Light strikes with Colt Conversion Unit .22 1911 upper

[1KPerDay]

on new RIA Tactical full size. Runs well otherwise, slide locks back, feeds flawlessly with quality ammo. But I'm getting failures to fire with all ammo tried; some worse than others, but even the best is maybe one out of 20 requires a re-strike.

Ideas? I started with the 18# spring that comes with the Advantage arms kit (I tried the AA kit first but got a lot of light strikes with the AA hammer spring. I moved the AA kit to a RIA GI 1911 model and left the stock hammer spring in and it's been 100%). I put the stock RIA spring back in the tactical and it improved but still not 100%. Should I get a stiffer hammer spring? Should I try a lighter firing pin spring than the standard one in the Colt Conversion Unit?

Other ideas/suggestions welcome. This upper was 100% when hosted on my Colt Commander frame... maybe it's just brand-loyal?

 

[RussB]

Does the hammer make solid contact with the firing pin, or does the hammer hit near the bottom of the slide?

Does the hammer hit the sides of the slide?

Is there any binding of the hammer strut in the RIA mainspring housing?

 

[tarosean]

maybe it's just brand-loyal?

Spec loyal is my guess...

 

[1KPerDay]

No binding that I can see or feel; I'll take a close look at the hammer/slide contact.

 

[1KPerDay]

Hammer appears to be moving freely with no contact or wear against sides of slide and full contact with firing pin.

Next steps? would you put a lighter firing pin spring in? Longer firing pin (are they even available)? Or start with heavier hammer spring?

Other ideas?

I'd like to keep responses helpful/useful if possible, rather than "RIA SUCKS" or "out of spec whatever". It runs perfectly with the .45 upper. I understand it's cheap and that's why I bought it... to host this conversion kit. But if I can't get it running... kinda no point.

 

[earplug]

Chamber

Do a drop test of 22 Ammo into your chamber.
My M-41 S&W started having misfires and it was the bullet lube keeping the cartridge from fully seating. Bad lot of CCI standard.
Cold weather will aggravate the problem, due to hard lube.
Make sure your chamber is clean etc, and the extractor is not binding.

 

[1KPerDay]

It does it with 5 types of ammo, which functions flawlessly in other pistols, so I'm discounting the ammo as the reason. It is clean. I'll have a look at the extractor...