[Dave45]

Hey Gang:

I have a Combat Commander that decided, while it sat around not being fired for a few years, that it won't work anymore. Every other round chambers only halfway, and if that isn't the problem, the hammer doesn't get fully cocked like the sear is fried. This is after about maybe 600 rounds through it. Today I decided to try my luck and it went fully automatic on me. Luckily it only had a couple of rounds left in the chamber. There is no way the sear should be shot unless perhaps there were some quality problems such as improper hardening or something along those lines. I called one of the boys at the gunsmith's and told him to order a sear and he also said he'd order a hammer "because they often go out at the same time." After less than 1000 rounds?

You Colt experts have any insights here?

Thanks

 

[JSP]

Dave

Not an expert, but I'll toss out a few questions...

First, did you disassemble the pistol to see if it was a broken part?

If the gun was stored for a long time, it's possible that the internals may be gummed or rusted. That may cause the sear/disconnector/internals to bind.

Did you disassemble the pistol and reassemble during the "unfired" years? If so, maybe the sear spring/internals are improperly installed?

Is the chamber clean and rust free? The feed probs could be several things from ammo, mags,recoil springs to lubrication.

Could be a lot of issues, but I'd be surprised if a hammer and sear failed that early - Colt parts are usually pretty good - but anything's possible.

JSP

 

[Hunter Customs]

Hello Dave45,
JSP brought up some very good points so you might want ot check your gun before you pay for another trigger job. If a trigger job is done the correct way it should last 100,000 plus rounds as long as it has not been abused. Also for general imformation there is no reason to cut hammer hooks shorter than .020. You might ask your smith how short he cuts the hammer hooks when doing a trigger job. Triggers can be set as light as 1.5 lbs with .020 hooks if he cuts the hooks shorter than .020 you might want to look for another smith.
As for the jam problems that could be several things but check and see if your chamber has a light coat of rust in it.
Regards, Bob Hunter www.huntercustoms.com

 

[Dave45]

You guys have good points. I didn't actully disassemble everything myself to see if there was some kind of gum or corrosion, but there is my theory, and I'm sure you'll agree:

Even though I didn't mention anything about a trigger job in my original post, I did, in fact, have one done, and that may be the primary reason why my experience is not the same as one who bought new and didn't have anything done to it.

So maybe the gunsmith who recommended the new hammer to overcome my present problem was on to something. The trigger job guy is probably long gone. I had that work done when I bought it in new in about 1983. He's 250 miles away, in any case.

I think the theory about things being a little gummy in there also has merit. That would explain why I put the thing away in working condition and 10 years later it acts flakey. I will do a little work to it and report back.