Slide lock issue

Matt121 said:

All thoughts are solicited.

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My first thought is you are righty (or doesn't matter if this gun has a prominent ambi-slide lock), and you are hitting it with your grip and engaging it.

For right handed 1911 guys with this issue, I'll typically tell them to shoot left handed and see if the problem persists. If it does, then it's probably not you, and may be a mechanical issue.

The other possibility (other than stop being affected by the shooter's grip) is some slightly-out-of-spec ammo that is just a hair long, and nudging the slide stop as the gun runs. I've had this happen with one gun. Looking at the slide stop where it interacts with the following, you may see some marks from the nose of the ammo bumping against it. Not likely, but a possibility. (In my case, my gunsmith found it and took a bit of metal of the slide stop where bullet and stop interacted. It didn't affect the ability of the slide stop to be pushed up by the follower as it should.)

My first bet is you're hitting the slide stop lever.

I've got big hands and have to watch this with 1911 pistols and my Canik.

1) Thumbs!
2) Maybe a tolerance stack led to a bullet nudging the lock, maybe aided by an underpowered lock return spring. . . maybe.

But I'll betcha it's the thumbs. Also, have a good look at how the lock interacts with the mag follower; if you understand how the system works, you can eliminate several of the possibilities you list out of hand.

Pull the slide off first.. Put on the other side of the room..

Put a loaded magazine in the frame and see if the rounds are engaging the little nub on the inside of the slide stop.

Baring that...

At speed is where you find out just how well a gun does or doesn't work for you. I've sold off many a gun that was fine for plinking, etc. Not so much when really starting to push the envelope.. Grip induced failures included.

Yeah, the answer to this issue is nearly always thumbs bumping the slide release lever.

Stepping back for a moment, you can interpret this as a good thing in your shooting development. As we get more serious about the levels of recoil control required to shoot USPSA with any level of proficiency, a couple of things tend to happen - our grips get higher, and they get firmer. The highest likelihood is that your weak-hand grip has gotten higher and tighter and is now interacting with the lever under recoil.

The question is, what do you do about it? Do you stop doing something that is getting you more effective recoil control? Or do you demand your gear conform to your needs? When I started encountering this issue with my Limited gun, I attacked the slide stop pin until it was no longer capable of locking the slide back. In a high-cap division like Limited, I should never be running to slide lock anyway, so intentionally "breaking" my gun in this way was a no-brainer. (It also has the bonus side-effect of some amusing interactions with range officers at square ranges who ask me to lock the slide back... I explain that it cannot be locked back... and say "here, I'll show you," and they proceed to attempt to do it for me. I have just enough troll in me to enjoy watching this unfold.)

If you're shooting Production, you probably should not be willing to do without a slide lock... but you may be able to grind on the exterior control surface enough to make it less grabby to upward inputs, or perhaps knock the sharp corner off the piece that engages the slide, such that consistent upward pressure (from the magazine follower) is required to make it work. The latter might also get the gun to auto-forward upon insertion of a new mag, if it doesn't already.

If you can't make the gun cooperate how you want to handle the gun at speed... then it's time for a new gun. tarosean's post nailed it... lots of guns work fine for square range slow fire, but finding something that you can run hard and have it stay 100% is not always easy.

Matt121 said:

Thank you all for the input. I ran it at the range and intentionally let my right thumb (right handed) ride a bit high. I was able to get it to repeat the error with some consistency. Never noticed it till I began watching for it. Now I know what the issue is, I'll need to decide how I want to solve it. Thanks all.

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It's not clear to me from your post that it is you causing the problem or not, but if it is, here is Bruce Gray's solution to keeping his thumb away from the slide lock with his SIG's.