've seen barrels which ripped, or split parallel up the seams, but never seen a lug break like that.
Shooting +P ? Or just standard ammo? Looks like a stress fracture... Was likely a weak spot when you got it.
I've seen stress fractures and metal fatigue first hand before, but the things I saw it on took a lot more abuse than that part of the barrel / lug assembly. Bummer. Hope it gets taken care of quick and you're back tossin lead again.

[edwardm]

How do the upper lugs look on the barrel and the lug recesses in the slide? Any evidence of peening/contact on the upper lug corners?

[CRTguns]

That has cracked at the intended failure point... consider yourself lucky.
Really bad mfg process and worse metallurgy will cause both lugs to come off... sorta de-laminate from the chamber.

[DEF23]

Personally, I never trusted the Springfield 2-pc. barrel system.

That is the biggest reason why most of the people who do .45 super conversion won't use a Springfield barrel.

Just so you know, you aren't the 1st person to crack a barrel lug on a Springfield 1911 either. Apparently, it happens with their pistols !!??

Could be a lack of fitting or testing at factory, such as has been know to happen with their M1A rifles as well.

http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=340696

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?p=553118

[cindynles]

Just got the call from Springfield. Its fixed on will be shipped back in the morning. They replaced the barrel, bushing, extractor, and FPS. Pretty good turnaround.

2/6/14: Called customer service, received FedEx label
2/7/14: Shipped back to SA
2/10/14: Gun arrived at SA
2/18/14: Repairs completed

[DEF23]

You should check and see if you get a 1 pc. barrel back.

Most of the problem barrels seem to be 2pc and then they replace them with 1pc.

[Sunday]

It is so important to do business with companies that stand behind their products.

[cindynles]

It is so important to do business with companies that stand behind their products.

Its smart on their part. I already own 2 SA 1911s (Loaded and Trophy Match) and my 3rd will be another Springfield (either an MC or TRP Operator). Its nice to know that I can shoot them as much as I can afford and not worry about wearing them out. I'll be singing their praises to anyone who asks.

We'll see how the Trophy Match holds up. I bought it in Aug and I'm at 4900 rounds through it so far. The barrel on the loaded cracked at about 6000 rounds.

[Powder_Keg]

Great outcome, good to hear SA standing behind their products.

[cindynles]

She's home.

2/6/14: Called customer service, received FedEx label
2/7/14: Shipped back to SA
2/10/14: Gun arrived at SA
2/18/14: Repairs completed
2/21/14: Delivered

Looks like they relived the frame VIS (bow tie cut). They replaced the old 2-piece barrel with a one piece barrel and a new stainless bushing. The new barrel is fit much tighter than the old one was.

[valley82]

Very nice.