Perplexing malfunction, Kimber 1911

[dcarch]

So, I suppose it was bound to happen. I Had my first two malfunctions on my Kimber Custom II today. I was shooting, and the pistol locked to a slide lock position with the last round still in the chamber. The odd thing was that the back of the round was about 1/2" BEHIND the rear end of the magazine (which was a Wilson 47D I purchased about a year ago). The round was sitting loose enough that I could have turned the gun upside-down and shook it loose if I had wanted to. Another odd thing was that the plastic baseplate on the bottom of magazine was not in the correct place on the first malfunction, instead, it was slid about halfway forward. The ammunition was Blazer 230 gr. FMJ, and it was extremely hot today, at least 95 degrees. I wish I had taken pictures, but I didn't bring my camera to the range. A friend of mine told me it could be weak mag springs, and I do have to say that I tend to store my magazine loaded, if that helps. Any other info I can provide I will be happy to give if it helps get my pistol working again.

 

[1911Tuner]

Weak magazine spring.

 

[srtolly]

+1 on the magazine spring.

 

[Harvey]

I may be way off but recall threads about Kimber failure to feed before. Seems that Kimber had a run of slide releases with a mis-shapened "bud" which somehow during recoil dynamics activated the slide stop on the second to last round. Pretty sure a further "search" will point you to the defective slide release. And as I recall Kimber stood by the problem as a warranty issue and provided a replacement part.

PS: Storing mags fully loaded has no bearing on spring shelf life or durability. It is the repetitive stresses that ultimately weaken the spring. Plenty of poop here on THR.

 

[EddieNFL]

Out-of-spec SS will cause random lockback when it makes contact with the next round comoing up. Use the right profile bullet and you'll never know the problem exist. As Tuner mentioned, last round is mag spring.

 

[Rinspeed]

Even when new the 47Ds don't have the most robust spring in them.

 

[coalman]

Wilsons can have weak springs IMO. I've had Wilson mags that felt good (i.e. strong spring) and others not so much. So, there may have been a bad run of springs at some time. Could be the issue. It would explain both issues. I've found Tripp and CMC and to be superior. YMMV.

I dimpled the slide stop on my Kimber. Easy modification. Helps prevent this regardless. Example:


Good luck.

 

[Ritchie]

Never hurts to check the extractor tension.

 

[CDW4ME]

I had a Kimber 45 that would randomly lock open during shooting, the cause was bullet contact on the slide stop.
I called and Kimber sent a replacement slide stop; when I learned what it was, I filed on the original until it worked too.

 

[1911Tuner]

had a Kimber 45 that would randomly lock open during shooting, the cause was bullet contact on the slide stop.

It's not doing that. The last round is jumping the magazine when the slide smacks the impact abutment. Since the Wilson 47 doesn't have a speed bump on the follower, all that's left to maintain control of the round is the spring.

 

[dcarch]

So where can I get good replacement mag springs? As far as repair goes, I assume all I need to do is just disassemble the mag and insert the new spring, right?

 

[1911Tuner]

Give Wolff Gunsprings a look. The spring is proprietary to the 47D. If that doesn't turn up anything, call Wilson Combat. If there's an "Extra Power" spring available...order that one.

Pretty straightforward to replace it. Just be sure that it's oriented correctly. There's a top and a bottom.

 

[Rinspeed]

It's not doing that. The last round is jumping the magazine when the slide smacks the impact abutment. Since the Wilson 47 doesn't have a speed bump on the follower, all that's left to maintain control of the round is the spring.

I do know that Kimber had a bunch of out of spec slide stops that were causing issues.

 

[dcarch]

How could I tell if it was the slide stop? Would something look different?

 

[1911Tuner]

I do know that Kimber had a bunch of out of spec slide stops that were causing issues.

I know. I've seen it happen, too...but this time it's the mag spring.

OP's opening statement:

I was shooting, and the pistol locked to a slide lock position with the last round still in the chamber. The odd thing was that the back of the round was about 1/2" BEHIND the rear end of the magazine (which was a Wilson 47D I purchased about a year ago). The round was sitting loose enough that I could have turned the gun upside-down and shook it loose if I had wanted to.

After figuring out that by "chamber" he actually meant the breech area...I knew that the last round was jumping the magazine. Seen it a lot with 47Ds and McCormick Shooting Stars. In extreme cases, I've seen it kick the next to last round out of the port and chamber the last one. The giveaway is finding live ammo among the empty brass.

Running an overly heavy recoil spring only aggravates the problem.

 

[dcarch]

^Correct, I did mean the breach area. Sorry for the confusion! Thanks, 1911 Tuner! I'm gonna call Wilson and see if they can help me out, due to the fact that the mags are barely a year old.

 

[dcarch]

Just called Wilson Combat and spoke to Scott. He said to send him the magazines, mark them "Feeding issues, attn. Scott", and he'll replace them, period.

 

[EddieNFL]

http://www.gunsprings.com/index.cfm?page=items&cID=1&mID=71