Slide locked up

[steveodtw]

I was shooting my SR1911 Monday with some friends. One of them said he had a misfire and turned the pistol back to me. The slide was locked back so I dropped the mag. and tried to rack the slide. The chamber was empty and the slide would not release. The slide is locked open with the slide lock in between the slide lock notch and the take-down notch. I tried to remove the bushing to relieve the slide spring pressure but the bushing wont budge. There is no movement in the barrel. It seems as if the barrel itself is locked up.

This pistol has been flawless with well over 500 rounds of factory and my reloads with 200 gr LSWC. Any suggestions before I take it to a gunsmith??

 

[1911Tuner]

Sounds like a broken link or lower barrel lug. Try levering up and down on the muzle to see if you can get the barrel to move. If you can, push the slide backward. Forward will only wedge the barrel more tightly between the slide and frame.

 

[revhigh]

I'm tempted to call Ruger but I don't know if they'll touch it because of the reloads. Any suggestions before I take it to a gunsmith??

Why in the world would you even think of mentioning reloads ? Seriously ?

What exactly, are you calling a 'misfire' ?

REV

 

[1911Tuner]

Any luck in getting the barrel to drop far enough to let go of the slide?

 

[steveodtw]

Thanks for the suggestion Tuner. No, the slide is locked about 1/4" shy of the normal slide lock position. will move a little bit more to the rear under spring pressure, but nothing releases.

I called Ruger and the sent me a shipping label to send it in for evaluation. Will take it to UPS Monday. Fingers crossed. Thanks for checking.

 

[1911Tuner]

Keep us posted.

 

[steveodtw]

Well, I just got a call from Ruger. My barrel was bulged, "probably as a result of an ammunition issue." It cost me $85.00 for the new barrel. They will fix & ship within 7 days.

 

[revhigh]

So you had a squib caught in the barrel, fired another round behind it, and bulged the barrel.

That makes sense since the shooter said they had a 'misfire' ....

REV

 

[steveodtw]

That's about all I can figure too Rev. The barrel was clear so if there was a second shot behind the squib, both bullets fired through. I'm going back and weighing all my loaded ammo, looking for light loads..

 

[revhigh]

You could also just shoot them, but slowly and carefully, so if there is a squib, you'll easily catch it.

I wouldn't trust weighing them ... Too many variables.

In reality ... The shooter was lucky ... You can do far worse than bulging a barrel with that set of circumstances.

The gun should be fine, I'm sure.

REV

 

[1911Tuner]

So, the misfire was a squib.

I assume that you hand-cycled the slide to load the next round. That's one of the drawbacks of training to execute fast malfunction drills...and good reason to always stop and check the gun with a misfire or light recoil and report.

I've seen a squib actually cycle the slide and chamber the next round. Was actually looking at the gun and watched it happen. Before I could get the shooter's attention, she pulled the trigger again and locked the gun up solid.

Unusual for it to bulge the barrel that far back. Most of the time, a squib that close to the chamber stops the next round from chambering, and holds the slide out of battery. It must have set the bullet back in the casing far enough to let it chamber and fire.

Never saw or heard of a squib/live round blow a pistol up, though. It generally just vents the gases out through the breech or around the barrel when it splits. Carbon steel barrels mostly just bulge. Stainless barrels split.

 

[steveodtw]

You assume correctly, Tuner. Never had or encountered a squib before. Pretty unsettling for me as it could have turned out badly for my friends who were shooting. Ruger didn't have much to say about it.

What surprised me is that I took it to UPS Mon. with the 2nd day air shipper Ruger provided. Ruger called me Wed. at 7:40 AM their time with the resolution and repair cost. That's less than 48 hours response time, including shipping from MI to AZ.
Overall I'm pleased with their handling. We'll see more when I get it back.

Thanks guys for the input.

 

[1911Tuner]

Pretty unsettling for me as it could have turned out badly for my friends who were shooting.

It wouldn't have gone all smithereens unless there'd been a double charge following the squibbed bullet.

A number of years ago, a savvy old pistolsmith in Maryland set up an experiment to disprove Kuhnhausen's "Balanced Thrust Vector" description...in which JK stated that the slide moves after bullet exit...which can't happen. "Joe" premise was that if the bullet can't move, the slide can't move, either, and that if the slide doesn't move until after bullet exit, the slide won't move. At least, not enough to notice.

He threaded the muzzle of of a barrel in WW2 USGI Colt...form-turned a steel rod to closely match the hardball's nose...and used a set screw in the barrel against the rod to prevent any bullet movement.

And he fired the gun...repeatedly.

And nothing happened.

All he got was a hissing sound as the gases escaped from the breech.

He then removed the rod and screw, and fired a full magazine to slidelock. There was no damage, and a new barrel was all that was needed to return the pistol to serviceable condition.

I duplicated his demonstration about 10 years ago with the same results. Observers were...mystified.

 

[dakota1911]

Yup, your problem. Scarry would be if you sent it in and they sent you a new pistol with a new S/N and no explanation of what happened. Not a bad price on the repair.

 

[cfolsom]

Thanks for the follow up. I was waiting to hear what happened.

 

[steveodtw]

Got the 1911 back today. Looks good. Notice saying factory fired 30 Black Hills 230 Gr. w/o malfunction. Needed cleaning. End of story. I hope. Pleased with Ruger response. Again.