Rock Island Armory slide release problems with magazine

[Fossil4Life]

I recently picked up a Rock Island Armory 1911, product link here:

https://us.armscor.com/products/1911-midsize-gi

Anyway, I noticed that when the slide is locked to the rear, and the magazine is in the well, the slide release becomes extremely difficult to send the slide forward, so difficult that you cannot use your thumb to do it. However, when the magazine well is empty, the slide release is easy to operate using the side of the thumb.

Is this normal, and if not, how do I mitigate/solve this problem? Is this a warranty issue that I need to take up with RIA?

 

[JTQ]

I noticed that when the slide is locked to the rear, and the magazine is in the well, the slide release becomes extremely difficult to send the slide forward, so difficult that you cannot use your thumb to do it.

You have an empty mag in the gun when you are having this trouble, correct?

That's the way the gun is designed to work.

It will work just fine with rounds in the mag.

However, when the magazine well is empty, the slide release is easy to operate using the side of the thumb.

Most 1911 users do not let the slide slam down on an empty chamber.

 

[Fossil4Life]

You have an empty mag in the gun when you are having this trouble, correct? That's the way the gun is designed to work. It will work just fine with rounds in the mag.

Ah yes, okay! Thanks very much for clearing this up! Everything works exactly as intended then. Looks like it's user error then.

Most 1911 users do not let the slide slam down on an empty chamber.

I'm brand new to the world of 1911's (although not to semi-automatics). Thank you for the advice, much appreciated!

 

[WardenWolf]

Excellent choice on an RIA. They're great guns, and Armscor will more than take care of you if you have any issues with it. I had some issues with mine, and they gave me a brand new gun that they hand-selected for me, and paid for shipping both ways.

 

[stu1ritter]

Fossil4Life, also, try to never have a round in the barrel and close the slide on it. The extractor is meant to have the round slide up from the magazine and slip into place and not bow out to go over the rim.
Stu

 

[judgedelta]

Fossil, I too, asked that same question a couple of months ago. Got the same answers. Since then I have been making a practice of not leaving an empty magazine in my pistol, so when there is a mag in the well, I am pretty sure it is loaded and when not, I am pretty sure (not positive) that it is empty...

 

[Dudedog]

Bet you will like it.
I got a used Citadell (Armscor) 1911 .45 and it shoots really well.
I have put 2000 rounds thru it with zero problems.

 

[9mmepiphany]

I'm brand new to the world of 1911's (although not to semi-automatics). Thank you for the advice, much appreciated!

I'll just mention that letting a slide slam forward on an empty chamber of any semiautomatic pistol is usually viewed as the act of someone not familiar with guns

 

[JeeperCreeper]

I'll just mention that letting a slide slam forward on an empty chamber of any semiautomatic pistol is usually viewed as the act of someone not familiar with guns

I really don't understand the issue... A pistol contains a small explosion and sends a metal orb at over a thousand feet per second and withstands many thousands of PSI... would slamming the slide on an empty chamber really be an issue??

I'm not being a smarty pants, I'm actually quite curious.

 

[9mmepiphany]

I didn't say it was an issue, I'm just warning that it is the sign of a neophyte.

It is just like flicking the cylinder of a revolver closed, putting an idiot mark on the frame of a 1911 or making a pew-pew noise as you point your gun around.

Stripping a round from the magazine while going into battery is how the slide was designed to function. That additional retardation of it's forward momentum cushions the impact of the slide on the barrel feet. It is the same reason, you don't go around slamming cabinet doors or drawers shut...they'll take it, but it brings into question your upbringing or mental state

 

[Johnny_B_Goode]

I didn't say it was an issue, I'm just warning that it is the sign of a neophyte.

It is just like flicking the cylinder of a revolver closed, putting an idiot mark on the frame of a 1911 or making a pew-pew noise as you point your gun around.

Stripping a round from the magazine while going into battery is how the slide was designed to function. That additional retardation of it's forward momentum cushions the impact of the slide on the barrel feet. It is the same reason, you don't go around slamming cabinet doors or drawers shut...they'll take it, but it brings into question your upbringing or mental state

The Marine Corps teaches soldiers to let the slide slam home. I guess the USMC is poorly trained? You are making an issue out of nothing. Show us some proof other than your opinion that allowing the slide to slam home on an empty chamber damages any pistol. I mean proof from a manufacturer, not the spread of an internet myth. After all if allowing the slide to slam home on an empty chamber damages any gun the owners manual would mention this little nugget.

I just searched myself. According to colt allowing the slide to slam home on an empty chamber does not damage their pistols. That is a myth like dry firing a 10/22 will damage the barrel.

 

[9mmepiphany]

I guess the USMC is poorly trained? You are making an issue out of nothing. Show us some proof other than your opinion that allowing the slide to slam home on an empty chamber damages any pistol.

Can you point out anywhere in my post where I said anything about being poorly trained or causing damage to the gun?

As a matter of fact, I started it off the post by stating that I wasn't saying it was an issue.

If you'd like to read that another way, I have no control over what you read into it.

 

[JeeperCreeper]

I didn't say it was an issue, I'm just warning that it is the sign of a neophyte.

It is just like flicking the cylinder of a revolver closed, putting an idiot mark on the frame of a 1911 or making a pew-pew noise as you point your gun around.

Stripping a round from the magazine while going into battery is how the slide was designed to function. That additional retardation of it's forward momentum cushions the impact of the slide on the barrel feet. It is the same reason, you don't go around slamming cabinet doors or drawers shut...they'll take it, but it brings into question your upbringing or mental state

It seems I do most of those in my daily life.... Especially the "pew-pew" part.

Haha thanks for the explanation

 

[Fossil4Life]

I'll just mention that letting a slide slam forward on an empty chamber of any semiautomatic pistol is usually viewed as the act of someone not familiar with guns

I didn't say it was an issue, I'm just warning that it is the sign of a neophyte.

Are you insinuating that I'm not familiar with 'guns' and that I am a neophyte?

 

[9mmepiphany]

No, I don't know anything about you, why would you read it that way?

The information I provided wasn't directed at anyone, it was a observation of how certain actions are often perceived.

 

[[email protected]]

Ah yes, okay! Thanks very much for clearing this up! Everything works exactly as intended then. Looks like it's user error then.


I'm brand new to the world of 1911's (although not to semi-automatics). Thank you for the advice, much appreciated!

For what it's worth, it is common for semi automatic pistols to use the power of the mag spring to work the slide stop. This is not unique to 1911 pattern pistols.

 

[1911Tuner]

The Marine Corps teaches soldiers to let the slide slam home. I guess the USMC is poorly trained?

Snark alert!

The Marine Corps has a vast inventory of spare parts and armorers to repair damaged weapons.

And for the record...Marines aren't soldiers.

Show us some proof other than your opinion that allowing the slide to slam home on an empty chamber damages any pistol.

It's not as much of a concern with pistols that use beefy lower lugs and solid cross members to stop the slide, but with designs like the 1911...it can damage the lower barrel lug to the point of rendering the gun inoperable if done on a regular basis. It also places impact stresses on the slidestop crosspin's hole in the frame. Alloy frames will crack in the bottom of the hole if subjected to a lot of such abuse.

Remove the barrel and slip the slidestop crosspin through the link. Swing the link and crosspin to the in battery position and look at the contact patch between the pin and those tiny lug feet.

That patch is ultimately all that brings the slide to a sudden stop after being driven forward by a 16-pound spring with nothing to slow it down and reduce its speed and momentum.

Doing it occasionally poses no danger to the gun. Doing it every time you drop the slide will break your gun. I've seen those lug feet deformed and sheared...and lower lugs pulled loose from the barrel...from such abuse.

Even for those designs with more robust lower lugs, a question begs to be asked:

Why abuse the gun just because you can?

Are you in that much of a rush that you can't spare 2 seconds to ride the slide down slowly?

Letting it slam empty is the mark of a rank amateur. Whenever I see somebody do it unless he's testing the weapon for hammer follow, I know that I'm either watching a gun store commando or a beginner who doesn't know what he's doing.

And now you know.

 

[Drail]

While you can certainly slam your car doors as hard as you possibly can every time you close it there is not one good reason I can think of to do so and several that I can think of not to do it. But it's your stuff and your choice.

 

[Jim Watson]

Agree with Tuner.
The USMC and the Army can drop slides on an empty chamber when unloading and drop slides on a loose round when loading because they have armorers and spare parts that we are paying for in case they break something.
But they probably won't because they don't shoot all that much.

 

[stu1ritter]

You spend hours deciding upon the angle to hone the sear to and adjust the width of the sear so you have the greatest trigger in the world. Then, you go ahead and slam the slide shut, the hammer comes off the sear and jams the sear into the half-cock notch micro-notching your beautiful sear. Oh well.
Stu

 

[Coyote3855]

1911 Tuner probably has as much or more experience with 1911's than anyone else on this board. Would be a good thing to take advantage of his wisdom, especially when it validates the opinion of another knowledgeable poster.

When I was shooting IPSC on a regular basis, the guys with high dollar tuned pistols always rode the slide down on an empty chamber.

 

[Fossil4Life]

You spend hours deciding upon the angle to hone the sear to and adjust the width of the sear so you have the greatest trigger in the world. Then, you go ahead and slam the slide shut, the hammer comes off the sear and jams the sear into the half-cock notch micro-notching your beautiful sear. Oh well.
Stu

That patch is ultimately all that brings the slide to a sudden stop after being driven forward by a 16-pound spring with nothing to slow it down and reduce its speed and momentum.

In regards to a 1911, would this not occur anyway if there was a loaded magazine in the weapon and you use the slide release to send the slide forward?

To all who have responded, I want to thank you for the info, and of course I have another question.

It is universally agreed that allowing the slide to fall on an empty chamber is very bad for the pistol, as it causes undue wear and tear. However, would this wear and tear occur anyway, even if the chamber was not empty ie, a loaded magazine was in the pistol?

 

[JTQ]

Fossil4Life wrote,
In regards to a 1911, would this not occur anyway if there was a loaded magazine in the weapon and you use the slide release to send the slide forward?

from 9mmepiphany in post #10

Stripping a round from the magazine while going into battery is how the slide was designed to function. That additional retardation of it's forward momentum cushions the impact of the slide on the barrel fee

 

[1911Tuner]

In regards to a 1911, would this not occur anyway if there was a loaded magazine in the weapon and you use the slide release to send the slide forward?

To expound on the previous points...

When there's a loaded magazine in the path of the slide, it offers a resistance to the slide.

Then, as the bullet nose glances up and into the chamber...it further reduces the slide's forward speed and momentum.


Finally, as the case rim cams the extractor open, it hits yet another resistive force from the spring action of the extractor.

Without a cartridge to feed, there's none of that.

 

[Fossil4Life]

Excellent. Thank you for going more into detail.