Question about my new S & W 1911

[stevieboy]

I posted a similar question over on the Smith forum but I thought maybe some of you experts might be of help. I just picked up a brand new Smith & Wesson 1911. It's a beautiful gun and everything on it is tight. In fact, very tight. The problem is that, in one respect, it's too tight. The slide release is so tight that it is very difficult to manually release the slide. I have great difficulty releasing the slide with thumb pressure (although I can do it if I grit my teeth and really bear down), so much so, that, after 20 - 25 attempts my thumb actually began to be bruised. I can release it more easily with the edge of a wooden dowel or a bushing wrench, but even that takes effort.

It's also impossible to remove the slide release lever when I try to field strip the gun. I tried everything I could think of this afternoon, even tapping on the button on the gun's right side with a cloth-wrapped hammer. No luck, it's just frozen in there.

I called Smith about it and the rep advised me to shoot the gun for a couple of hundred rounds and see if that loosened things up. I'm going to try that. If that fails, the gun gets a free round trip to Springfield.

Obviously, the lever is binding on something. It occurred to me that the matchup of the lever and whatever's holding it might be super tight. Or, there might be a burr on the lever or a slight bend to it that's making it difficult to rotate. No pun intended, but I'm a little bent out of shape that a $5 part might be causing a problem with a $1000 gun.

My questions are: have any of you ever experienced this problem with out of the box 1911s? And, if so, what solutions can you think of?

 

[THEZACHARIAS]

Encountered something similar when I replaced that particular piece with a new one without pausing to notice it was fresh off the machine. Just had to round off a couple of the rough edges.

Since you cant get it appart, a couple boxes of ammo ought to do the trick. That ought to take down the sharp edges in no time.

 

[sholling]

Congrats on the new 1911. Smith makes a great 1011. Give it a bit of time before you get upset with it. For now I'd just slingshot the slide and get some rounds through it. Also don't expect to be dropping the slide release with your right thumb unless you have huge paws. Most of us drop it with our left hand.

Assuming that you have the mag out and the slide in the correct position for disassembly then in my experience the most common culprit is the pressure of the pin and spring that hold it in place. they are in that little tube between the safety and the side release. Since you're having problems with the slide release that makes sense because it's the same spring and pin holding it up. l'd lube the rails as best you can and the slide release and the pin with a bit of breakfree or weapons shield. Then and give it a 100-200rds and see if that's your only issue (most likely it will be) and if it still has a problem let S&W deal with it. Their CS is excellent.

 

[MEATSAW]

My slide release was pretty hard to release when I first got it too. However, now with close to 2000 rounds through it its much easier! Shoot it a lot, field strip it often, and USE the slide release as much as you can. It is a problem though if you can't even get it apart. After 200-300 rounds try again, and after that its obviously something I would want them to re-inspect. As others have said, S&W has excellent customer service, I couldn't be happier with my own 1911 and their service.

 

[txstang84]

Perhaps a dumb question here, but; did you field strip and clean it prior to firing? If not-I'd strongly recommend it purely for the purpose of confirming if anything is indeed awry with your fresh new pistol.

Aside from that, are you trying to let the slide fly on an empty magazine? If you are, then you're fighting against the spring tension in the [also] new magazine as well as the pull of the recoil spring...my Taurus PT 24/7 Pro is the EXACT same way. But, if I just rack the slide-no issues whatsoever.

I suspect there may be a couple of folks chime in that yours is precisely the reason to pull the slide back, and let it fly as opposed to using the slide lock as a slide release.

Just a thought...

Edit: Sorry, just noticed that you can't field strip it...ummmm, you might want to bring it to a smith IMO...a new gun that can't be properly field stripped might be a problem...

 

[torpeau]

The slide release is so tight that it is very difficult to manually release the slide.

Isn't the preferred way to slingshot the slide instead of using the slide release?

 

[tully_mars]

You should not be concerned with releasing the slide with your thumb via the slide stop, this is really not the best way to put a pistol back into battery. The reason is the recoil spring is not fully compressed when the slide is locked and not all the energy of the spring is available to chamber the next round. If for some reason the next round is tight in the magazine (like the first round of a fully loaded one) then it may not have enough force to feed all the way.

When the slide is locked back and a fresh mag is inserted, then the proper way is with the the palm and three main fingers of the left hand come over the top of the slide, grip it and pull it back like you are trying to tear it off the pistol. This will fully compress the recoil spring and apply all the energy possible to chambering a new round.

By practicing this way you are also re-inforcing the method for clearing mal-functions since you would be gripping the slide the same way.

Another reason is by using your right hand thumb on the slide takes the pistol out of shooting position. If you are in a fight time is precious, and during a reload or a malfunction clear you want your motions to be efficient and fast. Thus, taking your right hand out of position for the thumb to release the slide stop takes extra time that can be handled during the tap and rack which is one motion with your left hand. Practicing this on the range is critical to success.

Also with this method you will never notice that the slide stop is hard to release. The term "slide release" is similar to the misnomer that the magazine in the pistol is also called a "clip".

Be safe,

TM

 

[stevieboy]

Success!!! It took the assistance of a friend and a rubber hammer to tap out the slide release lever but, with that accomplished, I was able to field strip and lube the gun. It was extremely tight, which I think, is a good thing. After reassembly my wife and I put about 90 rounds downrange. Delightful. The gun shoots beautifully. The trigger is just about perfect. I was amazed at how easy it was to consistently put rounds in the 9 and 10 rings. Thanks all, for your advice.