Colt Commander questions/problem.
I've dreamed over buying a Colt Commander for years....recently saw one online that at a price I couldn't pass up, so I pounced on it.
Got it in the other day. Gun appeared damn near mint, other than an idiot scratch. I dry fired to check its function. Trigger worked, but felt a little weird....like it was catching on something. I brought it home, racked the slide once or twice just to get a feel for it....and now trigger is locked up tight. It will not move, and the hammer will not fall.
Decided to disassemble it to see if I could find the problem...and realized this gun isn't like other 1911's I've handled.
First off....the barrel bushing absolutely would not move. I could not turn it with my bare hands. Had to use a bushing wrench to get it to move.
Second...it has a much longer guide rod than I am used to....I guess this is the full length guide rod I hear so much about. Whatever it is, it seemed to make disassembly more difficult. It also had a blue plastic "Shock Buff" on it. Never saw or used one of those either, but the guide rod and the shock buff don't seem like "stock" features.....and for that matter, neither do the wood grips with inlaid medallions.
Anyways....the fit on the bushing was so tight that not only did I have to use the wrench to turn it, I had to use the barrel to "tap" it out. Barrel was marked "P M", doesn't say anything about being a match barrel, but I am suspicious that it is due to the tightness of the fitting.
Removal of the slide stop shows a lot of scuffing underneath, complimenting the idiot scratch.
With the slide off, the trigger still will not pull and the hammer will not fall....so something going on with the slide isn't the problem. I've taken 1911's all the way apart before, but it's been several years and they've all been "loosey goosey" if you know what I mean. Was going to post this to let the folks here who are smarter than me tell me what they think might be the problem before I undoubtedly launch a spring of some sort across the room and spend half the night crawling on my hands and knees in vain trying to find it.
Basically, I'm wondering if I've got my hands on a match grade gun....maybe even something that was from the Colt Custom Shop. No box came with the gun, so no clues there. Colt's website doesn't list this particular serial #, so that's a dead end too.
Guns this nice don't come from the factory completely unable to function....maybe the high end parts are just someone who was trying customize their 1911....at any rate, I think whoever had it prior to me screwed up something with the internals...and didn't know how to fix it. I think it's within my capabilities, just checking to make sure a gunsmith doesn't need to look at it first.
Got it in the other day. Gun appeared damn near mint, other than an idiot scratch. I dry fired to check its function. Trigger worked, but felt a little weird....like it was catching on something. I brought it home, racked the slide once or twice just to get a feel for it....and now trigger is locked up tight. It will not move, and the hammer will not fall.
Decided to disassemble it to see if I could find the problem...and realized this gun isn't like other 1911's I've handled.
First off....the barrel bushing absolutely would not move. I could not turn it with my bare hands. Had to use a bushing wrench to get it to move.
Second...it has a much longer guide rod than I am used to....I guess this is the full length guide rod I hear so much about. Whatever it is, it seemed to make disassembly more difficult. It also had a blue plastic "Shock Buff" on it. Never saw or used one of those either, but the guide rod and the shock buff don't seem like "stock" features.....and for that matter, neither do the wood grips with inlaid medallions.
Anyways....the fit on the bushing was so tight that not only did I have to use the wrench to turn it, I had to use the barrel to "tap" it out. Barrel was marked "P M", doesn't say anything about being a match barrel, but I am suspicious that it is due to the tightness of the fitting.
Removal of the slide stop shows a lot of scuffing underneath, complimenting the idiot scratch.
With the slide off, the trigger still will not pull and the hammer will not fall....so something going on with the slide isn't the problem. I've taken 1911's all the way apart before, but it's been several years and they've all been "loosey goosey" if you know what I mean. Was going to post this to let the folks here who are smarter than me tell me what they think might be the problem before I undoubtedly launch a spring of some sort across the room and spend half the night crawling on my hands and knees in vain trying to find it.
Basically, I'm wondering if I've got my hands on a match grade gun....maybe even something that was from the Colt Custom Shop. No box came with the gun, so no clues there. Colt's website doesn't list this particular serial #, so that's a dead end too.
Guns this nice don't come from the factory completely unable to function....maybe the high end parts are just someone who was trying customize their 1911....at any rate, I think whoever had it prior to me screwed up something with the internals...and didn't know how to fix it. I think it's within my capabilities, just checking to make sure a gunsmith doesn't need to look at it first.
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You will have to remove the grips to see what is blocking the trigger movement. Probably something simple. Maybe previous owner installed oversize parts that are not fitted correctly. 0 -
Does the grip safety depress fully? The nose of the safety arm must clear the trigger stirrup to allow it to disengage and permit the hammer to be released by the sear. If you don't remember the full detail strip process it would be best to take it to a 'smith who can be sure the clearances are within specs. If the prior owner bought a bunch of "custom" parts and just randomly installed them there could be several points adding up to your problem. My only Colt Custom Shop 1911 was an O.M. stainless built by Chip McCormick and it was flawless. I can't believe Colt would let a pistol with such obvious defects out. The price of having a good gunsmith check it out will give you the peace of mind that your pistol is set up properly. 0 -
IT sounds like to me someone who did not know what he was doing bought some aftermarket parts to IMPROVE his factory pistol and ended up making a frankingun the aftermarket full length guide rod and recoil blue buffer cause more problems that any help they might cure go back to stock parts most likely someone tried and failed to
improve the pistol Parts must work together get someone that knows 1911 and get BUBBA out of the picture [V]s0 -
It could be anything. +1 for have someone that knows the 1911 help you figure it out.
added Excellent, money well spent. +1 for putting it back to John's design.0 -
Thanks for all who replied. I went ahead and took it to a local smith who builds 1911s.
He said there are a bunch of drop in parts that were never fitted properly. Trigger was locked up because the trigger screw was hitting the frame. He said the gun is in fine shape otherwise. Should have it back in a couple of days.0 -
quote:Originally posted by forgemonkey
quote:Originally posted by Rack Ops
Thanks for all who replied. I went ahead and took it to a local smith who builds 1911s.
He said there are a bunch of drop in parts that were never fitted properly. Trigger was locked up because the trigger screw was hitting the frame. He said the gun is in fine shape otherwise. Should have it back in a couple of days.
Interesting re the 'trigger screw hitting the frame',,,,,,,,the over travel screw never touches the frame,,,,,,,it stops against the magazine release housing and it worked while dry firing. It would have to arbitrarily turn itself 'in' after dry firing.
I'm not questioning you or your 'Smith' ,,,,,,,just curious. Would be interested in knowing what parts were I'll fitted.
The screw was hitting the frame. He showed it to me and it was clearly visible. As the trigger was pulled back, the end of the screw was banging into the frame. He said he had never saw one screwed in that deeply.
As to what he felt was ill fitting....he said the slide stop was obviously aftermarket and hasn't been fitted correctly...under the slide stop is a significant amount of scuffing, which is generally hidden.
The bushing is aftermarket, and fits, but only just barely.
I had to leave before he disassembled the gun any further than he did, but I am curious to see what comes of it.0 -
Sorry for the delay in replying.
Got the Colt back this morning and it is functioning flawlessly.
The trigger screw WAS NOT the problem...although it first appeared to be to both me and him.
Forgemonkey's initial diagnosis was correct, as the sear legs were installed incorrectly. How the gun functioned initially remains a mystery. At any rate, me and him shot 2 boxes of ammo through it without complaint.
Now, I am back to being in love.0 -
FM, the slide and frame are both stainless steel.
This .45 is what Colt used to call the "Combat Commander", but is now simply "Commander", with the alloy framed models being referred to as "Lightweight Commander"
Thanks to everyone who took the time to offer thoughts and advice.0
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