Stainless Steel Break-in

[waltherlover]

I've heard rumors that stainless guns take longer to break in than non-stainless. Is this true, or urban myth?

Specifically, I have a gun that is all stainless, and the slide sticks just short of fully closing about 20% of the time. I'm thinking that this might be due to friction because the stainless hasn't worn in yet.

Any thoughts?

 

[PaulD]

I have a SIG GSR 1911 which did that a bit when new. The GSR is stainless but I was told it was too much tension on the extractor.

I'm not a machinist by any stretch but I do know that stainless can be more grabby on drill bits, etc but I doubt it was make any noticeable difference on break in.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

I order my 1911is in blued (4340).

While there is the cool factor, and corrosion resistance, stainless does not generally wear as well as high quality carbon steel in metal on metal applications. All other things being equal, a blued gun is probably going to stay tight longer - but this is something you will only be able to notice on guns at the high end of the quality scale. If you're dealing with a service grade handgun, it's probably not tight enough for you to ever see a difference.

It's also common for some builders to use carbon steel extractors in their stainless 1911's due to the longer wearing characteristics of the metal.

As with many things in life, there is no free lunch.

 

[PaulD]

I order my 1911is in blued (4340).

While there is the cool factor, and corrosion resistance, stainless does not generally wear as well as high quality carbon steel in metal on metal applications. All other things being equal, a blued gun is probably going to stay tight longer - but this is something you will only be able to notice on guns at the high end of the quality scale. If you're dealing with a service grade handgun, it's probably not tight enough for you to ever see a difference.

It's also common for some builders to use carbon steel extractors in their stainless 1911's due to the longer wearing characteristics of the metal.

As with many things in life, there is no free lunch.

That all makes sense. One thing to add is that with the latest type of finishes (melonite, DLC, etc), corrosion with carbon steel isn't that big a worry.

 

[waltherlover]

Let me clarify things a bit. This is a Sig P232. It sticks about 1/4" to 1/2" before fully closing. I thought at one point, that I wasn't lubricating it enough, so I put insane amounts of lubricant along the slide rails. This didn't really solve the problem.

Any ideas?

Eric

 

[drgrant]

Let me clarify things a bit. This is a Sig P232. It sticks about 1/4" to 1/2" before fully closing. I thought at one point, that I wasn't lubricating it enough, so I put insane amounts of lubricant along the slide rails. This didn't really solve the problem.

Any ideas?

Eric

"Something's Not Right There" comes to mind. I had a P232 SL and although it was tight, it never stuck like that. Did you put it back together correctly? The slide should move freely back and forth. I'd bring it to a Sig armorer (eg, at FS or North Shore Firearms) or send it back to the factory if you can't get it to work right.

-Mike

 

[Sir_Macadoo]

if the slide is failing to lock into battery - it *could* be the tension on the extractor. When there is too much tension on the extractor, the round wont go into the barrel square (slightly cocked to one side or another) and will get stuck. A way to check is to take the slide off the frame - remove the barrel, and from underneath try to slide a round - please use snap caps or an empty case - between the breach face and the extractor. There should be enough tension so that the round is held in place, but it takes almost no effort to slide it up in there. You should feel some resistance, but not a lot.

I am not sure what you are experiencing is an artifact of the material of construction. YMMV

 

[P-14]

I put a new blued slide on my Para a few years ago and it took 200 rounds to break in until it was reliable. All my SS handguns functioned flawlessly out of the box and needed no break-in.

YMMV.

 

[M1911]

"Something's Not Right There" comes to mind. I had a P232 SL and although it was tight, it never stuck like that. Did you put it back together correctly? The slide should move freely back and forth. I'd bring it to a Sig armorer (eg, at FS or North Shore Firearms) or send it back to the factory if you can't get it to work right.

This.

 

[M1911]

if the slide is failing to lock into battery - it *could* be the tension on the extractor.

The 232 has an external extractor. Extractor tension is provided by a spring, and so is unlikely to be too heavy. 1911 internal extractors have to be tuned (by carefully bending the extractor), and they are often badly tuned by the factory. But I would be surprised if the same problem would happen on a 232 with an external extractor.

Of course, IANAG (I am not a gunsmith )

 

[Sir_Macadoo]

quite right. I have seen, however, external extractors that are too tight (e.g. a caspian XR I built) - and can be reduced by playing with the spring that sits under the extractor - e.g. taking out a loop in the spring. IANAG.

 

[M1911]

quite right. I have seen, however, external extractors that are too tight (e.g. a caspian XR I built) - and can be reduced by playing with the spring that sits under the extractor - e.g. taking out a loop in the spring. IANAG.

I bow to your direct experience.

 

[Sir_Macadoo]

eh I dunno, I just play with them until the run right. Generally you are right, the external extractors don't need any tuning whatsoever, in this random case, the extractor spring was a little heftier than it needed to be.

 

[oneswithfunes]

My experience with my many Sigs is that they need lots of grease to run good. How are you lubing it? I bet it is pretty dry.

 

[Preachers Sheets]

All my SS handguns functioned flawlessly out of the box and needed no break-in.

Same here

 

[Dnotarianni]

Bought a new Springfield 1911 in SS and it are anything I threw it it without a hiccup from light SWC to hardball. Since it is a new gun did you do a good cleaning first. Lots of times there may be some manufacturing chips and crud in the wrong places causing jams
Dave

 

[RKG]

All my SS handguns functioned flawlessly out of the box and needed no break-in.

Same here

And same here.

I'm from the school that says "something is wrong here." One possibility (admittedly speculative) that comes to mind is that one of the rails on either the slide or the frame has become sprung: either from manufacturing defect or from either the slide or frame being dropped while the gun is taken apart. A careful gunsmith with a good set of gauges could detect this, but if it is a new pistol, I'd send it back to the factory.