1911 experts, Please Step In!!

[Hworth18]

I have a 1911 4" in 9mm. The last time I took it to the range, the hammer would sometimes not fully engage the firing pin when the trigger was pulled. It didn't do it every time, but usually a couple of rounds a mag would not fire. I examined the pistol and realized the hammer wasn't fully engaging. The hammer would stop travelling about half way. I could recock the gun and then it would fire. The gun has been very reliable up until now and I have probably 500-600 rounds thru it.

Any ideas as to what could cause this? Is it a grip safety issue?

Thanks!
Harry

 

[panayoti]

Take it to gunsmith unless you know what you are doing. Does it have an trigger with over travel set screw? Are you saying the hammer is stopping at half cock?

 

[Bocephus123]

Dirt,Fowling

 

[SPDguns]

Dirrrrrty on the insides

 

[Hworth18]

Take it to gunsmith unless you know what you are doing. Does it have an trigger with over travel set screw? Are you saying the hammer is stopping at half cock?

Yes, the hammer stops at half cock. It does not have an over travel screw in the trigger.

 

[Hworth18]

Dirrrrrty on the insides

Dirt,Fowling

Thanks! I'll give the frame a good cleaning also.

 

[mr ed]

Firmly pull trigger until it fires.
If you let go too soon it will fall to half cock.

 

[Bocephus123]

Chicken in a Barbecue

 

[Glocktogo]

With no overtravel screw to interfere, something else is preventing the sear from clearing the "half-cock notch". The back end of your trigger bow, the disconnector, sear spring and the bottom "ears" of your sear, all have to play well together in order to get reliable ignition. So your issue could be anything from a piece of debris, worn, weak or broken finger on your sear spring, broken sear pin, you name it.

Until you get into the guts of it and clean/inspect everything, it's tough to diagnose over the internet. You might be able to blast it out with some gun scrubber and get it functioning again with some lube, but you may not know if there's an actual issue preventing it from functioning correctly as soon as it gets fouled again/

Obviously if you're not familiar with the detailed disassembly of a 1911 fire control group, it's best to take it to a qualified gunsmith for diagnosis. If you're pretty adept at mechanical wizardry, you can always watch some Youtube videos and DIY, just make sure to do all the safety and function tests when you get it back together. Obviously if it's beyond your expertise, you can always take your Box-O-Gun to a qualified smith then.

Here's a decent short article on how it's all supposed to work. Good luck!

Demystifying The Disconnector - American Handgunner

A disconnector in a 1911 is a vertical bit of magic connected to the fire control system (hammer, sear, spring, etc.), moving up and down depending upon what’s going on.

americanhandgunner.com

 

[Snattlerake]

Clean it!

At first, it sounded like the slide wasn't going into complete battery. By not completing the slide forward action, the bottom of the slide could have impeded the hammer blow.