New 1911 Not Locking Back

[terdog]

A few yrs ago I bought your guns cousin.
The EMP LWC.
That gun was a set of fatter grips away from being perfect. BUT .... I had my heart set on getting a EDC X9, so she had to go. I sold her to my son. That way, I at least get visitation rights.
SA makes some good stuff. Sounds like your falling in love.

 

[dxnjxhn]

A few yrs ago I bought your guns cousin.
The EMP LWC.
That gun was a set of fatter grips away from being perfect. BUT .... I had my heart set on getting a EDX X9, so she had to go. I sold her to my son. That way, I at least get visitation rights.
SA makes some good stuff. Sounds like your falling in love.

View attachment 761742

oh I definitely am, I hated the idea of getting a gun I didn't absolutely love like some stock glock and my Range Officer elite champion, is a beautiful gun in my eyes.

 

[WillametteWill]

ROTFLMAO...Idiot Scratch
There are 17 minute YouTube videos on how to avoid them! So having shot 1911's for 30 years and never having heard of them, I had to look. Priceless (I also had to look at my working guns...that have plenty of other scratches from...working...but not this dreaded scratch). It's apparently rocket science to assemble a 1911! Who would have thunk? Placing business cards on the frame on the stop, releasing the tension on the plunger, leaving the spring tension on while inserting the stop(???)...sorry but I'm just kinda stunned at the effort with this.

Thanks all for the fun detour to my afternoon!

(By posting this, guaranteed to have one by morning)

 

[homeuser6]

OMG! slide stop scratch! what a bunch of prima donnas. .45s are a dime a dozen.

 

[jbett98]

OMG! slide stop scratch! what a bunch of prima donnas. .45s are a dime a dozen.

Yep, a dime a dozen.

 

[Ura-Ki]

OMG! slide stop scratch! what a bunch of prima donnas. .45s are a dime a dozen.

So, you scratched yours and then accuse the rest of us of being arrogant to normalize your stupidity? WOW


Prolly gave yer self Garands Thumb too!!!

 

[rick benjamin]

Idiot mark. prevention and correction

Idiot Mark? Solution?

Why do so many expensive 1911 guns have the famous idiot mark? Is there not a solution? I find it interesting when I read the classifieds on a 1911 it seems like 90% come with the famous engraved idiot mark? Why? You notice the tag lines "slight idiot mark" or "selling for a friend" or...

www.northwestfirearms.com

 

[Koda]

Idiot mark. prevention and correction

Idiot Mark? Solution?

Why do so many expensive 1911 guns have the famous idiot mark? Is there not a solution? I find it interesting when I read the classifieds on a 1911 it seems like 90% come with the famous engraved idiot mark? Why? You notice the tag lines "slight idiot mark" or "selling for a friend" or...

www.northwestfirearms.com

Since the subject of this post is a Springfield I should comment on my experiences with the "idiot mark", as Ive owned 3 different brands of 1911s I find the Springfield the most prone to the mark and discovered their slide stop geometry was much different than others and does not go in smoothly.

Stainless Springfield stop on the right, Colt version on the left (both unmodified originals). Notice the huge difference in geometry.... that front left angled surface on the Springer is so tiny and is what contacts the plunger...
There is a solution mentioned in Ricks link above, for me I was able to grind the tiny surface on the Springfield stop to match the surface on the Colt and problem solved... easy to insert now.

 

[No_Regerts]

Since the subject of this post is a Springfield I should comment on my experiences with the "idiot mark", as Ive owned 3 different brands of 1911s I find the Springfield the most prone to the mark and discovered their slide stop geometry was much different than others and does not go in smoothly.

Stainless Springfield stop on the right, Colt version on the left (both unmodified originals). Notice the huge difference in geometry.... that front left angled surface on the Springer is so tiny and is what contacts the plunger...
There is a solution mentioned in Ricks link above, for me I was able to grind the tiny surface on the Springfield stop to match the surface on the Colt and problem solved... easy to insert now.

View attachment 761966

Now that you mention it, the slide stop on my Colts reinsert much easier than the Springfield I had. Never thought to compare.

OP, did this get sorted out?

 

[dxnjxhn]

Now that you mention it, the slide stop on my Colts reinsert much easier than the Springfield I had. Never thought to compare.

OP, did this get sorted out?

yes it was my grip.

 

[No_Regerts]

yes it was my grip.

Good! I was thinking about this thread the other day when I diagnosed the cause of the same problem on another 1911, which was the detent spring being a bit stiff on a new gun.

 

[Idaho44]

The spring tension does influence the slide stop seating. The modification to the geometry should be a real plus. I need to do mine, so that I don't have to 'assist' the plunger with a small screwdriver. Note: lube the plunger assembly also.

 

[dxnjxhn]

Good! I was thinking about this thread the other day when I diagnosed the cause of the same problem on another 1911, which was the detent spring being a bit stiff on a new gun.

Funny enough, the second I posted this and was hearing people mention it might be from a flimsy hold or riding the slide release, I held it tight and then realized my finger was sitting directly on top of the slide release and was a big "ah hah" moment.

After this, I went to the range and it locked back every time.

 

[Cerberus Group]

Glad you got it figured out.

A few things to ponder;

Springfield has had a long history of mis-shaped ends on their slide stops.

Pulling the slide back on an empty 1911 to see if the magazine will lock the slide back does not replicate firing.
If the magazine spring is weak, the slow action of pulling the slide back will allow more time for the spring to push up on the slide stop, whereas the firing cycle allows a short window for the spring to do its job.

The gut wrenching term "Break-In" I noticed the term came to be around the turn of the century when lesser quality 1911 makers decided to replicate models that looked like Wilson, Brown, Baer and other top notch 1911 makers, but at a fraction of the cost. To keep the cost down obviously corners were cut.

Thus the term "Break-In" was born. If it's made correctly it'll run, it's a machine it doesn't have a choice. But with 1911s, just because they run, doesn't mean they are running correctly. They can chew themselves up nicely without the owner knowing it, unless they know what to look for.

 

[No_Regerts]

Glad you got it figured out.

A few things to ponder;

Springfield has had a long history of mis-shaped ends on their slide stops.

Pulling the slide back on an empty 1911 to see if the magazine will lock the slide back does not replicate firing.
If the magazine spring is weak, the slow action of pulling the slide back will allow more time for the spring to push up on the slide stop, whereas the firing cycle allows a short window for the spring to do its job.

The gut wrenching term "Break-In" I noticed the term came to be around the turn of the century when lesser quality 1911 makers decided to replicate models that looked like Wilson, Brown, Baer and other top notch 1911 makers, but at a fraction of the cost. To keep the cost down obviously corners were cut.

Thus the term "Break-In" was born. If it's made correctly it'll run, it's a machine it doesn't have a choice. But with 1911s, just because they run, doesn't mean they are running correctly. They can chew themselves up nicely without the owner knowing it, unless they know what to look for.

In the case of the gun I was working on, it didn't matter what magazine was used and the problem didn't actually manifest itself during regular shooting, just when pulling the slide back on an empty magazine. As I pulled the slide back, I could see the slide stop was not fully traveling up into the notch. I noticed the safety was pretty stiff, so removed the detent and spring and re-did the slide experiment and the slide stop moved right into place. I'm thinking its either the spring being too heavy, or there being something on the slide stop causing it to hang up.

 

[Cerberus Group]

Sometimes the plunger tube spring is too stiff. Kind of like tolerance stacking, can be a variety of things that all contribute to the problem.

 

[turbo_vanner]

i've built a few 1911s, can't say I really know what exactly the idiot mark is, or care enough to find out anymore than it has to do with the slide stop. The folks who do care probably also care about marring their AR lower while installing a bolt catch... if things like that matter to you, then by all means, take appropriate measures, if not, have at it with tooth and claw. It will work fine either way.

 

[Cerberus Group]

 

[No_Regerts]

i've built a few 1911s, can't say I really know what exactly the idiot mark is, or care enough to find out anymore than it has to do with the slide stop. The folks who do care probably also care about marring their AR lower while installing a bolt catch... if things like that matter to you, then by all means, take appropriate measures, if not, have at it with tooth and claw. It will work fine either way.

It's okay, you can get it refinished someday.

 

[edzz]

i've built a few 1911s, can't say I really know what exactly the idiot mark is, or care enough to find out anymore than it has to do with the slide stop. The folks who do care probably also care about marring their AR lower while installing a bolt catch... if things like that matter to you, then by all means, take appropriate measures, if not, have at it with tooth and claw. It will work fine either way.

And this folks is why I don't loan out my tools.