Question for those who have a 45ACP Long slide

[clayking]

I purchased a Springfield Long Slide 45ACP a week ago and found that I have to load this at the max (reload's) in order for it function properly. Is it because the loads need to be hotter than a 4-5 inch 45, does it need to be broke in a little longer, only 250 rounds through it so far, or a combination of both? The gun feeds well, but was getting lots of FTE's with loads at the lower end of the recipe.

So I loaded them from middle up to full and only the full loads operated flawlessly.

Therefore, is this normal for the longer slide? I have no problem loading them at the max, just wondering what other's experience might be..................ck

 

[Slopemeno]

I helped my Dad finish his longslide project back in the late '80s. It took a lighter recoil spring (something like 12 lbs IIRC) and reasonably stiff loads (185power-factor) to get to to function. Using it made a big difference and it broke in nicely. He built his from a Caspian slide, and the dewatt'ed end of a Colt slide. The total length was 6.625" IIRC.

Dont forget to lube it liberally. Make sure to get a good drop on the top of the hood, the hammer face, and the feed ramp.

Is your extractor tensioned? Hopefully the empties are being flung about 6' away.

Have you chronographed the ammo to make sure its actually making the energy the manual is saying the load is?

All told, his longslide still functions with a "ka-chunk" but he ran it for two seasons in our indoor league and had very few problems once it was running. I found it very easy to "sweep" on plate racks, but a tad slow cycling. I need to have him take a few pics so I can post them- he did an amazing job of checkering it.

 

[cdrt]

You're partially dealing with the break in period. I have a Clark .38 Special conversion that would not cycle for the first 2 to 300 rounds.
Also, besides the above on lube, you need to put some oil on the barrel where it contacts the bushing and you need to lube the rails.
And of course, as mentioned, the other variable is the recoil spring. You may have to go to a lighter one to get it to cycle. Wolff sells a combo pack with several springs for the long slide so you can experiment and see which one works the best.

 

[.45Fan]

I have a springfield v-16 longslide that jams with lite loads but works great with 6.0 grains of uni. clays with 200 gr. swc. I also tried lighter springs but same results thought about trying a variable rate spring from wolff.

 

[chrisandclauida2]

you could lap the slide and frame together to get rid of friction from any burrs choke points or minor alignment issues.

basically you put some very light compound in the styles and rails and move the slide back and forth smoothly, without the barrell or springs installed, to polish them together. this is one of those things i think should be done for reliability anyways.

after that you can adjust the recoil springs or fund the load that works best for your gun.

 

[swedgon]

I have a Les Baer PII long slide 45. Never had a problem with light loads or heavy. I have even shot some 155 gr. SWC at 825 fps. and not one hint of any kind of failure. Might be your Springfield just needs a little break in time or some feed ramp polishing. Maybe some extracter tuning?

Albert