Stu Love Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 Guys, sorry, I know this is an old topic. My 1911 .45 eats shok buffs voraciously- 70 rounds and the gun starts jamming horribly, always a totally shredded buff inside. Used to get 250 rds on the old C.P. buffs when I could get them, & didn't mind replacing them that often (can't get the old style nylon buffs now). The gun is 100% reliable as long as the buff doesn't start coming to pieces inside, but I'm tired of this. Would a Comminoli recoil guide solve this? Maybe I should just use shok buffs in practice, but heck, even then I would have to take the slide off several times just to replace the buff. I realize the 1911 design has survived many years without shok buffs, but I'm envious of those who get jillions of 180 PF rounds on their shok buffs with only trace wear. What would you do, forget about the buffs and accept the "wear" if any, or go for a Comminoli guide rod? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 Stu, Give us a little info. What kind of gun? (Kimber, STI, Springfield, etc) Full length guide rod or stubby? Spring weight? Loads that you are shooting? Also, if you were to shoot just 10 rds or so, what kind of wear would you see on the buff? I shoot a STI Edge, Full length guide rod, 11 lb recoil spring with 170 pf loads w/o any significant wear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blkbrd Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 Its got to be something with your gun. I shoot 170PF 230gr loads in a 45 L10 and get 1000 round + lifespans on my shockbuffs using 12.5 lb recoil and 17 lb mainspring. have had the same with Wilson buffs, and Comminoli tunsten rod and standard front and rear buffs, I only change them at 1K as a precaution, they look the same at 10 rounds as 1K. Check your spring length and look for sharp edges on your frame, also if your locking lugs are way out of speck you could have a viscious slide speed problem. I wouldn't just accept the wear as you have another problem besides the buffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyaboutguns Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 Hello Stu: Suggest you examine the rear surface of the slide's recoil spring plug area. This surface is where the slide contacts the shock-buff during recoil. If the surface is sharp, irregular or not perpindicular to the lengthwise centerline of the slide, the slide will destroy the shock-buff in short order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SmittyFL Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 Crazy is probably right. That portion of many 1911's is chamfered to avoid binding the recoil spring w/ a short guide rod. Without the fulllength guide rod the spring basically bends in all directions to fill the space available. So the slide area was relieved to give the spring clearance. I don't know if there is anything you can do. I guess you could micro-weld it up and ground it flat or maybe just ground it flat but I'm not sure how, if at all, that would affect the functioning of the gun. Just run it without a buff, or put a buff behind your guiderod and see if you like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Boit Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 A friend of mine has the same problem with his gun. His set up is STI slide and frame, clark bushing barrel ,16.5 Lbs RS and 19 Lbs MS. We tried something : I made him litlle metallic rings he would put in front of the buffs. It's supposed to give a flat and bigger contact area between buffers and slide. I'm waiting for his feedback, I'll let you know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Love Posted July 8, 2003 Author Share Posted July 8, 2003 Thanks , guys for all the helpful replies. I forgot to give gun details: Colt series 70 .45 acp, currently shooting 180 gr lead SWC with 5.6 gr Win. Super Target for around 170 PF. I recently ran out of preferred 230 gr lead RN bullets (loaded with 4.8 gr WST, not sure about PF); Shooting Star 8-rd mags; old military national match barrel; 17 lb Wilson recoil spring & 2-piece Wilson guide rod; (gunsmith went over this gun some years back, re-cut the barrel lugs or something, made some other adjustments & a few parts replacements, & it became 100%reliable for several thousand rds- then I didn't shoot for 10 years, till now). I haven't looked at a shok buff after only 10 rds or so- that's got me curious, I'll check it out. I did a visual check of the face of the recoil spring plug, didn't see any obviously sharp edges. When I have seen the buffs after 60 or so rds, even the "old" super tough C.P. buffs, there is a very significant indentation exactly matching the back of the slide spring tunnel. Actually, the newer "softer" buffs appear nearly severed, like a cookie-cutter, after 50-60 rds, being cut right where the inner diameter of the back of the slide smashes into the buff. A few more rds and it rips apart. I'm not a smithy, but I can't even tell where these little plastic shards can hang up the gun. The 230 gr & 180 gr bullets work great for the 1st 3/4 of a match, then the death jams come . Heavier recoil springs don't seem to make the buffs last longer. I don't mind the feel of an 18.5 lb spring, but would like to try some lighter springs to experiment with the different feel that so many shooters have been talking about in other threads. Lots of people laugh at the mention of "battering" of 1911 guns with lots of ball-equivalent loads. I just don't know; if I knew it was just BS, I might dump the buffs altogether, knowing they are at least potentially a source of jams. If the Comminoli rod is easy to install, it might be worth a try, if there's any merit to the "battering" theory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted July 8, 2003 Share Posted July 8, 2003 Stu, Is the spring new? an unaltered 17 lb spring should do the trick for a 170 pf load w/o any wear on the buff. Something else is going on. You mentioned the gunsmith recut the lugs? Sounds like a potential problem. The only thing that makes sense is that the gun is unlocking very early allowing the full recoil force to slam the slide back, not slowing down at all. I do not fully subscribe to the whole barrel timing thing but it just might be of some use here. Check out the following link: schuemann web site Scroll down left side and click on "Timing test kit" See if this sheds any light on the problem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Love Posted July 9, 2003 Author Share Posted July 9, 2003 Thanks warpspeed- Interesting idea- I'll look at the scheumann site tomorrow (got in late tonite). The timing situation you described sounds like a very plausible explanation for what's going on with my buff-eater. The recoil spring (Wilson 17 lb) is new, less than 300 rds. I'll check out the above website & go from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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