End of slide busted off of my Springfield 1911A1 (PICS) UPDATE

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - End of slide busted off of my Springfield 1911A1 (PICS) UPDATE (Page 1 of 2)

Posted: 11/24/2002 1:13:06 PM EDT

while shooting this weekend! Nobody was hurt. I have only shot around 200 rounds through this pistol. It busted off about an inch from the front. It is a stainless steel 1911A1 ony about 2 years old.
My question is how could this happen and how good is Springfield about backing up their product?
Thanks
Dale

Posted: 11/24/2002 1:18:15 PM EDT

[#1]

I don't own any SA products, but I've heard they're pretty responsive, customer-service wise.

Do you have any pictures of the slide that you could post?

Posted: 11/24/2002 1:22:47 PM EDT

[#2]

an inch from the front? interesting, I'd like to see some pic's myself and to know what SA does for you.

glad no one was hurt!

Posted: 11/24/2002 1:28:02 PM EDT

[#3]

Interesting as many have allways given the 1911 barrel bushing bad rap,but have never heard of failure! Some have oppted for the rod as opposed to the bushing!

Will be looking forward to your picture,and future post about this!

Also glad nobody was hurt!

Bob [:D]

Posted: 11/24/2002 1:28:58 PM EDT

[#4]

I am charging the digital camera as we speak. However I have not posted pics in along time and the host I was using went out of business. Letme know what host I can use and I will try to post them.

The barrel was not damaged although it has never been a very accurate gun. Always suspected that it had a bad barrel.

Posted: 11/24/2002 1:32:35 PM EDT

[#5]

[url=www.hunting-pictures.com]hunting pictures[/url] works for me.

Posted: 11/24/2002 1:33:44 PM EDT

[#6]

I've seen several sets of pics of Springfields doing this. A couple of standard 5" guns and a few of the long-slide versions. And a few sets of pics with cracked slides in this area.

While these are probably a small percentage compared to all of the Springfield 1911s in use (<1%, certainly), it isn't unheard of.

-Troy

Posted: 11/24/2002 1:48:22 PM EDT

[#7]

[http://www.hunting-pictures.com/members/dale007/Dsc00834.jpg]

Here are the pics. Hope this shows more then a red X.

Posted: 11/24/2002 1:51:55 PM EDT

[#8]

[img]http://www.hunting-pictures.com/members/dale007/Dsc00834.jpg[/img]

Posted: 11/24/2002 1:52:34 PM EDT

[#9]

That's weird. I just got a SA 1911- A1 and hope this doesn't happen to mine.

Posted: 11/24/2002 1:53:42 PM EDT

[#10]

Dale- this might make it active.

Posted: 11/24/2002 1:57:59 PM EDT

[#11]

Quoted:
I've seen several sets of pics of Springfields doing this..
...

View Quote

Interesting (looking at picture) is this isolated to SA slides or other mfg had this happen also?

also, what would be the major suspect (cause) in this case?

Posted: 11/24/2002 2:07:38 PM EDT

[#12]

Wow, I have never seen that one before. I would think that if you complained to SA they would take care of this in a heartbeat.

Posted: 11/24/2002 2:09:23 PM EDT

[#13]

Looks a lot like this one:
[img]http://album.gunsnet.net/data/philinseattle/159_p6094.jpg[/img]

I'm not sure where I got this picture from. I've had it saved for over a year.

Posted: 11/24/2002 2:14:13 PM EDT

[#14]

Hopefully you mailed in your Warranty card. SA has a lifetime warranty, as I recall, and I've always heard good things about their service.

Posted: 11/24/2002 2:15:05 PM EDT

[#15]

Phil, that is EXACTLY what happened to mine. Maybe it has something to do with the stainless steel.

Posted: 11/24/2002 2:19:24 PM EDT

[#16]

Hmm...200 rounds in 2 years??? Sounds and looks like the metal atrophied from lack of use!! [:D]
You should be brought up on charges of pistol abuse for not shooting it enough!!

And someone was hurt!! That poor 1911!!!!
But glad that YOU were not hurt!!!!

Posted: 11/24/2002 2:45:37 PM EDT

[#17]

Wow, that is interesting. Usually slide fracture/break around the ejection port.

Posted: 11/24/2002 2:57:21 PM EDT

[#18]

Here's a complete guess on my part..perhaps the full length recoil guide hung up when you fired. The front of the slide could not move, while the rear recoiled, causing it to fracture. Is there any apparent damage to the recoil guide or the bushing?

Posted: 11/24/2002 2:58:49 PM EDT

[#19]

You wuss! Who cares about warranties? Haven't you ever heard of superglue?

Posted: 11/24/2002 2:59:48 PM EDT

[#20]

I have heard of this happening several times. IIRC ALL of them were stainless 1911s.

Posted: 11/24/2002 3:01:57 PM EDT

[#21]

I should note that all of the pics that I've seen were of STAINLESS Springfield 1911s. Most of them were about a year ago (around the time of Phil's pic). Obviously they had a bad run of stainless slides.

-Troy

Posted: 11/24/2002 3:09:32 PM EDT

[#22]

I noticed in both pics, the fracture is right at the end of the recoil spring plug tunnel. This area strikes against the recoil spring guide head at full recoil. Most full length guide heads are thicker and harder steel than the standard guides. Were you using a shock buff? This combined with the thicker guide head would cause the plug tunnel to strike even sooner. What is the weight and condition of your recoil spring? How far did the casings land from your shooting position? Anything more than 5-6' would indicate a weak or wrong weight recoil spring. Most factory springs are in the 15-16# rating, I always use the Wolf 18# spring for any defensive or hardball ammo.

I had a blue steel Springfield 1911 Loaded that exhibited peening at the plug tunnel after about 150 rnds, I swithched it over to a standard plug and guide because of the way I learned to press-check the 1911 was not compatable to with full length rods.

Springfields are supposed to be made from forgings, do you notice any porosity in the break?

These might be some areas to look into, but S/A should honor your warranty. You might want to opt for a blue steel slide, if they allow you to do that, I beleve stainless is more prone to work hardening than carbon.

I long since switched from from S/A to Kimber, and have never looked back.

Posted: 11/24/2002 3:12:02 PM EDT

[#23]

Now you know where the compact 1911's come from.[thinking]

Posted: 11/24/2002 3:34:55 PM EDT

[#24]

Dale, could you please post a close up picture of where the steel fractured?

Thanks

Posted: 11/24/2002 3:37:53 PM EDT

[#25]

jb weld and drive on

Posted: 11/24/2002 3:42:06 PM EDT

[#26]

A cast slide + a bad harmonic maybe? I don't know. Springfield is pretty top notch. Send it to them with a detailed letter. Thqt ought to do it. They don't want a dangerous firearm out there any more than you do.

Posted: 11/24/2002 3:53:20 PM EDT

[#27]

A gentleman posting on The Firing Line had this same failure with his Springfield Stainless Loaded about a year ago.

I think the outcome was that there was a small batch of slides produced about two years back that were defective. Improper heat treating possibly?

I have a Springfield Stainless Longslide and used to own a Stainless Loaded. They are nicely built firearms. Their service department should treat you right.

Posted: 11/24/2002 9:17:36 PM EDT

[#28]

You need not worry about having to send in your warrentee card as they do not need that to still be in warentee here in the US. It's under whatever warentee that they offer.

Posted: 11/24/2002 9:45:38 PM EDT

[#29]

Hmmm, very interesting story and pictures. It appears that the slide is a cast stainless steel. I'm not sure how Springfield makes their slides, but judging by the one pic with the broken part showing, it o'most looks like it is cast. Not all stainless is able to be hardened. If it is cast stainless it cannot be hardened. I think someone either picked the wrong type of stainless or they didn't treat it correctly.

It makes sense that it broke where it did since that is where the slide hits the frame and the facture propagated upwards. I guess you didnt see any cracks or machine gouges on the slide there before it broke, but that would be a good indicator of trouble brewing.

-Luther

Posted: 11/24/2002 9:52:35 PM EDT

[#30]

I call BULLSHIT!

OPERATOR ERROR!!!

YOU CANT SHOOT .223 OUT OF A .45!!!

ARE YOU NUTS?!?!?!?!

BUUUUUUUUUT seriously folks. I am glad no one got hurt and Im sure SA will do right by you.

Posted: 11/25/2002 5:10:51 AM EDT

[#31]

Oh you can be SURE that Springfield will take very good care of you...care to guess how much a company like Colt or Kimber would pay for this gun with documentation?

Posted: 11/25/2002 5:36:27 AM EDT

[#32]

Quoted:
Looks a lot like this one:
[url]http://album.gunsnet.net/data/philinseattle/159_p6094.jpg[/url]

I'm not sure where I got this picture from. I've had it saved for over a year.

View Quote

Guys...its been suggested here before but I gotta tell you that busted slide looks like a sand casting to me. I thought that SA forged these parts...but maybe not. A trained mettalurgist could help...maybe a trip to the local university or good metal shop to discuss this.

IF it is, as I suspect a casting, and IF it is being impacted hard during the recoil action as previously mentioned here, then that would explain a lot. Castings tend to shatter when banged around hard...forgings on the other hand take far more punishment when abused. I don't think that if this slide was a forging in a quality steel that it would EVER break as has been described here.

I don't think it is a "bad batch"...unless you consider the entire product line a bad batch.

I could be wrong...but that sure looks like some castings we made many, many years ago in school.

What to do? Contact SA. Return if possible or get another slide...and IF it is a casting, ditch it for another piece. That is NOT the weapon you want to defend yourself with...ever.

Good Luck!

Posted: 11/25/2002 6:08:51 AM EDT

[#33]

Aw crap...I just bought one. I hope that doesn't happen to me.

Posted: 11/25/2002 6:14:26 AM EDT

[#34]

Chimborazo, I just sent an email with the pic to Springfield. I will let you know the out come.

Posted: 11/25/2002 6:53:56 AM EDT

[#35]

Quoted:
A gentleman posting on The Firing Line had this same failure with his Springfield Stainless Loaded about a year ago.

I think the outcome was that there was a small batch of slides produced about two years back that were defective. Improper heat treating possibly?

I have a Springfield Stainless Longslide and used to own a Stainless Loaded. They are nicely built firearms. Their service department should treat you right.

View Quote

I do vaguely remember someone mentioning improper heat treating. I was going to mention it in my post, but then was unsure of myself and thought that the heat treating situation might have been with some bolts from Oly and (insert name of manufacturer of those carbon fiber pistol ARs here) that were breaking in half a few years ago.

Posted: 11/25/2002 7:31:02 AM EDT

[#36]

[shock] Yikes! I've never seen any thing like this! Seems like Springfield would deffinately replace your pistol and should throw in a couple other pistols to keep ya from advertising the failure![:D]

Posted: 11/25/2002 9:43:20 AM EDT

[#37]

I'm not a metallurgist but I've broken plenty of metal in my time and forged steel definitely looks different along a break than cast steel. Springfield's website claims forged frames and slides and that slide just doesn't look forged, unless it's possible to heat-treat something so poorly that the steel changes from basically a linear crystal array to the more random orientation characteristic of castings.

Posted: 11/25/2002 11:35:12 AM EDT

[#38]

Quoted:
Chimborazo, I just sent an email with the pic to Springfield. I will let you know the out come.

View Quote

Thanks...I'll be curious to see not only how they handle it, but what their explanation is.

Posted: 11/25/2002 1:10:46 PM EDT

[#39]

Sure as heck looks like a casting to ME! Look at those voids!

Methinks I just took SA off of my Christmas List...

Posted: 11/25/2002 1:47:11 PM EDT

[#40]

I sure am glad I bought Glocks instead of Springfield Armory equipment. I'd rather not lose the front of my Slide, kind of makes aiming and shooting difficult.

Sorry this is all tongue in cheek here, just playing off the Glock Kaboom posts, and how overblown they are!

BTW, I'm very sorry that your fine looking SA 1911 fell apart. Hope they make it right for you!

Steven L.

Posted: 11/25/2002 5:28:36 PM EDT

[#41]

Quoted:
[size=3]Dale, could you please post a close up picture of where the steel fractured?

Thanks[/size=3]

View Quote

Posted: 11/25/2002 5:37:49 PM EDT

[#42]

Sesat look at Phil in Seattle pic on the first page it looks like that. Now stop YELLING at me I am watching a movie. Ummm Sandra Bullock.

Posted: 11/25/2002 5:50:21 PM EDT

[#43]

I agree also that this looks very much like a [i]cast[/i] piece.

Posted: 11/25/2002 6:13:17 PM EDT

[#44]

Post your question here. There is a Springfield specific group for more info. [url]http://www.1911forum.com/[/url] Deb from Springfield reads the posts in the Springfield section, and is usually quick to reply. There is a TON of good 1911 info at this site in general.

Posted: 11/25/2002 6:22:56 PM EDT

[#45]

Quoted:
I agree also that this looks very much like a [i]cast[/i] piece.

View Quote

I was wondering the same thing. Does forged metal look like that?

Posted: 11/25/2002 7:08:08 PM EDT

[#46]

Sorry Dale. Failure analysis is like porn to some of us. Unfff more.

Posted: 11/25/2002 9:05:20 PM EDT

[#47]

According to the Springfield website: "Every Springfield 1911 begins with a forged frame and slide as the foundation for a true custom-quality pistol. In addition, Springfield forged frames and slides are hardened in the tradition of John Browning's discriminating specifications. While some of today's 1911 manufacturers use investment castings or non-standard specifications when producing their components, Springfield's commitment to quality remains absolutely stringent, as does its dedication to the grand and honored tradition of the 1911." ...very interesting.

Posted: 11/25/2002 9:36:27 PM EDT

[#48]

Quoted:
You wuss! Who cares about warranties? Haven't you ever heard of superglue?

View Quote

Superglue?! JB Weld?! Screw that, use duct tape! [;)]

Pretty neat breakage line. Almost like it was made that way.

Posted: 11/25/2002 10:00:45 PM EDT

[#49]

Quoted:
I sure am glad I bought Glocks instead of Springfield Armory equipment. I'd rather not lose the front of my Slide, kind of makes aiming and shooting difficult.

Sorry this is all tongue in cheek here, just playing off the Glock Kaboom posts, and how overblown they are!

BTW, I'm very sorry that your fine looking SA 1911 fell apart. Hope they make it right for you!

Steven L.

View Quote

Yeah, now all you have to worry about is your gun blowing up! [:)]

Posted: 11/26/2002 3:54:43 PM EDT

[#50]

Quoted:
According to the Springfield website: "Every Springfield 1911 begins with a forged frame and slide as the foundation for a true custom-quality pistol. In addition, Springfield forged frames and slides are hardened in the tradition of John Browning's discriminating specifications. While some of today's 1911 manufacturers use investment castings or non-standard specifications when producing their components, Springfield's commitment to quality remains absolutely stringent, as does its dedication to the grand and honored tradition of the 1911." ...very interesting.

View Quote

Sorry...sounds like it's time to sound the BS alert! [}:D]

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - End of slide busted off of my Springfield 1911A1 (PICS) UPDATE (Page 1 of 2)

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