Ok, here's the situation with my Ultra Tactical II (any input is appreciated - maybe some of you have noticed the same thing?):
It extracts just fine. It doesn't, however, like to feed properly. When I'm shooting it, the slide sometimes wants to stop just before it fully shuts into battery. It's like it just doesn't want to close that last 1/4" of the way. About 10% of the time it will actually stop about 1/4" from being fully forward, and thus require me to either push the slide shut with a gentle tap on the rear of the slide, or sometimes if I just stare at it for a couple seconds it will shut on its own, and thereby load the new cartridge into the chamber. And sometimes it feeds fine but I can feel it want to stop for fraction of a second as it's passing by the last 1/4" or so. I am also experiencing 3-point jams and jams where the round stops with its nose just shy of the chamber.
What I am wondering is whether the little push rod that deactivates the Series II safety could have something to do with the slide not always fully going into battery. To support this possibility, I have noticed that when I grip the pistol (unloaded of course!) with the grip safety fully depressed and lower the slide, I can feel the slide coming into contact with the push rod that sticks up from the frame (it's just to the right of the disconnector that sticks up from the frame). When I pull the slide back and slowly lower it without the grip safety depressed, I don't feel any contact because the little push rod is not sticking up (since the grip safety is not pressed in). When the grip safety is pushed in, thereby causing the push rod to be pushed up, the push rod makes contact with the Series II safety in the bottom of the slide. Just as the slide gets about 1/4" away from closing there is a little friction present as it runs over the push rod. The resistance/contact that the push rod makes can't be much because the slide will ride past it as I slowly lower it down. However, I am wondering if it is causing enough friction so that at the moment when the slide is slowing down while forcing a new round into the chamber, it is causing the slide to actually stop.
Also, I notice that when I hold the pistol upside-down, with grip safety depressed, and slowly lower the slide shut it will actually STOP about 1/4" from battery and not shut on its own. Do your Kimbers do that too?
Could this be causing the failures to return to battery? Or, could it be that the barrel link is not timed properly? This pistol has already been back to Kimber twice this year. They did seem to fix its extraction problem (now I have a new slide with an internal extractor) but it has never fed properly. I have about 800 rounds through it, about 200 of which are with the the new slide. Also, I should mention that the Series II safety has never been a problem with respect to the gun not firing - if the grip safety is depressed enough for the hammer to drop it will always fire.
It extracts just fine. It doesn't, however, like to feed properly. When I'm shooting it, the slide sometimes wants to stop just before it fully shuts into battery. It's like it just doesn't want to close that last 1/4" of the way. About 10% of the time it will actually stop about 1/4" from being fully forward, and thus require me to either push the slide shut with a gentle tap on the rear of the slide, or sometimes if I just stare at it for a couple seconds it will shut on its own, and thereby load the new cartridge into the chamber. And sometimes it feeds fine but I can feel it want to stop for fraction of a second as it's passing by the last 1/4" or so. I am also experiencing 3-point jams and jams where the round stops with its nose just shy of the chamber.
What I am wondering is whether the little push rod that deactivates the Series II safety could have something to do with the slide not always fully going into battery. To support this possibility, I have noticed that when I grip the pistol (unloaded of course!) with the grip safety fully depressed and lower the slide, I can feel the slide coming into contact with the push rod that sticks up from the frame (it's just to the right of the disconnector that sticks up from the frame). When I pull the slide back and slowly lower it without the grip safety depressed, I don't feel any contact because the little push rod is not sticking up (since the grip safety is not pressed in). When the grip safety is pushed in, thereby causing the push rod to be pushed up, the push rod makes contact with the Series II safety in the bottom of the slide. Just as the slide gets about 1/4" away from closing there is a little friction present as it runs over the push rod. The resistance/contact that the push rod makes can't be much because the slide will ride past it as I slowly lower it down. However, I am wondering if it is causing enough friction so that at the moment when the slide is slowing down while forcing a new round into the chamber, it is causing the slide to actually stop.
Also, I notice that when I hold the pistol upside-down, with grip safety depressed, and slowly lower the slide shut it will actually STOP about 1/4" from battery and not shut on its own. Do your Kimbers do that too?
Could this be causing the failures to return to battery? Or, could it be that the barrel link is not timed properly? This pistol has already been back to Kimber twice this year. They did seem to fix its extraction problem (now I have a new slide with an internal extractor) but it has never fed properly. I have about 800 rounds through it, about 200 of which are with the the new slide. Also, I should mention that the Series II safety has never been a problem with respect to the gun not firing - if the grip safety is depressed enough for the hammer to drop it will always fire.
