Argh! 100 rounds of S&B this afternoon over lunch hour and 3 premature slide locks with ammo still in the mag!! I was keenly aware of my grip on the 2nd and 3rd and am *positive* that my support thumb wasn't anywhere near the slide stop. Gun is a Wilson 1996A2.
Now, before I get too excited about the gun being a POS, let me state for the record that I have completely disassembled the gun twice. The first time was to clean it at about 2,000 rounds or so. The second time was to replace the sear spring after breaking the retaining nub installing the mainspring housing after the first disassembly. So, I'm not ruling out "operator error" (i.e., that perhaps I messed up the reassembly of the plunger assembly).
I wasn't able to look at the gun in any detail due to time constraints, but was able to feel tension being exerted on the slide stop by the plunger. My recollection is that when I reassembled the plunger spring and caps, I installed the short cap toward the slide stop and the long cap toward the safety. I did the because this was how I recalled disassembling it and it also seemed to make sense with the safety operation needing more travel from longer cap.
Is this the correct way to install the plunger spring and caps? Anyone able to tell me what generally causes premature slide lock (other than grip, which I ruled out)? For the record, my 1996A2 comes with Wilson's lightened BulletProof slide stop. I believe the reason for this is to reduce the inertia of the part during recoil. What should I be looking for here?
No one other than myself or Wilson's smiths have ever worked on the gun. I have not done any "home smithing" to the slide stop (although it was replaced at about 750 rounds when I got an ambi safety installed -- the original was fit too loosely for my taste), feed ramp, magazines, or other parts that I'd suspect are causing this. So, other than me reassembling the gun, you can rule out the usual "dremel tool mishap."
And, just to make myself feel better about the sear spring (and potentially the plunger assembly), I'm sure that NONE of the fine smiths or shooters on this board have EVER broken a part here or there while learning their way around a 1911.... Right?
Now, before I get too excited about the gun being a POS, let me state for the record that I have completely disassembled the gun twice. The first time was to clean it at about 2,000 rounds or so. The second time was to replace the sear spring after breaking the retaining nub installing the mainspring housing after the first disassembly. So, I'm not ruling out "operator error" (i.e., that perhaps I messed up the reassembly of the plunger assembly).
I wasn't able to look at the gun in any detail due to time constraints, but was able to feel tension being exerted on the slide stop by the plunger. My recollection is that when I reassembled the plunger spring and caps, I installed the short cap toward the slide stop and the long cap toward the safety. I did the because this was how I recalled disassembling it and it also seemed to make sense with the safety operation needing more travel from longer cap.
Is this the correct way to install the plunger spring and caps? Anyone able to tell me what generally causes premature slide lock (other than grip, which I ruled out)? For the record, my 1996A2 comes with Wilson's lightened BulletProof slide stop. I believe the reason for this is to reduce the inertia of the part during recoil. What should I be looking for here?
No one other than myself or Wilson's smiths have ever worked on the gun. I have not done any "home smithing" to the slide stop (although it was replaced at about 750 rounds when I got an ambi safety installed -- the original was fit too loosely for my taste), feed ramp, magazines, or other parts that I'd suspect are causing this. So, other than me reassembling the gun, you can rule out the usual "dremel tool mishap."
And, just to make myself feel better about the sear spring (and potentially the plunger assembly), I'm sure that NONE of the fine smiths or shooters on this board have EVER broken a part here or there while learning their way around a 1911.... Right?
