Failing to go into battery

[Il Duce]

So I finally got to take my 1911 to the range Sunday and it would not go into battery after every shot fired. I used reloads, WWB, and Hornady TAP and it would constantly stop between 1/2"-1/4" from going into full battery. I replaced the factory GI guide rod with a Wilson Combat two piece and used the factory recoil spring. What is the best pound spring to replace the factory with so I wont have this issue anymore?

[Guest jackdm3]

Aziroth had an issue with his supertight Kimber. Every mag, at least one or two cycles came just 1/8" from full return. Weeks later he admitted that he never really cleaned it and it just got sticky from grime AND the fact that he didn't pre-lube the rails before shooting a whole bunch. After a full clean and lube, the next time it shot well for 150 rounds or so.

[Il Duce]

its been done but maybe not good enough. ill try that again. thanks

[extremescene]

Had a similar problem.... 18 1/2lb spring fixed me entirely. I was going nuts til I figured that out. I went with wolf spring.

[Il Duce]

thanks. i was trying to decide between the 18.5 and the 22

[Mike.357]

how are you lubing the pistol?

Grease or oil on the frame rails?

[Il Duce]

oil but i think grease will be better

[Mike.357]

grease things that slide back and forth, oil things that twist or pivot.

I would try grease before fuxing with the springs.

[Il Duce]

specific grease that works best?

[Garufa]

Definitely grease the slide rails like Mike mentioned.

There is Tetra Gun Grease, but I'm sure enough people around here have used garage-door grease, bearing grease, etc. They will need to chime in on that. All I've used it Tetra and it works great....0 failures out of anything I use it on.

[Mike.357]

I am sure there is some kind of hoity toity gun grease out there, I have Polaris marine grade grease that I am using. I use it because it is what I have on hand. Seems to work great. I imagine plain old axle grease would work fine too.

Don't need to over do it with the stuff either. Just use enough.

And part of the trouble you are having may be due to a break in period on the gun. ( I assume it is new??)

(Garufa beat me to it with the hoity toity grease he uses, LOL)

[Il Duce]

thanks

[Guest spoolie]

I use red wheel bearing grease.

[Guest jackdm3]

Astroglide.

[Guest spoolie]

Astroglide.

A 1911 needs more viscosity.

[Guest jackdm3]

A joke.

[Guest spoolie]

A joke.

I'm aware....sarcasm is hard to project on a laptop.

[eapking]

TW25-B on rails when I broke in mine, first 800 rds. Now FP-10 on everything.

Go to Wollf site for springs. Depends on 5" (Govt), 4.25" (or 4...Commander).

[Warbird]

TW25B and STOS are both great examples of quality grease. Even with grease on the rails if I am about to run a 1911 hard I lock the slide back and and put a couple of drops of Slip2000 on each rail and let it run down and rack the slide several times.

Is this gun new? How tight is the frame to rail lock-up. If it is super tight then run very wet and it might loosen up in time. IF this is the case it is doubtful a stiffer spring would help much. Could be the barrel is out of spec on lock up, check for peening or damage on the lugs. It is doubtful, but possible. It could be the chamber is out of spec. Try taking the barrel out of the gun and drop several different types of ammo into the chamber. It should go in fairly easily and easily drop out when the barrel is turned over. If not, then have the chamber opened up a bit.

If the ammo seems to feed properly into the gun and the fit of frame and slide are already fairly loose then it is certainly possible the spring is weak or out of spec. It never hurts to have a few extra springs anyway. The 1911 runs best when those are changed often. And different weight springs also seem to run better with different types of ammo, though all of this I still don't have down on my own 1911 for carry.

Edited October 13, 2010 by Warbird

[Il Duce]

i bought it used from a shop in chattanooga

[Guest mahahn]

I am sure there is some kind of hoity toity gun grease out there, I have Polaris marine grade grease that I am using. I use it because it is what I have on hand. Seems to work great. I imagine plain old axle grease would work fine too.

Don't need to over do it with the stuff either. Just use enough.

And part of the trouble you are having may be due to a break in period on the gun. ( I assume it is new??)

(Garufa beat me to it with the hoity toity grease he uses, LOL)

I use that hoity-toity brand of grease too. Seems to me its a dimes worth of lithium grease in an eight dollar plastic tube. On the plus side, it works very well.

[StPatrick]

My hoity-toity grease is slide-glide...but it may not necessarily be a lube issue. If you shoot a 1911 with a high "thumbs forward" grip, with the strong hand thumb riding the safety, it's very easy for the thumb to rub against the slide, slowing it down just enough for a failure to return to battery, with no ejection problems. Been there, done that. Even the lightest touch (i.e. you won't feel it, since it all happens so fast) is enough to cause a malf. If the action cycles smoothly by hand, this could be the issue.

[Il Duce]

ill look into that as well as i do hold it high. thanks for that

[extremescene]

Does this problem occur with the factory guide rod installed? Perhaps it would be better to just return it to the stock rod if that fixes the problem.

I like TW25B for slide rails... doesn't take much.

[Il Duce]

i never shot it stock