1911 hammer following slide

[driven]

I have a new Springfield Armory TRP. She has about 700 rounds through her so far but at my IDPA practice last night I let the slide drop smartly and the hammer followed! It didn't occur while firing the gun at practice but at home I tried pulling the slide back by hand and letting it go quickly, from full rearward travel, and after about six or seven tries the hammer follows to the safety notch.

I ran the usual safety checks on the gun and this is the only issue. I haven't taker her apart yet so this is all I know so far.

I know a bad sear/trigger engagement could be the culprit but could the sear tension be causing this too?

 

[10X]

This should be an easy fix, increase the tension on the left leg of the sear spring, just a bit.

If you need more guidance, reply here and one of us will give you more detailed instructions.

 

[Slamfire]

Bending a sear spring is a could be. But before someone gives you advice that might involve filing, or breaking something, call the factory. This is a new pistol and it should not be doing this. Don't do any thing that will void the warranty.


If fact, you could call the factory, tell them your problem, and ask them to send you new parts, (like the sear spring) and you will put them in yourself. That would be cheaper for them, cheaper for you.

 

[Walkalong]

Yep on both counts.

If the sear and hammer hooks look OK, then more spring tension should do it.

It is not real bad yet because it just did it dropping an empty slide and it does not do it chambering a round, but it does need to be addressed.

SA should look at it. They will reimburse your shipping it to them.

 

[VegasOPM]

Be careful, I had one put a hole in my floor doing that. Mine was due to a bad trigger job, but the sear may have a factory defect.

 

[jr_roosa]

Mine did it from a combo of bad trigger job, weak spring, and poorly fit grip safety. It would drop to half-cock, but only on an empty chamber.

It took about 3 trips to the gunsmith (it's an antique and we wanted to keep the original parts), but it only will do it now if I really try hard. I found that if I sling-shot the slide on an empty chamber, I tend to whip the gun forward a bit and that makes it drop. If I hold firmly, it won't do it. It has never doubled, and it has never slam fired, but that's what you're trying to avoid.

Be careful how many times you let it follow, since every time it drops to half cock it is pounding on the sear and maybe further mucking things up.

Since yours is new, make Springfield fix it. It might just be the spring, but if you send it to them, I'll bet they give you all newly fitted innards. My gunsmith said that's the easiest and cheapest way to deal with it. The time spent tinkering is probalby more costly to Springfield than just grabbing new parts out of the barrel and fitting them.

-J.

 

[driven]

Trying the spring bending fix

I did some more research online and decided to try increasing the sear and trigger leaf tension. This seems to have done the trick as the hammer is staying put now. Of course, the trigger is a little heavier but on a carry and IDPA gun I take that as acceptable. I'll run some tests with only a couple rounds in the mag to start just to make sure there are no other issues.

Thanks for all the quick replies!



God bless our troops and keep them safe.

 

[Jim Watson]

I let the slide drop smartly and the hammer followed!

It didn't occur while firing the gun at practice but at home I tried pulling the slide back by hand and letting it go quickly, from full rearward travel, and after about six or seven tries the hammer follows to the safety notch.

First thing is, DON'T DO THAT. It will batter the hammer-sear engagement of anything with lighter trigger pull than military issue and will only make the problem worse.

If more sear spring tension stopped it. QUIT "TESTING" IT.

 

[mtngunr]

You can say that again, Jim....."doctor, it hurts me when I do my head like this!".......my 01911 with excellent trigger allowed the hammer to follow when I let a (fill-in-the-blank) check out my prize at the range...I never would have known it would until that moment, because I was always taught DON'T DO THAT...before I could even blink, he pulled back the slide and let her fly on an empty chamber....I almost passed out.....DON'T DO THAT with a 1911, not if you value your trigger pull....

 

[tomkatz]

I'll throw in my .02 with the "don't do that folks". Why do people want to drop the slide on an empty chamber? One guy I know just sits and drops his kimber slide again and again for no apparent reason. I won't let him touch my guns. In fact, I'm to the point where I just don't let anyone "play" with any of my guns, especially the 1911 guns with good triggers.

 

[Eric F]

You can say that again, Jim....."doctor, it hurts me when I do my head like this!".......my 01911 with excellent trigger allowed the hammer to follow when I let a (fill-in-the-blank) check out my prize at the range...I never would have known it would until that moment, because I was always taught DON'T DO THAT...before I could even blink, he pulled back the slide and let her fly on an empty chamber....I almost passed out.....DON'T DO THAT with a 1911, not if you value your trigger pull....

I understand your feelings on this. It is part of the safety check on a 1911 but thats it if your gun is working properly and you did not just do some internal work then it is not necessary to safety check your gun. Why some folks feel the need to drop the slide on a 1911 with empty chamber is beyond me. Its bad forum.

 

[mtngunr]

I understand your feelings on this. It is part of the safety check on a 1911 but thats it if your gun is working properly and you did not just do some internal work then it is not necessary to safety check your gun. Why some folks feel the need to drop the slide on a 1911 with empty chamber is beyond me. Its bad forum.

It's bad, period. It is part of a safety check of GI triggers, only, and never to be done on guns with lightened triggers (which many are, today)....even with GI triggers, it's rough on the gun....