I finally got my new TLE out of layaway, and put some rounds through it at lunch today. My TLE/RL has been a perfect performer, so I had my fingers crossed with the standard TLE. I only put a 50 round box of 230 gr Winchester Winclean ammo through it.
It was consistently failing to go into battery on almost every round, including the first from the mag. A simple push with the thumb on the rear of the slide pushed it on forward. At first, I was thinking it was the truncated cone shape of the bullet, but, upon closer inspection, I could see that the rounds were stopping the slide’s forward movement, as the widest part of the case rim was moving under the extractor. As I continued firing, it started to get better, and fed all but 1 round without trouble from the last mag I shot. This led me to believe that the extractor is too tight and needs to but adjusted, however, I’m not convinced of that now. I hand cycled some Pro Load and Speer ammo through it, and it fed them smooth as butter. This leads me to believe that the case heads on the box of Winchester I had were slightly oversized. So, before I go messing with the extractor, I am going to put some more rounds through it of various manufacture, and see if the problems continue. I did notice very uniform and consistent drag marks on the case heads and rim of the spent brass.
Accuracy was phenomenal. Tight ragged hole groups were effortless. Everything else on the gun is on par with my TLE/RL and is top notch. Even if I do end up having to adjust the extractor some, I am still MORE than pleased with this gun. It will be a fine addition to my defensive battery.