Slide To Battery

[Putty]

I have a colt combat commander .45 that tends to not fully cycle a fresh round (factory ammo) into chamber, almost like its half way there, especially the last round in the mag (10 round shooting star mags). I have changed the recoil spring from an 18lb variable to a 16 lb variable wolff with little demonstrated difference in cycling improvements. Is this a mag, slide, ammo, barrel throat, r-spring or what problem??

[jessej]

Did you try out different mags? I would guess it's the barrel throat.

[ima45dv8]

Assuming the ammo is not the source of the problem (it's factory, so we'll assume it's good for now), I'd look at the mags. Does it do this with more than one/all of them? If so, the mags probably are OK.

In that case I would then take a hard look at the extractor and see if it has changed tension recently.

ETA -- These 2 articles will tell you just about everything you ever wanted to know about extractor tuning:

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/General/D...?f=bt002002.pdf

http://www.brazoscustom.com/magart/ejection%20perfection.htm

Edited March 1, 2006 by ima45dv8

[Putty]

IMA,

So if the ejector contacts the top round in the magazine while going into battery that will cause a hang?

[ima45dv8]

What sometimes happens is the tension of the extractor changes. There's a balance between too much and too little since the base of the round has to slide up the breechface and onto the extractor hook to go into battery. Incorrect tension can cause the round to hang on the breechface and stop.

I checked that link to the Brownell's article and it looks like maybe it got moved during their last upgrade. I did find the following on their site:

"Q: I put together a new slide for my 1911, and sometimes the slide doesn't close all the way while shooting. I think it is because the extractor isn't fitted properly to the slide. What do you think? How would I go about fitting and adjusting the extractor to the slide?

A: The extractor could be binding on the shell rim. The extractor needs to be tight enough to hold the case of a loaded round against the breech face with just a little downward droop on the bullet nose. If it is too tight, the action will not close. The underside of the extractor also needs to be beveled to make it easier for the round to slide into place as it feeds in from the magazine. The Kuhnhausen .45 Automatic Manual, #924-200-045 , shows a good picture of this procedure."

ETA -- Just found the location for the article on Brownell's site:

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/General/D...?f=bt002002.pdf

Edited March 1, 2006 by ima45dv8

[Putty]

Thanks guys, worked on it all last night by polishing the extractor radius and bending some tension out of it. Feeds like a dream.

[ima45dv8]

Thanks guys, worked on it all last night by polishing the extractor radius and bending some tension out of it. Feeds like a dream.

Coolness!