Posted: 3/18/2016 3:50:22 PM EDT
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I'm having some issues with the slide stop on a Colt series 70 reissue.
After locking the slide open, it takes very little pressure to release the slide. Slide drops if you do much more than barely touch the slide stop. Also, sometimes the slide will drop when inserting a mag. Happens with multiple mags. I'm assuming the slide stop is out of spec or worn. Is this something I can fix myself, or does it need to go back to Colt? |
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More experienced minds will chime in after me -
Your plunger tube spring could be worn, the detents could be a little worn. You can try replacing that stuff first. If that doesn't go, in your shoes, I would try a 10-8 performance slidestop - Barstock, and seems to be a drop in a lot of the time. If it needs some fitting, I don't believe it would be as difficult as say, fitting a new barrel, or sear/hammer angles. In short: Not sure this one is a "send it back to the factory" level event, but if you feel more comfortable with it, it wouldn't hurt anything. |
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There is a good chance it could be the plunger spring or maybe a damaged plunger. Also, maybe it is a magazine follower problem? I am wondering if it is simply a weak recoil spring not providing enough return force for adequate resistance against the slide lock lug. |
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Sorry, just realized I missed a few major details. Posted while on break at work & was in a hurry.
The slide stop releases with very little pressure when there is no mag in the gun. Guessing this isn't normal, but it's my only 1911, so I can't be 100% sure. I noticed while shooting that on the last round sometimes the slide stop doesn't seem to go all the way into the recess on the slide. More like 50% of the way, just enough to catch. That's when the slide drops after inserting the mag. When it's fully engaged, no issues. Gun doesn't have many rounds through it. Don't know the exact count, but definitely under 1k. Probably more like 500. After work today I took another look at it. Pulled the slide off & put the slide stop back in & an empty mag to get a better idea of how it works. Feels like good spring pressure. Put the gun back together & manually cycled it with a mag inserted. The slide stop seems to fully engage every time. When the slide stop is fully engaged, and a mag is in the gun, it needs a normal amount of of pressure to release the slide. What I'm seeing based on hand cycling with an empty mag is making me think it might be me now. I shoot thumb over thumb. Could pressure from my left thumb along the frame be interfering with the slide stop, causing it to not fully engage? I don't think I'm limp-wristing it, that would probably show up in malfunctions with other guns as well. |
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When a empty magazine is inserted it is normal for it to take more pressure to release the slide as opposed to less pressure with no magazine. This is because there is no upward pressure being applied to the slide stop from the magazine follower. I'm not sure why your slide stop lug is not fully engaging into the notch. It may have something to do with poor fitting of the slide stop to your frame. There may be something binding it up. It could just be you're riding it with your thumbs slightly, maybe angle your phone up to record yourself next time you shoot. Having the slide slam home from a freshly seated mag is not uncommon, and doesn't bother a lot of people, but it is not proper function. A lot of times it is caused from excessive force in seating the magazine. When you remove the empty there is no longer that follower applying upward pressure against the slide stop, so it is held in place by pressure from the recoil spring that is pressing the slide stop locking lug against the slide stop notch. If you slammed a magazine in hard enough, especially with some kind of lateral force hitting the frame, it may be enough to jostle the frame/slide enough to come off of that notch seating. The slide stop lug not fully engaging the slide stop notch is probably exacerbating the issue. I may be wrong about exactly how it works, but that is to the best of my understanding. |