Resolving 1911 Problems: Failures to Go into Battery

Among the most common issues with the M1911 pistol is a failure to go into battery. Many times, this is due to the fact that the 1911 is such a fertile field for "owner experimentation," and thus is often modified with aftermarket parts of unknown origin. Add to that the fact that enthusiasts often use the pistol with many different types of ammunition’also of unknown or suspect origin’and it’s not surprising to see problems with a well-used pistol.

The failure to go into battery sometimes begins with a failure on the range, but could also occur when the piece is hand cycled with ammunition. On rare occasions, the 1911 will fail to go into battery with dry cycling. A simple check is the place to begin. First, make certain the pistol is unloaded and the magazine is removed from the handgun. Carefully control the slide and let it go forward slowly under control.

If the pistol is tight and properly fitted, it should be possible to stop the slide just short of lockup. If you rack the slide and release it to roll forward, it should lock tight. If the pistol does not lock tight when the slide runs forward, then there’s a problem. There are several problems that could cause the failure to go into battery, with differing degrees of seriousness. If anew barrel has been fitted, the first thing I’d look at are the locking lugs and the locking-lug recesses.

The extractor is another part that’s often the cause of a failure to lock up properly. (This will only be seen in a livefire test.) The extractor may not be properly tensioned or it may not be properly turned (or "clocked," as we say). In other words, the extractor may be improperly installed or it may have slipped in the extractor slot. As for barrel fit, the tried and true method of checking the locking lugs works. Dismount the slide and barrel assembly first.

Then simply press on the barrel in the dismounted slide and be certain it does not spring back out of the locking lugs. With the barrel locked up and the barrel bushing properly fitted, the barrel should not spring back off the locking lugs under pressure, but should lie in the lugs. Let’s look closer at the extractor. I have seen at least one high-grade pistol with a terrible fit on the extractor, and I’m talking about an $1,800 pistol.

Another 1911 I examined had a beautiful trigger and a National-Match barrel, but had a homemade extractor! The extractor was cut from some sort of soft white metal. Be certain the extractor is properly cut and that it’s not too rough on the bottom. I’ve also worked with pistols that

AGARAD6 Armorer’s Course, AMG Version, Spread Ad (p/u from 11/08 issue)

AGARAD6 Armorer’s Course, AMG Version, Spread Ad (p/u from 11/08 issue)

Sometimes, adjustments are needed, even to highend factory-made 1911s. had problems due to oversized barrels. These barrels not only had extra metal on the hood, but the hole in the link was also oversized. This link served to pull the barrel down as the slide moved backwards, and the barrel was then forced upward, locking against the slide pin. This might be good for accuracy, but is not necessarily ideal for reliability.

A point that’s sometimes overlooked is the fact that the link tends to time the action of the pistol. As the slide moves to the rear (about 1/10 inch), the barrel only starts to unlock. When the barrel moves to the rear a bit farther, it begins to unlock as the link moves. A battery issue may arise from a link that’s too long. If the link is too long, the barrel is held in the slide for too long. A tipoff to this is that the front of the locking lugs will be rounded by this action.

This problem can actually lead to sheared lugs, although in most cases the problem is recognized long before this point. After all, if the pistol is not functioning correctly, it probably wouldn’t be fired very much. I once saw a Star PD’a 1911 variant’where the lugs had been sheared in this manner. I couldn’t be sure, however, if the problem was the fit of the lugs or if the lugs were made of steel that was too soft. The rear of the barrel lug may contact the frame if the link is too long as well.

In this case, the barrel is held for too long and the pistol takes a beating. Careful inspection can identify this problem before it results in a major repair job. At this point, we should also discuss a link that’s too short. I have an opinion on which is the more common’t oo short or too long’and the too-long link seems to crop up more often. A link that’s too short will unlock too early in the firing cycle. What happens in this case?

The pistol unlocks while there is still high pressure in the chamber, and the cartridge case still has more adhesion to the chamber wall. The result may not be dangerous in terms of a blowup, but the extractor will be worked to a greater extent as it’s stressed in pulling the case from the chamber. A too-long link can be recognized by an examination while the barrel and slide are in battery. Observe the radius in the link hole with the lower lug at the bottom and at the rear.

If the hole protrudes above the lug, you have a problem’and more load than the link was intended to carry. A recognizable indicator of a too-short link can be damaged lug feet. The pin that holds the link can become wallowed as well. A pistolsmith from whom I got much of my training told me that this situation is exacerbated by dropping the slide on an empty chamber.

As a result, I’ve gotten to the point where my skin crawls at the notion of dropping a slide on an empty chamber on any firearm, especially the 1911, but also the M1, M14, and M16 as well. This careless handling can lead to serious damage. Now, lets discuss the proper curve If any is out of spec, problems will eventually show up as eccentric wear.

The link on the stainless-steel barrel on the right is too short. Note the beat-up lower lug on the barrel. Observe the scratches on the frame. of the link. The link is properly aligned in "linkdown," as the books call it, when the radius of the hole in the link is at the center of a convex radius with the lug. This proper alignment is often referred to as "slightly past center." Pins come in oversize increments, so you can adjust with oversize pins to the sloppiness of the pistol.

Overall, many production pistols "ride the link" to one extent or another, although few I’ve seen are really bad. There’s another cause of failure to go into battery that is link related. I hadn’t heard of this problem or the term until recently, but it’s called "stem bind." A distinctive indicator is a "quarter-moon" mark on the spent shell casing fairly close to the cartridge case mouth. In this case, the barrel may be rising too quickly. A shorter link will delay this rise.

The difference falls into a very shallow few degrees of movement, but the shorter link is often enough to cure the stem bind. The barrel is moving forward and upward as the barrel rides the link. The cartridge feeds into the chamber and moves the barrel forward. Thus, a shorter link may induce better feed. There’s a time-proven slide-stop test you can perform to test the link. Assemble the pistol normally, preferably with a blued-steel slide stop installed. Press hard on the pistol in battery.

Pull the slide to the rear and press the barrel down hard. The slide stop should not bind. (Remember to leave it hanging and not locked into the slide-stop slot). If the slide stop has been marred or has picked up marks at the front, the link is too long. " When an extractor is said to have "clocked," it mean it’s moved one way or the other on the face of an imaginary clock. (continued on page 21) Markings at the rear indicate a tooshort link.

I suppose a stainless-steel slide stop properly smoked would work just as well. There are a couple of other areas of concern. The barrel-lug slot in the frame should measure .365 inch. The barrel lug comes in at .360, so there’s not much clearance in this area. Another concern is endplay. This is simply play against the bolt face. There should be little to no play in the barrel when the slide is open just enough to move the barrel with an unsharpened wooden pencil.

When a worn or poorly fitted barrel has end play, the wear on moving parts is greatly magnified. This is also a cause of headspace being transferred from the chamber to the extractor, something that happens very often with the 1911. In other words, the pistol no longer properly controls headspace with the chamber but with the extractor. These are the issues that come up fairly often with the 1911. Each can be remedied, and the fix is often simple enough.

A failure to go into battery can also result from a spring issue, but that’s relatively easy to remedy. Simply choose anew spring or a heavier spring. A lack of lubrication should be obvious, but it’s not uncommon to see a 1911 that won’t go into battery as a result of poor lubrication. Usually it will fire a few magazines and then begin to fail to lock. Some 1911s require a break-in period’usually 50 to 100 rounds is

plenty. Once this break-in period is addressed with quality hardball ammunition, it’s time for a good lubrication. Conventional wisdom says that a pistol that malfunctions within the first 50 rounds and then begins to smooth out and become reliable simply needed a break-in. If a customer reports that his pistol fired a few magazines and then began to malfunction, look first at lubrication as the probable cause.

Solving lockup problems with the venerable M1911 is not always an easy task’in fact it can be pure aggravation’but the tried and true method of looking for "the weakest link" will eventually identify the cause. And once identified, the problem is usually easily cured. I