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AR15.COM
12/12/2010 8:22:31 AM EDT
I posted about it on here before, and should've updated.

I rattled-canned my second 1911 a few months ago.  In hindsight, probably shouldn't have done that as that's where the problems started (prior to this there were no problems), but I think I've eliminated excess spraypaint as the cause.

With the mag release in, the mag refuses to drop free.  I've sandpapered the inside of the frame, and the mag slides freely up and down the tube.  A new mag release in the current frame causes exactly the same problems, but the current mag release in a new frame drops the mags free.

On the advice of several brilliant gunsmiths who posted in the last thread, I filed the button side of the inside of the mag catch.  I have actually filed this to the point where it's about a hair's breadth from being flush with the frame when the button is pressed.  This has helped a tiny, tiny bit.  Not much, but barely.  Now I can shake the mag out of the frame instead of having to rip it out by the baseplate.  I've also filed the flat part of the mag release, also to no effect.  I've checked the positioning of the tab that does the actual catching, and it retracts perfectly into the frame when the button is pressed, so that's not where it's catching.

I sharpied a mag and slammed it home a couple of times in hope of getting wear marks.  Nada.

To recap:
Mag moves freely inside the frame
Mag sticks heavily when mag release is installed.
Current mag release drops mags freely when installed in a new frame
New mag release binds up mags when installed in current frame.
I'm at my wits end.

Anybody have any ideas?  Thanks in advance.
12/12/2010 11:15:48 AM EDT
[#1]
It could be one of two things.  The Mag release is not formed/fitted correctly or the trigger bow is putting pressure on the side of the mag holding it in place.

Is it one mag or all mags?
12/12/2010 11:51:49 AM EDT
[#2]
Quoted:
It could be one of two things.  The Mag release is not formed/fitted correctly or the trigger bow is putting pressure on the side of the mag holding it in place.

Is it one mag or all mags?


Happens with all mags.  CMC, Wilson, MF, Kimber, CProducts, everything.

The trigger bow is out of the equation altogether, as I have not been putting it in the frame while working on the mag release.

The mag release used to work.  If the mag release were not formed or fitted correctly, another would work, or it wouldn't work in another frame.  No other mag release works, and the current release works perfectly in other frames.
12/13/2010 4:20:15 AM EDT
[#3]
Bumping for help.
12/13/2010 4:32:25 AM EDT
[#4]
pull the mag catch out of the frame , and check the frame with mag.  this way you can make sure where your problem is. if your mag is completly free in just the frame, then put yourmag catch back in. if your mag hangs then, keep working on the mag catch.
12/13/2010 4:19:25 PM EDT
[#5]
All mags full and empty slide free in the frame.  Any new catch and the old catch bind them up.  Meanwhile the old catch works perfectly in any other frame.
12/15/2010 7:05:24 PM EDT
[#6]
Anybody have any more ideas?  You guys have done a wonderful Dr. House diagnostic routine on my past 1911s...
12/19/2010 9:07:35 PM EDT
[#7]
Thought maybe you guys would like an update...I fixed it.

Got angry the other night and started slamming a new mag in, dropping it, slamming it back in, forcing it past the hitch I could feel in the frame.  Pulled it out and there's a nice shiny line of metal down the front of the mag from the mag catch hole on up.  So I started filing the inside face of the mag catch.  That seemed to help a bit more.  Then I got to thinking...if new parts do the same thing but old parts work fine in different frames, it must be a combination of the frame and the catch, both are guilty.  So I filed the hell out of the back of the frame's mag tube, as it had to be pushing the mag against the catch.  Now magazines drop free.

That was a very good day.