All ye 1911 experts.....please help!
last night I fell on the opportunity to purchase my very first 1911, a Colt Commander with an Essex frame. Beautiful gun, not one scratch and very clean.[:D]
Then I shot it. The first mag whent well, just standard 230 ball. The it started to feed funny. Rounds would nose down a bit and jam. Figured that was a mag problem, no big deal. THEN I used a new mag and guess what[?] Every other shot would seend the casing back to my forhead[:(!] OUCH!!
New extractor time?
Then I shot it. The first mag whent well, just standard 230 ball. The it started to feed funny. Rounds would nose down a bit and jam. Figured that was a mag problem, no big deal. THEN I used a new mag and guess what[?] Every other shot would seend the casing back to my forhead[:(!] OUCH!!
New extractor time?
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It might be either the extractor or ejector. I wouldn't be replaceing either till you try "Tuning" the ones that came with the pistol. This entails by trail and error changing the tension on the extractor, also filing a radius on its face so that it will hold and release the head of the cartridge at a different angle. The same thing is done to the front face of the ejector, so that it impacts the head of the cartridge at a different time/angle.
Before doing any of the above, try different magazines or ammo ( I recommnd CCI Blazer ) this will sometimes solve the problem.
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Well, first, this is not just semantics: You don't have a COLT COMMANDER (with an Essex frame); you have an ESSEX (with a Colt Commander slide). The frame IS the gun.
Essex frames were popular with the Do-It-Yourselfers during the 1980's. The accuracy, safety, & reliability of any given gun depended upon the knowledge & skill of the assembler. Since it is impossible for us to troubleshoot your problems via a forum, I think it would be worthwhile to pay a professional gunsmith to check it out. Either that, or buy a book on gunsmithing the 1911.
Neal0 -
Had the same thing happen on a 1911 Colt Series 70. Took it to a friend who was good with 1911's. Took him about 20 minutes to polish the extractor and fix my problem. It now ejects the empties just to the right of my right shoulder and most of the time they land in a space of about 3 feet, but where they land does depend on the load somewhat. 0 -
You really want to look into getting your ejector and estractor tuned. If i remeber correctly, i adjusted the tension on my extracor and i had it too tight and the empties hit me in the head too. 0 -
Don't know what the selling price is of the 1911 you are looking at, but before you purchase it, I would absolutely look at a bunch of different ones, shoot them all, and make up your mind from that.
The 1911 is by far and away one of the best functioning hand guns ever made, but if it is not tuned correctly, it can be the biggest pain in the ass to shoot, of any gun you ever owned. That being said, when you get it tuned, it can be the best shooting hand gun you will ever own, and there are so many different ones out there, you really need to research what you are planning to buy.
Good luck,
BigBarn[:o)]
"Respect the land, and it will respect you"0 -
Last summer I bought a new series 70 repro. Beautiful fit and finish, 4 1/2 lb. trigger out of the box, but the empties landed directly on top of my head! Took it to a local smith who's excellent with 1911's and he discovered the extractor had NO tension whatsoever. He fixed that, filed the radius a little, and it now throws them way over my right shoulder. I have several 1911's(all Colts) and have never before had a problem; makes you wonder how Colt could allow such a nice pistol escape without extractor tension. All's well that ends well, I guess. -Asa 0 -
Thanks guys[:)]. Luckly I have a great gunsmith down the road. He said he would chck it out. 0
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