[BillW]

I just purchased a slightly used Colt Series 80 Colt Government model in 38 Super. My initial tear down for cleaning and lubrication was interesting. I was unable to move the Barrel bushing even with a wrench. It has a custom extra thick bushing. I was able to remove the take down pin and the pistol disassembled. Once I got the recoil spring plus the spring plug out of the way I was able to finally rotate the bushing, although it was crazy tight in the slide. The bushing to barrel fit wasn't all that tight.

After an hour and a half with a sharpie and a file I got the bushing to slide fit down to the point I can just barely turn it without the wrench. I cleaned and reassembled the pistol and began my test firing. It ran Sig ball ammo well with the Colt magazines. With Ed Brown magazines the slide would lock back after every round even though the magazine still had rounds in it, with two different magazines. They work well with my Dan Wesson Guardian.

It refused to chamber Sig hollow point rounds at all.

My plan is to continue shooting the ball ammo and see if the pistol loosens up any.

My primary question is where can I find a stock barrel bushing. The OD of my current bushing is 0.686 inches and the barrel OD is 0.598 inches. I believe this is called a pencil barrel.

Thank you in advance.

 

[PD5523]

Contact EGW and they will mill a custom bushing to the specs you provide.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[baker1425]

What does the feedramp / frame angle look like, or is it ramped?
Have you looked at the lockup in the barrel lugs for burrs? The changed barrel bushing makes me wonder if they also oversized the link.
Ditto on the slide release, may be fitted or rounded...
for reference, my ramped SA 9mm barrel is a .570 diameter and my kimber 38 Barrel is a .569. That indicates that you may have other options for a replacement bushing than EGW.
Hope this helps

 

[BillW]

What does the feedramp / frame angle look like, or is it ramped?
Have you looked at the lockup in the barrel lugs for burrs? The changed barrel bushing makes me wonder if they also oversized the link.
Ditto on the slide release, may be fitted or rounded...
for reference, my ramped SA 9mm barrel is a .570 diameter and my kimber 38 Barrel is a .569. That indicates that you may have other options for a replacement bushing than EGW.
Hope this helps

Correction. The barrel is 0.498 in diameter.

The feed ramp and frame angle look okay. Not a ramped barrel. The barrel is marked Colt Super 38 Auto. The link does not appear to have any changes from stock. No apparent burrs in the barrel lugs. The slide release appears to be stock.

 

[BBBBill]

I second the recommendation for an EGW bushing. Give them accurate measurements and they will cut one for you. As for the magazines, just like any other 1911 part there will need to be some fitting/tuning. The slide stop engagement shelf on the follower may need to be adjusted.

 

[baker1425]

Are there any polished surfaces on the slide stop? Is there any binding in the slide stop plunger assembly?

If I had it in the shop, I'd dykem the slide stop, or swap a different one in. It's possible that a misfit barrel from the factory is making the slide stop bind under certain loads.

And slide off, I would look at the differences (if any) in the relationship between the slide stop and the different magazines.

 

[Jim Watson]

It refused to chamber Sig hollow point rounds at all.

Won't feed out of the magazine to the chamber or won't go in the chamber (plunk) at all?

 

[BillW]

Won't feed out of the magazine to the chamber or won't go in the chamber (plunk) at all?

Slide out of the magazine and hit the ramp and jam. Doesn't get to the chamber. I will try a different bullet profile if I can find any.

 

[Infidel525]

Slide out of the magazine and hit the ramp and jam. Doesn't get to the chamber. I will try a different bullet profile if I can find any.

How big is the mouth of the hollow point, as you said try something with a smaller diameter mouth.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[baker1425]

Does the barrel have a throating job done on it?

The only hollowpoint bulllet that I can recall working well in the original design has no shoulder. It was basically a Remington 130 grain +P round nose profile (looked like they just had hole drilled in it). With the tech at the time of the design of 38 super, ball was considered good enough for penetration. I would hazard a guess that the SIG ammo is tailored for their ramped barrel setup.

I have shot a lot of Hornady in my other career - although it's probably unobtanium now - .38 Super +P | 124 gr. Hornady XTP, 1335 FPS - 5 Barrel-https://shopwilsoncombat.com/

The 230 Critical Duty feeds through a standard ramp in those surplus GI 1911s, the bullet design is similar, so if you have access to a custom loader, I'd have them work up a load for you using a Critical Duty bullet.

I think that your idea of trying different ammo is the simplest solution, when it becomes available.

 

[Retired AF CE]

I wonder if your barrel is binding because of your tight bushing?
Can you take a picture of the lower lugs, slide stop and inside of the chamber are with the slide locked to the rear?

 

[BillW]

Update: I was able to do some shooting at the range today. Myself and two other staff put 100 rounds of Aquila ball ammo downrange with one failure to chamber about half way through. A tap rack cleared the round and chambered a fresh round. The offending round was reloaded in a magazine and it chambered and fired normally. Accuracy was about 1 1/2 inches at 7 yards. All of us are 65 plus with vision issues. I will continue to follow a basic break in routine with the pistol as I can without expending too much ammo. After another couple hundred rounds of ball I will try hollow point ammo again.

 

[Rwehavinfunyet]

A properly built gun, should fire jacketed hollow point ammo without issue. It seems there is an issue with the gun, however, it is very difficult to diagnose without having the gun in hand. Ideally, you need to take the gun to a qualified and known gunsmith/pistolsmith to have the gun checked out..... If you attempt to fiddle with your gun, it would be best to have "a mentor" to help.....unless you know a great deal about pistols and how to fix them to make them work properly.

 

[BillW]

Update: I am slowly making progress returning the pistol to stock condition. The pistol is now feeding ball much better and some hollowpoints. I have replaced the recoil spring, spring guide and recoil spring plug. I am awaiting an EGW barrel bushing. After the last cleaning during reassembly the slide would not move forward past the ejector. At that point I realized there was not an ejector pin holding the ejector in place. So, I am also waiting for a new pin from Brownells. I tried to find a 1/16 roll pin locally without success.

Rwehavinfunyet: I have some training as a law enforcement armorer from Trinidad State Junior College classes. I know my limitations and will not exceed them.

 

[Rwehavinfunyet]

My EDC gun is a .38 super I built several years ago, an STI 2011 Commander with a Bar Sto bull barrel. I do not use ball ammo for any self defense gun, and I like and use 125 gr. Speer Gold Dot JHP bullets. The gun is extremely accurate and reliable. Since I like loads that leave the muzzle at an average 1,300 fps, I had to use a 26lb. mainspring and a 12lb. recoil spring to slow the slide velocity to a level that would allow proper functioning. I use STI 2011 126mm mags (flush fit) and carry 16+1 rounds in the gun, and also carry one extra mag with 17 rounds on my opposite hip. The gun is not exceptionally heavy due to the polymer grip, and is comfortable for all day carry.

 

[BillW]

Status Update: Since my last message I have installed an ejector pin, switched to a 12.5 pound recoil spring and added a stock barrel bushing. I bought an extended ejector which is longer than the one in the gun but have not seen a need to install it as everything is ejecting okay. I am shooting at an indoor range with booth walls and I haven't figured out exactly what path the rounds are taking but most are ending up behind me with a few hitting the booth wall and bouncing forward. Today I got a quick trip to the range and fired 74 rounds of ball ammo without any problems. 50 rounds were factory SIG Sauer and 24 rounds were my reloads. I would have fired 25 reloads but I dropped one in the shop and haven't found it yet.

 

[BillW]

My EDC gun is a .38 super I built several years ago, an STI 2011 Commander with a Bar Sto bull barrel. I do not use ball ammo for any self defense gun, and I like and use 125 gr. Speer Gold Dot JHP bullets. The gun is extremely accurate and reliable. Since I like loads that leave the muzzle at an average 1,300 fps, I had to use a 26lb. mainspring and a 12lb. recoil spring to slow the slide velocity to a level that would allow proper functioning. I use STI 2011 126mm mags (flush fit) and carry 16+1 rounds in the gun, and also carry one extra mag with 17 rounds on my opposite hip. The gun is not exceptionally heavy due to the polymer grip, and is comfortable for all day carry.

My EDC is a Dan Wesson Guardian in 38 Super. I carry it and two spare nine round magazines, using Sig Sauer 125 grain hollow points. I worked 25 plus years in uniform as a LEO (out of a total of 38 years of service) carrying 25 pounds of gear and vest, so a pistol and a couple of magazines is barely noticed.

 

[BillW]

Today's update. I received a new EGW bushing which fit perfectly. I put three full magazines of ball ammo through the pistol today with the only issue being the slide did not lock back on the third magazine (a Colt magazine). I loaded up a magazine with Federal 115 grain hollow points and the top round would not feed. It moved straight ahead and did not begin to chamber. I tried a second fully loaded magazine with the same results. I am considering a new barrel from Numrich to see if the previous owner mickeyed with the original barrel.

 

[BBBBill]

...the top round would not feed. It moved straight ahead and did not begin to chamber. I tried a second fully loaded magazine with the same results. I am considering a new barrel from Numrich to see if the previous owner mickeyed with the original barrel.

If the round is stubbing against the frame feed ramp then the barrel has no part of that failure.

 

[BillW]

I located a real gunsmith on this forum and delivered my pistol to him in Casper, WY. Mark Graff with Graff Gunsmithing checked out my pistol and managed to fix the problems and it now feeds anything I put in the magazines. I am very grateful for his assistance in fixing my problems. Now if I could just find some more 38 Super ammo to shoot!