Should a 1911 do this when chambering?

[Boatcephus]

I have an Ithaca 1911-A1 produced in 1943, so, it's an old warhorse.

It has always had trouble locking open on the last round. (It wouldn't.)

I overcame this recently by replacing the slide lever AND the old magazine. With a nice new mag and new slide stop lever it will now lock open when you work the action back with an empty mag. (As it should - hooray!)

Problem - It now also locks back with a round in the mag. That really sucks. I have to operate the slide release lever now just to chamber a round.

They are old guns, but I doubt this is how they are supposed to work. Other than that 'feature' everything works well now.

Can a 1911 'old pro' tell me if the slide should lock back when chambering a round? That would not be cool in combat, etc.

 

[Ignored Member]

If you're putting a full mag in and then racking the slide, it shouldn't be locking to the rear. I'm not sure why it would do that with a full mag in.

Are you maybe pushing up on the slide release by accident when you rack the slide back?

 

[watchcollector1968]

Maybe the part of the slide release that contacts the magazine to hold it open is just a hair to long and contacting the round and pushing it up? Can you look inside and see if thats what it is doing?

 

[Boatcephus]

I'm not lifting the slide lever up, staying well clear of it to be sure.

I was wondering about the mag 'catch' being a hair too long, myself. I will check it this afternoon. Wish I had a dummy round to play with.

I may put the original slide stop lever back in, but it has very obvious wear and wasn't locking back every time with an empty mag.

I only have one 'new' mag, and it's some generic 10 rounder. I need to order a good mag to try out.

But you guys answered my question - it should not lock back when trying to chamber a round. Thanks!

 

[mr ed]

If you put the old slide stop back in and it works with the new mag. leave it in. the tit on the new slide stop is probably to long as you probably didn't fit it.
if the new mag and old slide stop work together then you probably can alter the leg on the follower of the old mag to get it working again. probably only needs bent up or out 1-2 degrees.

 

[TerryP]

The slide stop is a part that often has to be fit.
They are also different parts for a 9, 38 super and a 45.
T.P.

 

[doctruptwn]

Likely the slide stop which you replaced is being hit by the next round in the mag. You can fix this by filing the lung on the slide stop slightly.

 

[99TROUBLE]

I'm not lifting the slide lever up, staying well clear of it to be sure.

I was wondering about the mag 'catch' being a hair too long, myself. I will check it this afternoon. Wish I had a dummy round to play with.

I may put the original slide stop lever back in, but it has very obvious wear and wasn't locking back every time with an empty mag.

I only have one 'new' mag, and it's some generic 10 rounder. I need to order a good mag to try out.
But you guys answered my question - it should not lock back when trying to chamber a round. Thanks!

I would try it w/ a quality magazine before I did anything else.

 

[WhiteyMacD]

I would try it w/ a quality magazine before I did anything else.

This!

Dont be suprised when most 1911 issues are caused by the mag. Anytime I have a problem with a 1911, I always check the failure against a quality mag. Of course, learning that this is that first place to check has been a costly lesson for me as once upon a time I would go through the major components leaving the "try a better mag" for last, only to find the failure went away with the original parts and a good mag.

 

[Lance Jensen]

It is more than likely the slide stop being pushed up by the bullet profile.

Check this by removing the slide and reinserting the slide stop. Put a magazine in the gun with one or two bullets. Move them up and down; you'll be able to see if they are touching the slide stop. If so remove material from the stop till the rounds clear.

Be careful not to take too much or the stop will be disabled.