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Colt .45 auto locks back while firing

dannej
Just acquired a custom Colt Commander and from time to time the slide release locks the slide back while firing in the middle of a magazine. I use two Wilson magazine and they seem to be fine. The detent spring seems strong enough, but when the slide is shut the slide release lever is easy to wiggle around. What should be done to repair this malfunction?
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Comments

5 comments

Date Votes
  • v35
    Is this an aluminum frame?
    The the detent and spring & plunger should
    keep the slide stop from flopping around. This is assuming the frame holes haven't enlarged to the point of being too loose a fit for the slide stop.
    If this is the case, the holes would have to be bushed or an oversized
    slide stop pin be fitted. Either way, a good gunsmith or the factory
    should do it.
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  • dannej
    It is a steel frame. The detent tube is loose. The slide release lever has no sideways movement but moves freely up and down, even when in place against the detent. Is there supposed to be an indention in the release lever that the detent slips into? This is an after market release lever and other parts are made by Brown. The safety is very positive on the other end of the detent. It seems that with a small indention for the detent the release lever would be fine...

    Thanks for the help!
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  • perry shooter
    Hello Sounds like a bad slide stop pin . Some after market ones have quality problems especialy the extended ones . You can also make this failure happen believe it or not by touching it with your thumb during recoil happens more often when shooting with 2 hands. get a mil type pin at gun show and see if you still have failure.Karl
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  • Elkhorn
    Either grind off or replace that extended slide stop. Those things are likely to snag on the draw,and cause other problems, and are bad trainging

    Weld or silver solder a 1/4" steel cone to one jaw of an old pair of pliers. Grind a groove across the other jaw with a Dremel Moto tool. the latter is $20 at pawnshops, used, and often only $35, new, at Harbor Freight.com. Make sure that the detents are in the plunger tube,or you will collapse the tube. use the cone side in the mag well, to spread out the rivets on the plunger tube. If still loose, spin a masonry nail (harder than regular nail) in a drill, lock the trigger, clamp it in a vise. Use the Dremel and cutoff disks, and/or a file, and shape the nail into a plunger-detent that is 1/8" longer than the one you have. That will increase the spring tension on the slide stop, and on the thumb safety. As a last resort, use the Dremel and a little "rotary file" ($5) and create a small, shallow "dimple" in the slide stop, where the plunger detent contracts it, and then polish the area with a Dremel Polishing wheel.

    If you dont have to make the staking tool, doingall of the above takes about 15 minutes, and all of it is probably not necessary.
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  • dannej
    Thanks for the advice!

    I shoot left handed and I am certain I do not touch the release while firing. I think at this point I will try the dremel making a small indention in the release. If that doesn't do it then off to the gun show as suggested.
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