[bugdust]

My 1911 taurus has about 3000 rounds fired. A problem has cropped up.With a round in the chamber and the safety off the gun will not fire because the trigger can not be pulled. When I remove the magazine and eject the round then pull the trigger no problem. This problem started near the end of a shooting session (about 70 rounds) and continued to get worst until about every other round would not fire.Brought the gun home and tried to duplicate with a snap cap. Tried about 10 times. the trigger worked every time. Does anyone have any idea what would cause this problem on the range.

Bugdust

 

[anachronism]

Was the slide fully in battery during the failures? Just a fraction of an inch in some guns can trip the disconnector.

 

[Mikey]

It sounds like it might be a magazine problem. Snap caps will always work when you either drop them in or chamber them one at a time but if, for some reason, the magazine is bulging or there is something impacting the movement of the trigger bars then it is a maga problem. I note that on my Taurus PT1911 in 38 Super there is a adjustment screw in the trigger. It may be that this screw is a bit too far forward or rearward and needs to be adjusted. Or it could be a combination of both.

If the mag is bad, toss it and get some Mec-Gar or Chip McCormick mags. If you look at the mag and see some wear marks on the side, where the trigger bars travel, I just put them in a vice and squeeze'm a bit tighter and see if they work then..

 

[Jim_Ole_Timer]

Like the others, I would guess that something is preventing the slide from closing all the way. Could be the things already mentioned or that the ammo is seated too long to fully chamber, could also be the brass meeds triming.

Try installing an empty mag as see if it closes so that the trigger can be fired, if so then you know the problem is your ammo.

 

[bugdust]

I tried it with several different mags. I do not think mags are the problem. I made a recent change in ammo by increasing the OALfrom .230 to .250. Maybe some of the loads went a little to the high side. Also I noticed that for some reason the slide was stiff and very hard to shuck. I going to load and try some with .230 OAL figuring you are right about being too long. I will be careful to note if the the slide is closed completely if the problem still occurs..

 

[Mikey]

bugdust: I wish you would have said something about changing the oal on your ammo, first. If you notice that when you chamber a round it is hard to extract and eject then your bullets may be too long and may be impacting the rifling in the barrel, and jamming your slide open just enough so that the sear plunger may not depress allowing the sear to release. Try shortening your oal.

 

[Savage]

Agree with Mikey! .230 is pretty long for most 1911s depending on bullet profile. .250 is definitely too long. I'm surprised they cycle through the gun at that length. .250 is too long for some magazines to function properly. Curious as to why you loaded them out so long and what bullet you are using?
Savage

 

[bugdust]

The reason I changed from 1.230 where I has no problems to 1.250 was the result of ordering a new magazine from Wilson Combat who recommended the 1.250 for 230 gr round nose as the best lenght in the instructions that came with the magazine. Lesson learned- never try to fix anything that is not broke. I checked the reloads left over from the last session. Although I was holding at !.250 some of the reloads were as much as 1.270. How this happened I do not know since I check the lenght every tenth reload. The 1.250 reloads were apparently working OK but the oversized were causing problems. I used the 1.230 because it was recommended by the gunsmith that sold me the gun. He must know some thing that Wilson Combat does not. I am going back to 1.230.The good news is now I know at least one reason why the trigger can not be pulled. Thanks for the help.

bugdust