1911 Stuck with Live Round in Chamber and Not Quite in Battery

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wolfenkraft

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Hey everyone

I've got a Ruger SR1911 full size, and three different types of mags. It came with a 7rd, 8rd, and I bought some Chip McCormick mags as well, I was using Tulammo .45 230grain (this combo has been working fine since I bought the gun). Yesterday, I took it to the range and ran into a really annoying problem. When I first loaded the gun, it loaded fine and fired fine. Then when it picked up the next round from the mag, it basically entered something like 6/7ths of battery. The frame stuck out maybe 1/4 inch from the end of the frame. Nothing I did would let me rack the slide back. The only way to fix the malfunction was to drop the mag, smack the back of the slide really hard, and then I could fire the round and stare at my gun in confusion. The rounds that I was able to extract without firing were torn up on the actual bullet, lots of scratches and cuts, but that might have just been from me jiggling the slide back and forth and the round hitting the edge of the chamber.

I took it apart at the range and didn't see anything especially wrong with it. When I got it home, I did a detailed clean, including the extractor. I'll go try it out again tomorrow, but is there anything I should look for? Anything I could be missing? Maybe not enough lube or something on the locking lugs?

Thanks
 
Don't slam the slide into battery. Grip the top of the slide with your weak hand then smack the backstrap with your strong hand.

Chamber check your ammo before the next range trip. It's probably just crap ammo with bulged bases or crooked bullets.
 
bill o said:
Don't slam the slide into battery. Grip the top of the slide with your weak hand then smack the backstrap with your strong hand.
Click to expand...

I tried that... Literally nothing would work except: 1) jiggling it for 10 mins until it let me rack the slide back or 2) slamming it into battery by whacking the slide.

What would cause it to lock up anyway? I understand it not going fully into battery, but what would keep the slide from going back?
 
I've had it happen so bad that I had to use a 3/8 dowel. Put the dowel in the barrel and hit the dowel on the table while pulling back on the slide taking care if it does fire the discharge will hurt no one. I did it while I was at the range.
 
Have you considered trading it in for a Glock in 40cal?


Just kidding ..................... I say you've got crap ammo.

Try running it with some quality ammunition and see if the problem goes away.

I will take for granted that you have already checked your recoil spring and it is undamaged and in one piece.
 
icyclefar said:
Have you considered trading it in for a Glock in 40cal?


Just kidding ..................... I say you've got crap ammo.

Try running it with some quality ammunition and see if the problem goes away.

I will take for granted that you have already checked your recoil spring and it is undamaged and in one piece.
Click to expand...


I brought my Glock 17 with me, so the trip wasn't a waste. :)

The ammo was fine previously, I've even shot from the same box/lot and it worked well. I can try other ammo, I guess.
 
To get a 1911 out of battery, place the front of the slide below the barrel up against some wood and push. You can push open the slide that way. I've used it to open guns stuck out of battery before.

Don
 
Another trick is to use a small flat bladed screw driver to gently lift the extractor over the rim of the case. You can then disassemble the gun, and more safely drive the round from the barrel with a rod.
 
I tried a different box of ammo and a different magazine, same thing happened. This time, once in battery, couldn't eject the round. I removed the mag and the slide wouldn't go back. So it was stuck with a live round in the chamber, in full battery.

I think I'm just going to take it to a gun smith this week. I have no idea what's going on, it looks clean and everything looks okay, it's always fired great. I haven't shot it in a few months, but cleaned it before the range anyway.
 
Did you try to chamber check the new ammo before you loaded it again? This would have narrowed things down quite a lot. Chamber checking is when you remove the barrel from the gun and drop a live round in, then turn it upside down. The round should go in and out freely.

What did the previous ammo look like when you got it out? Was the case mouth peeled back or the case bulged?

ETA: just saw you said the bullet was scratched up. What's the ammo overall length?
 
Before I brought it in to a smith, Id try "buzzing" the chamber with a 20 ga shotgun brush chucked into a drill.

I can't imagine that a chamber that has worked in the past could be fouled with anything other than brass or copper.

Don
 
Never had a jam up like that myself but have had others at the range have it happen. I keep a brass rod and hammer in my ammo box for such occasions. While I hold said pistol owner places rod on the face of the slide and give a few taps and in most cases the slide moves enough to eject the offending round.
 
My brand new ruger was failing to go into battery as you suggest, 6/7th of the way there, mostly with non Ruger mags but sometimes with Ruger mags. I never had rounds stuck though. Mine was related to the heavy springs ruger uses. I took it to Lou at Business End Customs and he tuned my extractor. Problem solved. This may not be your problem but you may want to consider it. According to Lou, who knew what it was the second I walked in, the springs are all heavier than normal on Rugers, recoil spring, may springs, extractor etc.
 

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