Posted: 12/14/2008 7:29:29 AM EDT
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I have a beloved Series 70 that Virgil Tripp went through
and did a complete reliabilty/accurizing job on in the eighties including replacing the ejector, tweaking the extractor, throating the barrel, building up lugs, rail job, etc. It ate everything I fed it and was 100% reliable. It was stolen in a burglary awhile back and I recovered it and function fired it and it ran alright w/ WWB hardball. The *&%#&@# bastard burglar apparently had dropped it or banged on the rear Bomar instead of using the adjustment screws leaving nicks next to the rear notch so I sent it to a gunsmith to shave off the nicks and refinsh the gun. When I shot it for the first time recently, out of one 8 round mag with hardball I averaged two fail to extracts and one FTF. On the the 'failure to extracts' the case would come out of the chamber 1/2 way causing me to drop the mag and then drop the slide on the spent shell and manually racking it out. The FTF with hardball was the classic nose dive in the throat. These malfunctions were done in a three mag test using three different McCormick 8 rnd. mags that worked fine before the trip to the 'smith. The only addition the 'smith made other than reblueing the gun and unfucking the Bomar was I had him put in a Brown Hardcore slide stop causing the gun to lock up a little tighter and I have to say shoot a little more accurately. Thanks in advance |
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Far from an expert, or even a 'smith, but I have a few suggestions/questions that might point in the right direction.
Do you still have/have you tried the original slide stop? The tighter lockup might be related to the problem? (Timing may have possibly been affected slightly?). Does the extractor still fit exactly the same with the new finish? (Did the finish possibly get inside, tightening the opening-forgive me, I don't know the correct term- that the extractor goes into?). Lastly, whoever refinished the gun probably also disassembled and reassembled the gun, right? If the above don't do it, my guess is it is related to the dis/reassembly process. Keep in mind, I said guess... 
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Quoted:
Far from an expert, or even a 'smith, but I have a few suggestions/questions that might point in the right direction. Do you still have/have you tried the original slide stop? The tighter lockup might be related to the problem? (Timing may have possibly been affected slightly?). Does the extractor still fit exactly the same with the new finish? (Did the finish possibly get inside, tightening the opening-forgive me, I don't know the correct term- that the extractor goes into?). Lastly, whoever refinished the gun probably also disassembled and reassembled the gun, right? If the above don't do it, my guess is it is related to the dis/reassembly process. Keep in mind, I said guess... The stock Colt slide stop the gunsmith (hack) 'lost' along with the Wilson commander hammer thats been on there since 82'. So I can't put that back in. The slide was reblued, the lower was parkerized so I could Norrell coat it. I'm wondering if the hack screwed up the tension on the extractor during disassembly / reassembly. As far as FTF ? I dunno. Before I took it in I put a new 18.5 Wolf recoil spring in and it ran fine. After the Tripp brothers left, Austin has zero depth in true pistolsmiths that specialize in the 1911 and after losing/stealing the old parts I'm not letting the plumber touch it again. |
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Well, if he changed the hammer too, who knows what else he changed? I'd double check the extractor, check to see if it is properly tensioned (links to a test can be found in the 1911 FAQ and Links section on top of the main page for this 1911 Forum. Beyond that, sounds like you may need to find a competent 'smith to "undo" the damage that was done. Sounds like shipping it to someone you trust is in order, perhaps Mr Tripp is available for the task? (He worked it over before, maybe not a major deal to go through and put it back to where he left it last time?). Just a thought, best of luck!
I DO know we've got a lot of knowledgeable folk here who may have a far closer idea than I what is going on.... c'mon guys, jump in and help the brother out? 
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Both feeding and extraction problems can be caused by the extractor. The interesting part here is your comment about the shell only coming 1/2 way out. My guess is the extractor is not holding the fired case properly allowing it to slip out before the ejector can strike it and send it out of the gun. As the slide starts forward the round gets jammed partially back in. That's the only way I can see a round being half extracted.
I was a little confused by your description of the 'nose dive into the throat." Maybe I'm misunderstanding you. Usually rounds nose dive into the frame feed ramp and never fully leave the magazine - jamming between the frame feed ramp breech face and still partially in the magazine. In some odd cases a magazine can release a round too soon before it starts to slide up under the extractor. In which case the round sort of pops up and jams nose down never getting under the extractor. The shell rim is up higher than the nose and the round jams between the barrel hood, barrel ramp and breech. This type of problem is typically caused by bad magazines. Since you appear to be using good mags I sort of doubt this is your problem. Maybe this shoemaker lost your original extractor and just replaced it with one he had laying around. Seems likely if he lost your original slide stop. On a 1911 extractor tuning is critical to good functioning. If this were my 1911 I would start by making sure the extractor is tuned and tensioned properly. |
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Quoted:
Both feeding and extraction problems can be caused by the extractor. The interesting part here is your comment about the shell only coming 1/2 way out. My guess is the extractor is not holding the fired case properly allowing it to slip out before the ejector can strike it and send it out of the gun. As the slide starts forward the round gets jammed partially back in. That's the only way I can see a round being half extracted. - jamming between the frame feed ramp breech face and still partially in the magazine. In some odd cases a magazine can release a round too soon before it starts to slide up under the extractor. In which case the round sort of pops up and jams nose down never getting under the extractor. The shell rim is up higher than the nose and the round jams between the barrel hood, barrel ramp and breech. This type of problem is typically caused by bad magazines. Since you appear to be using good mags I sort of doubt this is your problem. Maybe this shoemaker lost your original extractor and just replaced it with one he had laying around. Seems likely if he lost your original slide stop. On a 1911 extractor tuning is critical to good functioning. If this were my 1911 I would start by making sure the extractor is tuned and tensioned properly. "...I was a little confused by your description of the 'nose dive into the throat." Maybe I'm misunderstanding you. Usually rounds nose dive into the frame feed ramp and never fully leave the magazine..." Yes, you're right. I thought of my (mis) description later and should have edited. As you describe, it is actually nose diving on the ramp not in the barrel throat. And you're also probabaly correct in assuming it's not even my tuned extractor that went back in my gun but someone elses crap that was left over from a repair. My Colt slide stop is probably in someone's elses gun now. When I picked the gun up I asked for my old parts and was told 'if they were no good they were probably thrown away'. I told Joe the Plumber there was no way Colt parts were thrown in the dumpster outside. If you need a good pistol/AR smith you ain't going to find him in South Austin. I'm going to check the hook on the exctrator to see if there even is one and retension, replace. |
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Quoted:
T After the Tripp brothers left, Austin has zero depth in true pistolsmiths that specialize in the 1911 and after losing/stealing the old parts I'm not letting the plumber touch it again. Berryhill Custom in Round Rock ..... Ooops, looks like he's not currently taking in any work. 
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T After the Tripp brothers left, Austin has zero depth in true pistolsmiths that specialize in the 1911 and after losing/stealing the old parts I'm not letting the plumber touch it again. Berryhill Custom in Round Rock ..... Ooops, looks like he's not currently taking in any work. Thanks I talked to him awhile back - I think he's only doing LE work. Too bad, he's good. I may try him again tho. |
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Berryhil Custom would be a great choice if you can get in. Another thought would be to package it up and ship it to John Harrison in GA. He does great work, charges a fair price and has a reasonable turn around. Here is a link:
http://www.harrisoncustom.com/Home.aspx It might be worth the cost of shipping. 
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Quoted:
Berryhil Custom would be a great choice if you can get in. Another thought would be to package it up and ship it to John Harrison in GA. He does great work, charges a fair price and has a reasonable turn around. Here is a link: http://www.harrisoncustom.com/Home.aspx It might be worth the cost of shipping. Thanks. First I'm going to try Berryhill and see if he can work it in. If not I'll call and see if Virgil Tripp in Alpine will take it. Virg ain't doing any more pistol smithing, focusing on his Cobra Mags but back when the gun was stolen in a burglary he said as a favor he'd build another one for me. If he can't now I'll contact Harrison. It's a shame you have to send it to a pistol smith to repair what a hack did after keeping it five months and charging big $$. |