Problem with Dawson tool less guide rod

[Hooked]

Hi all,

I installed a Dawson tool less guide rod with a 11# Wolff spring in my STI Apeiro and had a problem:  Shooting 180 gr Winchester Whitebox rounds, the gun would cycle but the hammer wouldn't cock.  Even if I tried to cock the hammer back by hand, the hammer would not stay back in the cocked position. 

I switched back to the factory recoilmaster guide rod and the gun went back to functioning normally.

Any idea what might be wrong?

Thanks in advance. 

Brian

Edited September 17, 2016 by Hooked

[Aircooled6racer]

Hello: The recoil master has a reverse plug with a bigger hole through it than a standard reverse plug. Not sure why that would effect the trigger though? Thanks, Eric

[Hooked]

Thanks Eric.  The Dawson guide rod came with its own reverse plug and the both the plug and the guide rod seem to fit fine. I don't understand the relationship between the guide rod and the trigger/hammer/sear/disconnector either.

Before I put the Recoil master guide rod back in I did strip the gun down to check if there was anything else amiss, but everything seemed ok. After I put the Recoilmaster back in I shot about 200 hundred rounds without incident. 

Maybe it was just a coincidence. I'll head back to the range next week with the Dawson guide rod and see if the problem can be duplicated. 

Thanks again.

[Foxj66]

Not coming back enough to get the disconnector? You change spring also right any coil bind?

[36873687]

Sounds like a sear problem did u have Msh off

[DEP44]

Sorry, no help with your issue, but assuming you get it to work, I'm curious to hear your opinion if/how you like it over the (heavy?) recoil master.

I'm shooting 185's in a 45 Apeiro, so I guess it's close.

Thanks.

  

[Hooked]

Fox66:  Yes, I put in a new Wolff 11# variable spring at the same time.  Shooting factory 180gr loads should have cycled the action without any problems.  I'm not familiar with coil bind, so I will have to look into that.

36873687: I did take the MSH off when the problem first appeared and I field stripped the gun. If it was a sear/disconnector problem, this may have fixed the problem. However, after I reassembled the gun and put the Recoilmaster guide rod back in I had no further problems over 200 rounds.  Plus I had about 250 rounds through the gun with no problems before I put in the Dawson rod. Maybe it was just a fluke one time thing?  The gun is stock aside from the Dawson rod that I tried.

Dep:. If I can get the gun to run with the Dawson rod in, I'll let you know. 

I hope to get to the range tomorrow to try things out.

Thanks. 

[kcd19]

based on your last post, it's not clear whether you changed a single thing at a time, or whether you detail-stripped before/while installing the Dawson guide rod, introducing the potential of an underlying issue where you're just observing the symptoms. 

at any rate, since you state that it's reproducible when cocking by hand, here is what I would do -- your goal should be to minimize variability and attempt to isolate things.

detail strip the gun - take it right down to parts.  since you've had the MSH off, i assume you are comfortable with this.

put the frame back together.  make sure the sear spring is installed correctly.

now, before you put the slide assembly back on... do a function check.  check all your safeties, check that the hammer cocks and stays back, check that your trigger is working correctly.  basically we want to establish "does it work" before introducing more variables.  if everything is put back together properly & you are able to reproduce the behavior here, you've got problems somewhere else.  gunsmith would be my next move, probably.

if everything checks out at this point, put the slide assembly back on.  repeat your function checks.  still ok?  live fire.

i have to wonder if the different spring rate with the Dawson rod is allowing a different impulse to affect your sear/sear spring, something along the lines of hammer follow, which is what it sounds a lot like.