Not All That Happy with My New Springfield-

[ckurts]

I bought a brand new Springfield Armory Mil-Spec Ultra Compact .45 at the gun show down in Pasadena this weekend. It only comes with one 6 round mag so I bought a McCormick Shooting Star 7 rounder (stainless) at the same show. Today at lunchtime I put the following through the pistol:

50 rnds Winchester "white box" hardball"
100 rnds "baggie" gunshow reloads
25 rnds 230 gr. Remington Golden Sabres
20 rnds 165 gr. Federal Federal PD hydrashocks.

I was alternating magazines, McCormick and factory.

The gun began to malfunction after about 30 shots with the Winchester factory FMJ; when using the McCormick mag, I would get at least 2 failures to extract the empty per mag. The fired case just stayed in the chamber. It wasn't bulged or anything. I'd lock the slide open, pull the mag out, and the empty case would just fall out, no trouble. It happened with all of the different rounds I tried. The same malfunction also occured a couple of times with the factory mag, but the with McCormick mag it was a regular thing.

I'm not real pleased. I don't know why I can buy a Ruger P89 for $150 less and not have it choke with the cheapest USA mags and the nastiest reloads you ever saw, or a Makarov for a third of the price and feed it mags stagger loaded with 2 different configurations of hollowpoints and crummy steel cased garbage and it don't even bobble. NOT A HAPPY CAMPER! And don't none of y'all even tell me I need a 500 round break-in period or some such; that's like saying "Oh by the way, for the first 500 miles you drive your new pickup it might just stop dead on the highway for no good reason- you just need to break it in a little."

 

[George Hill]

Both the Factory mags and the Shooting Stars are less than ideal. They follow the Colt pattern and while often are just fine... other times they are just plain horrible.

Also - had you researched your handguns properly you would have known these issues existed and you had to give your pistol a break in period... I dont understand where your level of "pissed" is coming from. If you buy a brand factory new Honda CBR F3, they say it needs a break in period - yet that bike is one of the best performers you could buy. I dont hear those Honda owners bitching about that fact after they buy it. All new bikes and cars need a little break in. Thats why they come with warranties like your Springfield. Even the Navy with its new multi billion dollar warships have to take them on "Shake Down" cruises...
I'm not flaming you - I am here to help...
So here is what you do:
Get you some Mec-Gar, Wilson, or Metal-Form magazines and you should see a big difference.
Also - your since pistol will require a good break in period... lube your gun with some white lithium grease. This will help things out dramaticly. 500 rounds is average - yours might require a few hundred more. You have a fine pistol and if you treat it right - will serve you for the rest of your life. If you just want a simple bang bang noise maker, then go get your happy little Ruger and leave the mighty 1911 to the experts.

 

[Ledbetter]

George is right, and his web site kicks a$$

Take it to the range and shoot it some more. Also, the only 1911 magazine I've never heard any complaints about are the Wilsons. I use McCormick's, but they work for me. The thing is, John Moses Browning designed the gun as the full size, not compact, model, and it was designed to hold seven rounds, not eight.

If the extra round mags work for you, that's a bonus. If not, well, that's the way the pistol is designed.

Call or email Springfield and see what they say. It's free.

Regards and good luck.

 

[ckurts]

Ouch! Thanks, Kodiac, I needed that...

Should have realized about the magazine issues, but I understood McCormick to be a good brand. Thanks for listing the manufacturers names. I'll see what I can find along the lines of a Wilson or Mec-gar. I'll try the lithium grease, although I was thinking of using a little Tetra gun after I clean it tonight.

In my own defense, I bought the pistol because I liked the look & feel, and because SA has a great reputation. I just got a little hot there for a while.

Just an FYI- One of the first guns I ever bought, about 1971 or '72, was a Colt Series 70. I never shot anything but hardball and only owned one mag. I remember liking the pistol a lot but ended up trading it a couple of years later for a Savage Model 99 lever action in .243. I can't recall whether or not the piece required an extensive break-in. Also, I currently own a Colt 1991A1 Commander that I occasionally CCW, and it has always digested everything I've ever loaded it with except some really aggressive lead SWC's and that funky American Ammo. It took less than a full box of ammo to work out the kinks.

My point is that I'm a big 1911 fan and while the Ruger is an okay piece, I'll be the first to say it's not in the same class as either of the Colts I've owned. The SA looks to be at least of equal quality to the Colts.

But anyway, your point about "the mighty 1911" is well taken. It's a gun for a grownup man or woman.

 

[Backwoods]

Ckurts: I've never seen a magazine cause a failure to extract, might I suggest that you check out the extractor? An overly small or chipped/broken extractor hook will cause the type of malfunctions that you describe. Maybe I'm a little dense but I can't see how the magazine could have much effect on extraction. Oh yeah, poor extractor tension could also be at fault, at least those are the 3 things that I would look into first. I hope you get things sorted out, what ever the cause!

Don in Ohio

 

[George Hill]

No Problem ckurts - I think we have all been there at one time or another...

I remember taking a baseball bat to my brand new Conquest TSI because of acceleration problems... Didn't know what Turbo Lag was at the time!

I miss that car...

 

[San Francisquito Bill]

If you still have problems after about 500 rounds and Wilson magazines, call Springfield. They have a lifetime warranty, and they'll make it right.

 

[jimmy]

To me, Backwoods' diagnosis of weak extractor tension sounds right on target. This is not a problem that'd go away as the gun wore in, but is relatively easy to take care of.

 

[cobraman]

HMMM, just a little here. A thought SA pistol come with 2 mags. Every NIB SA I have ever seen does, well okay I saw an 80's era milspec with only one. Personally I like Metalform mags cheaper that Wilsons. Keep shooting it.
Little 1911's especially need the break in period.

PS My SA Champion is up to 300 rounds out of the box no malfunctions

 

[Andy J]

ckurts,
I also had failure to extract problems with my ultra compact in the first 50 rounds. In addition, I was getting bent cases when they did eject. I also take the break-in period with a grain of salt. Sent it back to SA and about 21 days later I received back a fully functional ultra compact. On the list of replaced parts, it listed, extractor and ejector and recoil spring, function tested and fired. To this date I have several hundred rounds through it without a problem what-so-ever, using the factory mags of which I purchased several more with the loaded coupon. Shipping was paid for by SA when I received my RMA number. My 2 cents; take the time and send it back to SA and let them make it right. The additional waiting hurt a bit, but was glad to have a fully functional pistol back.

 

[ddt4free]

I want a "grown up" expert gun too.

Besides the Springfield, do you guys know of other 1911's that I can spend hundreds of dollars on that come from the factory with cool problems like this, cause I gotta get one.

I wanna have gun's that don't work so I can be an expert too.

Man, here I thought that I was getting good deals on my guns cause they were well priced and always worked. But now I understand that I must be an AMATURE because of this.

Could I be an expert if I damaged one of my working gun's so that it only sorta worked most of the time? What sort of falure rate should I shoot for in an "EXPERT'S" gun?

You guys are funny. Reading this column is better than Sienfeld re-runs. LOL! You may trust your life to these guns but my AMATURE advice is to BUY GUN'S THAT WORK.....ALL THE TIME....WITH ALL YOUR MAGS! Anything else is what we AMATURES call "less than 100% reliable". GOOD LUCK -DDT

 

[cobraman]

ddtdforme, easy there buddy,
pretty much all manufactures have lemons and problems. I bet you would say buy a Glock. Ok Glocks are good guns but there are some that have problems. Springfield makes a great gun and getting better all the time.
As for the Mags. USA and ProMags will kill a Glock, Sig, and HK too. There are just so many 1911 mags out there.
Like I said before my SA is box stock and runs like a striped butt ape. I trust it completely.

 

[RikWriter]

"You may trust your life to these guns but my AMATURE advice is to BUY GUN'S THAT WORK.....ALL THE TIME....WITH ALL YOUR MAGS!"

You mean like my Kimber Gold Match? Over 8,000 rounds through it without a jam.

 

[ddt4free]

NEVER A GLOCK!

No, I won't recommend Glock. My belief is that a gun should have a safety. In my book it isn't a safety unless it prevents the gun from firing when the trigger is pulled.

Yes, every maufacturer makes lemon's, but I cannot endorse buying lemons just cause "EXPERT'S" are blindly loyal to lemons. I'll take gun's that work everytime over those that don't everytime. Does this make sense to you? In what situation would you recommend a less reliable gun over a more reliable gun? I guess you'll say "As long as it's a 1911 I don't care".

I stand by my advice to buy gun's that work. I am just making fun of those that think they are expert's or grown up's cause there gun's don't work when they are new. Of course for a lot of guy's, working on the gun is as much fun as shooting or more so.

As far as research goes though, I have heard a lot of mixed reports about Springfield. I just wonder how "experts" can recommend guns that come from the factory with so many problems. Hell, even the advocates in this post are saying how they overcame the problem's in these guns. That is just not a good sign too me. But, I'm just an Amature.

I don't want to upset anyone, I honestly did find the "expert" comment very very funny though. Still laughing! -ddt

 

[ddt4free]

Yes, 100% reliable like your Kimber.

Now you are cookin with gas my man. Hell, I'm not against 1911's just the one's the "expert's" have that don't work all the time. -ddt

 

[George Hill]

Sarcasm throttle to full:

A friend of mine just purchased a new bike. This bike is billed as being in the top 5 performance bikes a human can buy... It has acceleration that is unbelievable. It has a top end that is faster than humans should go unless they are at angels 10. Sport bike that verges on the Super Bike.
It redlines at 12 thousand RPMs and the tac goes to 14. This bike is all that.

But...

It has a 600 mile break in period where he isnt supposed to rev over 6,000 RPM. He isnt supposed to drive faster than a certain MPH and he is supposed to monitor the lube and fluids carefully and use only a certain oil for X number of miles...

So I guess that bike sucks then huh?

Well - then I need to get a bike that doesnt need all that trouble... One I can just jump on and ride however I like!
See - because of this - My little Honda Nighthawk is the BADDEST Crotch Rocket on the Planet!


Some people just dont get it.

 

[yankytrash]

It sounds like it's just a piece of junk. You should probably just send it to me so I can properly "dispose" of it. Don't worry, I'll pay the freight...

 

[cobraman]

My Kimber was piece of crap. FTF's, premature slide lock. Every said oh its the mags buy Wilsons. I bought Wilsons still crap. Give it 500 rounds still crap. So you see Kimbers arent the cats meow either. I have seen negative on both Brands. My SA works well. The thing with SA is if the pistol doesnt work they will fix it and smile about it too.

 

[ddt4free]

Hmmm, Yes the next time I load my motorcycle with .45's i'll remember this thread.

The scooter(made of hundreds of machined parts) you ride for fun and the gun I stake my life on are two entirely different matters. We are not talking about not getting RPM's here we are talking about very bad things happening to us cause our "expert" gun jammed when we needed it most.

How do you console the guy that put five or six hundred rounds through a gun and then have it jam when it really matters? Do you say "well maybe you should have put a few 100 more rounds through it before the badguy broke into your house, oh, and by the way, I have a bitchin scooter."?

Does it make sense to you that if a gun works perfectly during the "break in period" that it will work even better afterwards. And conversely, that a gun that shows problems early on is more likely to be crap later on.

I find it strange that factory mags for a good gun would suck. To me this says the guy's at the factory making the gun aren't paying enough attention. Ejectors too for that matter. As someone once said the devil is in the details.-ddt

 

[ckurts]

Thanks, everybody for the tips. I really have what's probably a foolish aversion to sending a gun back to the manufacturer, but I've even had a non-gunowner tell me that would be the most reasonable course of action.

Backwoods Don, I can't imagine a faulty mag having much to do with problem extraction either. Just reporting the observation.

Cobraman- the Mil-Spec series only comes with one mag. I was curious about that myself and checked on their website.

ddt, as mentioned, I currently own another 1911 that's never given me any trouble, except when I fed it ammo that I should have known better about; and I do trust my life with it. Springfields don't have a reputation as lemons- now the Llamas I've owned, those are a different story (if you were laughin' hard before, you must almost be in pain now). I do like tinkering with guns, but usually reserve that for something like my CZ-52 or Makarov. And there's nothing to get upset about, its just folks sharing knowledge and opinion (and like you, a little backhanded humor!)

Kurt - wannabee 1911 expert