$@%*^ 1911, What now???
 

Alright, I have been playing with this thing for several months now (since March I think) and once I work one problem out, another seems to arise.

First off the firearm is a Century Arms Chief 1911 in .45 acp.

The first problem was every few rounds as the slide came to its complete rear most position while cycling a round it would catch and fail to load the next round. The gun was equipped with an extended slide release and after reading a few websites recommendations, I swapped the original slide release for an Ed Brown stainless (standard, not extended) slide release. This seemed to have fixed the slide catching while cycling rounds.

Second problem, for some reason I was having problems with every couple of rounds chambering all the way into the chamber. Still haven't figured this one out after four boxes of ammo through it. Ran a different brand of ammo through it today and no jams or failing to chamber completely, may have just been the ammo but time will tell.

Third, as I was disassembling the gun for cleaning one day, I noticed the recoil buffer on the guide rod had a semi circular cut where the recoil spring rests upon it. Now I know this is a sacrificial part which is to be replaced as they wear, so I was not concerned. Granted this was only after about 750-1000 rounds and I was under the preminition that they were to go for around 5k, no biggie though, I just ordered more (Ed Brown by the way). Today was the first time I have shot the gun since I installed the new buffer and as soon as I returned to the house I disassembled and started cleaning. Once I got the guide rod out I noticed right away the the new buffer has the same circular cut as the old one but after only 50 ROUNDS!!! .

Can someone please tell me something that makes sense on this one? Am I shooting too light a recoil spring?? Anything please. I am about to the point of throwing this thing out the window. And yes, I know, I should have bought a better name the what I have now.

RE: $@%*^ 1911, What now???
 

Only thing I could suggest would be to...

Yep you said it right there. Get rid of it and buy an SA or Para (or a Colt if you can come across one ;)).

I don't have a clue what to tell you about the other problems, except that the whole gun may not be built right and is causing even good quality parts to fail prematurely.

RE: $@%*^ 1911, What now???
 

Problems 1 and 2 can be blamed on poor quality machining,lousy quality control ect. Problem 3 is probably a sharp edge hammering on the same spot over and over.The sharp edge shouldn't be there so it could be the same issue as 1 and 2. A good gunsmith could clear up these problems but would probably be as much as selling the gun and buying a better quality one.

This is a case of you get what you pay for. Charlie Brown has the right idea, SA,Para, Colt, Kimber or my personal choice - SIG gsr


Charlie, Is that a photo of Lamoylle sp? canyon?

RE: $@%*^ 1911, What now???
 

Get rid of the recoil buffer first and get a standard guide rod/recoil spring setup - only costs around $20- recoil buffers don't belong in 1911s and will only give you headaches unless everything else is perfect on the pistol.

Try different magazines- I would try Metalform and Wislon first.

RE: $@%*^ 1911, What now???
 

Actually Briman, that was the first thing I did when I had feeding problems was to upgrade to Wilson Combat magazines.

I have pretty much made up my mind to rid myself of the problem and try my best to get a Kimber. Kinda tired of trying to fix and replace parts so that it will work to the standards of others.

Thanks for the replies fellas

RE: $@%*^ 1911, What now???
 

pyral, if you are looking for a reliable, accurate 1911 for mainly target shooting and secondary role as self defense, let me suggest the Dan Wesson Pointman series. They are a little less than the Kimber and come out of the box with all the bells and whistles already on them. Might be worth taking a gander at anyways.

RE: $@%*^ 1911, What now???
 

I think that you'll spend alot of money and time trying too rebuild this pistol into a decent working model. I would suggest a Springfield.

RE: $@%*^ 1911, What now???
 

You cured your first problem properly. An extended slide stop is prone to engaging if you shoot with a high thumb hold. Notice that most all carry pistols nowadays have the standard slide stop?

Your second problem is probably ammo related. Since the .45 ACP headspaces on the case mouth, the ammo you were using might have been overcrimped causing a taper at the mouth instead of a flat surface to headspace against. I created this problem for myself when I first started reloading.

As far as the shok-buff, I agree with the guy that told you to get rid of it.

RE: $@%*^ 1911, What now???
 

Like everyone else here has said, dump the buff. In addition to getting rid of the buff try going up or down a pound on the recoil spring. Shoot it with the stock spring, if you still get some FTF's change it. I run 15lb springs in all my .45's but I tune for my loads.

RE: $@%*^ 1911, What now???
 

deffinately get rid of the recoil buffer when the 1911 was originally designed it didnt have one, the recoil buffer is a stupid trend Colt started, I dont know why other then they were trying to perfect perfection, the 1911 is a rugged design and works best when everything is kept to the basics.

The best lower priced 1911 you can buy would either be a charles daly or a springfield government model again both guns are as basic as it gets. Oh and forget kimber, kimber 1911's are the only gun that keep my cousin in business, he is a gunsmith and constantly has kimbers in his shop seems like the only guns he works on are kimbers. He tells me the kimbers are the jaguars of pistols. Constantly need to be tuned.

RE: $@%*^ 1911, What now???
 

If you shoot a 1911 without a rigid wrist the gun can and usually will jam, either stove pipe or not feed completely, no matter what new gun you buy check to make sure you lock the wrist on the firing hand.

There are many 1911's out there and everyone has an opinion on them. A friend of mine owns a Charles Daily, they seem to be the only "cheap" 1911 that holds up over time, he has shot with me using that gun twice a week since he bought it in 1997, never a problem. There are over 5000 rounds through it. As for Kimbers, I have never seen a problem with them and neither did the US olympic team this year. A Kimber is as close as you can get to a hand assembled custom gun for an affordiable price. The fit and finish are excellent, the accuracy and reliability have been proven. Many government agencies and target shooters have flocked to the Kimber .If Kimbers are keeping a smith in business he must be performing enhancements, I personally have never seen one fail and have judged, observed, and participated in many matches using Kimbers as well as watching other shooters use Kimbers. The only real problem with Kimbers is that they are made so much tighter then other 1911's that you need to keep them clean and have a firm grip when firing. Pickup a Springfield and cycle the action, then do the same with the Kimber, you will feel the diff. Anyway there are many high quality 1911's out there and all mentioned so far in this posting are of good quality.

RE: $@%*^ 1911, What now???
 

I am not really worried about the limpwristing, I feel I have a pretty good lock when shooting and I have let two other guys shoot it and one of them did limpwrist it and the result was several stovepipes. Personnally, I have never had a stove pipe, just the occasional fail to completely chamber which I am now blaming on ammunition like I first suspected. I was originally shooting Win. FMJ which didn't seem to do to good, then swapped to their new WinClean BEB, those really shot terrible, I can personnally say that I would never recommend anyone shoot these as they left alot of brass residue and unfired powder all over the internals of my gun. Worse than any ammo I have ever shot. Then went through a period with I think it was PMC??? Blazer FMJ and had varied success and I just recently started shooting their Brass series FMJ and over the last 150 rounds I have not had one hang-up or fail to chamber. So I am really thinking all the feeding problems I have had are due to ammunition differences/tolerances.

Once again guys, I want to thank you for all your help, suggestions, recommendations and replies. I appreciate your help.

RE: $@%*^ 1911, What now???
 

Trade it in on a Springfield. Won't be dissapointed. Or if you want something a little different, an Argentine D.G.F.M. Both of these guns are great buys and function without a hitch. I think Kimbers are over priced and over rated. Or you can always go with an arsenaled mixed parts GI if you are looking for a shooter, but if you don't know what you are looking at you could get hurt. Either one of the first two would be my choice