[ScottsGT]

Co workers Dad has a USGI 1911A1 (Remington Rand) that he was out shooting with a couple of weeks back. Took it home empty, reloaded it with commercial ammo and left it in the nightstand. Last night he tried to rack the slide to empty the chamber, and slide would not move back. It would move just a few hundredths of an inch, and could hear clicking. I told him it sounds like a round is frozen in the chamber and the extractor is hooked on the rim of the cartridge. The clicking he is hearing is the play above the extractor, and the extractor grabbing the rim of the cartridge.
And yes, the safety was down. Tried racking it with the hammer down, and cocked. No difference.
Suggestions? Like I said, factory ammo, not a reload. (He was shooting reloads before he reloaded for nightstand duty though)

 

[shane45-1911]

Did you try it with the mag removed?

Try taking out the recoil spring plug, spring and barrel bushing.

And for God's sake - DO NOT TOUCH THE TRIGGER and DO NOT POINT THE PISTOL AT ANYONE. Remember, you still have a loaded weapon.

 

[Woodardcr]

Remove MSH

IF.....IF the above suggestions haven't worked I would obviously remove the mag, let the hammer down all the way, and remove the MSH. With the MSH removed, although you still have a real problem, at least you have made the firearm MUCH safer, and will allow you to try possibly other ideas in a much safer environment.

Let us know how it all turns out.

Be Safe,

Chris

 

[Ricky T]

Try taking out the recoil spring plug, spring and barrel bushing.

I'm not sure that's a good idea, especially with a round in the chamber.


Try grabbing the slide (very securely) with the left hand, then take the right hand and forcefully drive the grip frame forward. Don't grab the grip, just take a running start with the right hand and slam into the grip just under the grip safety. This might unlock the action so you can use the slide lock to lock the slide back.

 

[shane45-1911]

Try grabbing the slide (very securely) with the left hand, then take the right hand and forcefully drive the grip frame forward.

I'm not sure your idea is any better.

I don't like the idea of inertia-driven solutions with a round in the chamber.

Regardless, there is no ideal way here - only one that is "least dangerous".

I don't like the idea of hitting anything forcefully until we have figured out why it's locked up.

 

[Jim Watson]

Take to range and unload through the muzzle. (Shoot it out.) That is way safer than rasslin' with a loaded gun or trying to take it apart with a round in the chamber.

 

[Tim Burke]

I'd try Ricky T's approach... but I'd do it near a large, safe backstop, with the muzzle pointed into it, and no magazine.
If the bullet itself is stuck on something, is it safe to fire?

 

[shane45-1911]

Take to range and unload through the muzzle. (Shoot it out.) That is way safer than rasslin' with a loaded gun or trying to take it apart with a round in the chamber.

There's some good advice.

I may have mistakenly assumed that the pistol would not fire, as it may be locked out of battery.

If the pistol will fire, this is indeed your best solution.

 

[Woodardcr]

Unload Thru Muzzle????

I'm not sure I agree with this.

If the round is stuck, possibly with the bullet hard against the rifling, pressures are really going to be high. Also, we don't know EXACTLY what the problem is. There is a possibility of something mechanical with the frame/slide.

Firing the round, to me anyway, is certainly not appealing at all.

Be Safe,

Chris

 

[ScottsGT]

Actually, that was my first idea, but I was not going to admit it
Owner suggested he would look in the barrel USING A MIRROR AND A MAG LIGHT to make sure there was no obstruction first.
He has a range in his yard, so that would be no problem.

 

[shane45-1911]

If the round is stuck, possibly with the bullet hard against the rifling, pressures are really going to be high.

If the ammo was/is to spec, it is not touching the rifling regardless of what the jamming problem may be. 45 ACP headspaces on the case mouth. Assuming the bullet isn't sticking out to the point of falling out of the brass, then this is a non-issue. And if the bullet is touching the rifling, there won't be much of it left in the case to cause any undue pressure anyway.

If the pistol is not jammed out of battery, firing it as normal is the best solution to unload it.

 

[Woodardcr]

Factory Ammo in Spec??

Agreed.....but as he stated at the beginning, this is a factory load. Who knows what the OAL of the round is.

I guess I'm skeptical of factory ammo.....I reload all my own, not necessarily for cost savings, although that helps, but for QC.

Be Safe,

Chris

 

[Tim Burke]

My concern is that we don't know what the sticking point is. Perhaps there's lead or a piece of debris in the chamber. If the bullet is hung up on something, what will the pressures do if you touch off the round? And if there is an foreign body, perhaps the bullet has been pushed back. It doesn't take much in the way of set back to push the pressures up. If it's from lead, it may not even appear as an obstruction if you look down the barrel.

 

[191119111911]

what if....there was a squib in there and the round loading behind it set the loaded rounds bullet back expanding the case of the loaded round causing its unwilingness to extract????

S

 

[Kruzr]

When one of our shooters on the range encounters this problem, I can almost always "unstick" it with the double overhand grip. Put your right thumb under the grip safety/beavertail, put the fingers over the top of the slide. Put your left thumb in the trigger guard (against the front and off the trigger,) the fingers of the left hand go over the top of the slide behind the front sight. Make a fist with both hands. It will bring the slide back just a bit but should "break" the hold on the round. You should then be able to lock the slide back.

 

[farscott]

One suggestion to make the chambered round a little less dangerous: Put the entire pistol, minus the magazine and grips, in a gallon of Kroil overnight. The penetrating oil will deactivate the primer in the chambered round. Then some of the more energetic solutions from Ricky T and others can be tried.

CAUTION: Keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction. While Kroil is good at killing primers, it is not 100%.

 

[Greyson]

One suggestion to make the chambered round a little less dangerous: Put the entire pistol, minus the magazine and grips, in a gallon of Kroil overnight. The penetrating oil will deactivate the primer in the chambered round. Then some of the more energetic solutions from Ricky T and others can be tried.

CAUTION: Keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction. While Kroil is good at killing primers, it is not 100%.

Been watching from afar and letting better people than me advise.
This is an idea that I will have to file away for future use. Good idea if
one has the need.

Greyson

 

[Whelen97]

Lots of reasonable concern here over the possibility of a live cartridge in the chamber. Why don't you get a coathanger (or other stiff, small diameter wire), bend it into a right angle, and stick it down the barrel to see how far it goes. Mark the wire at the muzzle, pull it out, and then compare the length to the pistol alongside it.

I would be my guess that if the bullet was seated long enough to jam into the rifling, that it wouldn't have fit in the magazine.

Let us know what happens.

Chris

 

[Ted Yost]

When all else fails...

You might even consult a professional. It could be that there is something there that well intentioned anonymous internet forumites might have missed.

But you can't blame them if something goes dreadfully wrong - they haven't actually examined the problem. Or can you?

 

[MARINEUS]

just today I had a trigger job done by a professional and I am glad I did. Everytime I have a hickup with a pistol if I had to run to a smith I would be living at his front step, no offence but a gunman should know some things or he should not be a gunman. Everyday I learn from people who are willing to share their knowledge and I much appreciate that. Not to worry I will never make a pistol like a Yost.