radray Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 Hello everyone. Today I was shooting my custom 1911 and encountered the following problems: The gun would cycle, but the hammer would not stay cocked.I had to cock the hammer manually. When I cocked the hammer manually and pulled the trigger, it would fire. It happened regularly today and also, the gun double fired at more than one instance. Last week when I shot the gun, I did not encounter this problem and the gun functioned normally. Today I used the same loads as last week. I don't know what the problem might be. The gun has about 150 rounds through it and has not fully been broken in. What could be causing my problem? Thank you. Raymond Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skydiver Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 Is this a brand new gun, or something you've picked up second hand? Has a trigger job been done on the gun, or is it bone stock? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wanderer Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 hammers follow because the hammer/sear relationship is not correct, i would not fire it till you get it fixed, it could go full auto on you. call the gunsmith that built it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GSWEAR Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 I would definately have it checked out before shooting it any more. hammers follow because the hammer/sear relationship is not correct, i would not fire it till you get it fixed, it could go full auto on you. call the gunsmith that built it. ^^^^^^ This would be a possibility, could also be not enough pressure from the sear spring. I have also seen it caused by the over travel screw backed out to far, some of the triggers any more have trigger bows that are long enough to push on the sear spring and lessen the pressure on the sear if the over travel screw is not adjusted. Don't listen to anyone that tells you the over travel screw doesn't do anything and just take it out. Breaking in will not correct this and if you paid for the work send it back to the person that did it. Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. 10mm Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 Years ago I had a trigger job done on my Delta Elite which still had the Colt factory parts in it. After about 1000 rounds the gun started having similar issues. I took it apart and found extensive wear on both the sear and the hammer hooks. Colt was using poor quality surface hardened parts and the gunsmith had removed enough material that the steel was no longer hard. Since I didn't have much money back then (I couldn't afford a smith to fix it) I simply dropped in replacements (with a little tuning) from Chip McCormick and the gun has been 100% ever since. These days I would probably use Cylinder & Slides drop in parts if the issue presented itself again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuNerd Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 Raymond, Have you taken it apart? The Sear Spring isn't set correctly. Can happen if reassembled incorrectly. If it hasn't been apart then it popped out and you need a sear spring adjustment or replacement. Happened to me last week (assembly error) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuNerd Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 Oh...in the future.... Test to see that Half Cocked and Cocked works properly. Then with it cocked, drop the slide and make sure the hammer doesn't fall with it. If these tests fail, DON'T FIRE IT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radray Posted September 18, 2011 Author Share Posted September 18, 2011 Thank you all for the replies. Here are some more details about the gun. The gun was custom built several years ago as an IPSC Limited gun. I thought I will have the luxury of shooting more then. However due to changes in work situation and life in general the gun ended up being put in storage for a long time until I took her out again 2 weeks ago. Prior to being put in storage,I only had about 50 shots through it and have not been broken it in. I only started shooting it again 2 weeks ago. The first week, I encountered no problem. This week was when I encountered the problems. I have not cleaned the gun yet or has disassembled it because it has not been broken in yet. Here are some things I have done: With the gun unloaded, I pull on the slide to see if it will cock the hammer and the hammer cocks. I tested to see if half cock works and it does work. With the magazine out of the gun, I pull on the slide and it cocks the hammer and then I let go of the slide to see if the hammer follows and it does not. I will do a disassembly of the gun and do a thorough cleaning of it and will also check the over travel screw. Thank you all for the responses and the suggestions. If you have anymore suggestions for me to try, I would welcome them. Raymond Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wanderer Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 ^^^^^^ This would be a possibility, could also be not enough pressure from the sear spring. Greg adding sear spring pressure masks the problem. all my 1911 style guns run 2 lb triggers, some race guns run 1 lb, cant have a lot of spring preasure to get that low, if the relationship between the two is good, it shouldn't matter. i had the sti do this and added sear spring presure to finish the match, was overseas at the time competing. when i looked at the sear and it was completely worn out, well used and lots of rounds though. as you mentioned could be some other thing also but all are connected and relate to the sear/ hammer relationship, trigger adj, disconector and sear spring all play their part. the biggest problem is when it starts, you are wearing away those nice edges on the sear and hammer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twodownzero Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 the biggest problem is when it starts, you are wearing away those nice edges on the sear and hammer. Yep. A gun that follows will destroy the sear fairly quickly. OP, There is no such thing as "IPSC Limited." If your gunsmith was selling you such a gun, perhaps it's time to find a new gunsmith. I suspect that a little bit of sear tension will resolve your issue, however. Also, I personally prefer to have my trigger a bit heavier to steer clear of these sorts of hammer follow issues. No need for it to be that light! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GSWEAR Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 ^^^^^^ This would be a possibility, could also be not enough pressure from the sear spring. Greg adding sear spring pressure masks the problem. Some sear spring pressure is required for proper function. You could have a 5 pound trigger and if it is all applied by the center leaf the hammer would follow due to not having enough spring pressure on the sear. Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuNerd Posted September 19, 2011 Share Posted September 19, 2011 Ray, Read up about Sear Spring Adjustment. There are several YouTube Videos as well. I would do that just so you can understand what it is and what it controls and help to communicate with a Gunsmith. Then I would take it to some one to check it out. You're likely to chase your tail a bit trying to figure it out and it potentially creates an unsafe pistol. Your gunsmith may have simply been trying to make the trigger very light Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radray Posted September 19, 2011 Author Share Posted September 19, 2011 Thank you all for the advice and recommendations. Raymond Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amerflyer48 Posted September 28, 2011 Share Posted September 28, 2011 "The gun was custom built several years ago as an IPSC Limited gun. " "There is no such thing as "IPSC Limited." If your gunsmith was selling you such a gun, perhaps it's time to find a new gunsmith." Depending on how many years ago he had it built,.. there were only 2 classes OPEN and LIMITED this may be the cause for his reference say the early / mid- 90's back when Production ,Single-stack ,Revolver and L-10 were in their early days before being recognized as their own divisions John P.S. to the OP yep sounds like a sear/hammer hook issue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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