[Voltaire]

OK, before i start i must admit my expertise is possibly cooking, not gunsmithin (no such word). I have some 30 years plus of working with and competition shooting experience, with a very, very wide range of pistols and long arms. Being in Australia there is no factory, no gun store with a person you can ask for help. Yes our pistols have warranties, but by the time you to post your firearm to a dealer, they ship it back to America, Croatia, South America, Canada, it's Christmas. Hence, lean.
As a person who shoots and looking at the people on this website some with 50 years experience and others ex military they must know heaps.
So, us mere mortals need to learn the basics of if it's broken how can i fix it and is it safe to do so. Do we have the tools and why not just post it back to the manufacturer.
So i have asked the question, i need to work out what to write so i will post more tomorrow my thoughts on this or Wednesday.
The four issues with most, not all 1911 and 2011 are failure to feed, failure to fire, failure to extract and failure to eject. Then loading and the rounds stove pipe or the last round remains in the magazine and the slide locks open. What should we fix if we can and what is best left alone.?

 

[Voltaire]

MOSTLY this occurs with newly purchased not shot in pistols, straight from the factory. Failure to feed: Pistols come with magazines, some have extremely heavy springs in them, and that pushes the first round up against the slide, friction. The shooter then loads the magazine and pulls the slide back, lets it go and the round does not nothing but stop the slide from closing. The shooter has an option of racking the slide to waste the round that failed to feed but the magazine may interfere with that. Most people struggle on with the problem, then go home, and post the pistol to the manufacturer. Lol. So, there may well be more than one problem with a magazine feeding. A very strong spring in a magazine can interfere with the loading. I have never been afraid of when a new pistol arrives and the springs are way too tight to cut 1, 11/2 or 2 coils off the magazine spring. Still a 100% functioning magazine. We change them out every year or so anyway.

Another possibility is that the lips of the magazine allow the follower to come to high. Hence, often a person experiencing the issue can look at why other magazines are functioning and adjust the lips of the magazine that will not feed. I also on every pistol ream out the chamber and barrel drop a round into the chamber and ensure a type of ammunition will fit. The Overall length of a 9mm round should not exceed 1.12thou. Some are longer and they don’t like tight chambers. Run any and all pistols in with 1-2 thousand and forget people telling you, no need to do that. Note i do not claim this is a definitive list of problems or solution, but its worked for me and many others.

 

[Voltaire]

Most interesting that not one comment. Shall abandon that topic.

 

[WVSurveyor]

Don't give up so easy Voltaire. Sometimes it just takes a while. When I began purchasing firearms I knew nothing about working on them. Through manuals, videos and forums I've learned about and accomplished a number of repairs and modifications on various handguns and rifles. It does take time to learn, along with patience and acquiring some basic firearm tools. It can be quite fun and satisfying to work on and customize a weapon and have it function properly and improve on the experience of shooting it. A few times though I have sent a weapon back to the manufacturer because something was causing it to malfunction that was either beyond my ability to fix or I didn't have or want to make a significant investment in the tools and machinery required to fix it. They were new weapons and still under warranty and I figured that's what warranties were for.

 

[Carryon9mm]

Thanks for your insight on the FTF and magazine spring. Did you take yours apart and cut the spring?

 

[Voltaire]

Yes, took them apart and 1 full coil removed, then another 1/2. Springs are usually changed out every 20 thousand or whatever time the shooter thinks. I like every birthday because i do shoot a great deal and residue power is there and when you drop them in dirt needs to be cleaned. There is no pistol i have owned including the CZ race gun, "czechmate". Actually the criteria i use to cut a coils is, can i load the full magazine and one in the chamber into the magwell using minimal effort, and hearing the click.

 

[Carryon9mm]

any chance you have pics or video of doing this?

 

[Voltaire]

Ok, mag1 is taking base off mag, ALL magazines have a method of removing base, quickly. With CZ push up and reduce tension on base, slide off base.
mag2, base removed.
Mag3, all parts and ready for clipping.
Mag4. Done, you can see the piece of wood points to cut coil.
Then reassemble.
Most mags go together easily. There is only one way.

 

[Voltaire]

As an addendum to my last post, Wolff Springs, the spelling is correct have for over 20 years manufactured and supplied, all manner of springs,
recoil, hammer etc for over 40 brands of today's firearms. Yes, even after market Springfield, Glock, S&W, CZ, Colt and just about every brand and we support Wolff because his springs are great, especially his recoil springs as an after market replacement. Inexpensive, better than manufacturers and 100% reliable. Yes, even magazine springs, trigger etc, are on the market. Just Google and they are there for all to see and buy.