1911 troubles

[graycrait]

After helping a fella bury his dog he hands me about 3/4ths of a 1911, a Springfield 1911 A1 with decent sights.  He asked me to take as long as I want in getting the gun to run.  I asked him "It doesn't reliably go into battery does it?"  He said, "How did you know?"  I told him, "Cause this would be the third Springfield 1911 I have come across that had the same issue."

 

Does anyone know what the "school solution" to this issue might be? For some reason when he gave me the box of parts it is missing some items that I need to buy and install, but nothing that would effect the action as it currently is.  

 

This guy gives me crazy guns periodically and says, "Keep it (or them) as long as you want."  He gave me 4 SAO Sigs one time like that.  He is currently in the middle of a regime of chemo for Hodgkins, second recurrence, and gave me the gun for "something to do" because I am retired.  

 

Anyway, if someone knows a couple of reasons why a Springfield 1911 won't go into battery let me know so I can fix this thing quick and cheap. And then shoot it for at least 4 months while he is out of country:) ! 

Edited November 21, 2014 by graycrait

[Garufa]

First reason might be improper lubrication.  Grease the rails.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Is this a factory built gun?

 

Will it lock up without a round in the chamber? If so then it is likely a short chamber. If it will not then it could be a couple of things but the most likely cause would be a hood that is too long. Also the barrel link length can cause problems with this as well.

 

Does it have a compensator or other muzzle device on it?

[Grayfox54]

Start by replacing the recoil spring.

Also check for an overly tight extractor or the extractor tunnel caked up with gunk.

Edited November 22, 2014 by Grayfox54

[graycrait]

It has that horrible recoil rod that you have an insert plug and have to use an allen wrench to turn out the solid guide rod.  The last one of these I saw 5-7 years ago like this had serious function issues.   Can that thing be changed out for standard "GI" plug and spring/rod? 

 

No matter, I guess I need to rebuild this thing from the ground up. I've owned 12 or 13 1911s including a couple of nice but ugly parts guns I put together.   I hate those weird SA guide rods in that particular style of pistol.

[Guest kingarmory]

Often it is due to the locking lugs being sharp and poorly fitted.  We covered that in the basic 1911 tuning video awhile back, follow the steps and you should have it running like a champ.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Oaj_zPJGQk

 

[Jct1911]

Full length guide rods are standard for many manufacturers, yes, replace with standard GI plug and short guide rod. I've got 5 springfields, never had any issues chambering with proper ammo. Never heard/read of FTRB being a specific Springfield problem either.

[graycrait]

thanks, I have enough time and interest to check all the simple solutions first.  kingarmory, thanks for the video link.

[Currently]

Lead/crud build up on feed ramps causing friction

[DWARREN123]

Many things can cause this. Just have to go thru the gun and find the problem.

Hope you get it running.

[chuckstur]

You can "rebuild it from the ground up" but you can't figure out why it won't go into battery? If you don't like the takedown requirements of the two piece guide rod just shorten it 1/8" with a grinder.