WE 1911 locks slide almost all the way back, randomly

[ancorp]

Picked up a NIB WE 1911 compact not too long ago, hasn't seen all that much use. Lately has been giving me a problem - the slide would randomly (usually the fresher/more gas in the mag, the more often) lock back almost all the way to the rear, with the nozzle sticking out a bit more forward then usual.

Today I figured out what is physically locking it back, but don't know what steps to take to solve it.

The hammer manages to drop slightly into the area right before the "cocking point" on the slide, before the loading nozzle snaps all the way back.

I did my best to take pictures, to show what I'm talking about:






I thought it was just a sticky loading nozzle until I noticed that the hammer was at fault. I have tried silicone oil on the loading nozzle earlier, didn't help at all.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Alex

[The Saint]

Can you take a picture of the left side of the gun when your hammer is locked into the blowback engine cage like that?

[ancorp]

Originally Posted by m102404

I'll the the 1911 experts weigh in on this...but it seems like the sear isn't catching the notch of the hammer properly and it's releasing back up to catch the inside of the chamber unit.

With the slide forward back in normal position, if you thumb the hammer back does it catch and stay cocked? If you do it slowly until it just catches, does it stay cocked (i.e. does it work properly regardless of how fast/slow you thumb the hammer?)

Best of luck with it.

That's exactly what I was thinking. Thing is, it always had sloppy tolerances, so if you lock the slide to the rear, push it up a bit (hold it up), and pull the trigger, the hammer would drop a mm or so. But once you release the slide, that "cocking point" goes over it again, and it doesn't drop when the slide returns to battery, so I payed it no attention.

The gun functions 100% normally besides that, including cocking the hammer by hand, fast or slow.

Perhaps this has something to do with the disconnector, not the sear? I.e maybe the spring is too weak or something like that, so when the slide is blowing back at high speeds, it rises a little, enough for the disconnector to allow the hammer to drop as it's held down from the initial shot?

Thank you for your insight.

Saint, you mean a picture of the whole gun, muzzle pointed to the left? (slide release side)

[The Saint]

Yes.

[ancorp]

[The Saint]

Hm, there has been reports of WE's hammer not locking down far enough, but usually they don't completely catch into the engine cage like that. Unfortunately, I no longer have my WE1911 and I can't properly troubleshoot yours based on memory alone. I'd try taking the slide off and testing the various disconnectors' effect on the hammer locking down properly.

Hopefully you won't have to resort to grinding down anything...

[Roughneck]

I've had a similar issue with my WE 1911 from time to time. Sometimes after shooting, I have to thumb the hammer down the rest of the way before I can fire again.

[safx]

What the hell is that bump on the underside
of the blow chamber? All the guns I own are
smooth, no big indent for the hammer to get
stuck in...

Well, could be worse— you could be that other
guy with the WE that's barrel bushing ripped
apart the metal slide.

My guesses are the recoil spring is too weak
and possibly the recoil rod/ bushing are not
keeping the slide from going back too far.
Try putting a few washers or rubber pads
at the base of the recoil spring.. if you have.
The disconnector has to fall into it's own
groove during a cycle to allow the hammer
to fire, if it gets stuck down you can't pull
the trigger.

Saint, you know what I wan to say!! lol.

[ancorp]

Woot! Fixed.

Took apart the trigger mech (which is easy to work on compared to say - KSC glocks). Everything is fine inside. The sear spring (the 3 prong steel flexible piece in the grip) seemed a bit bent in. Bent it back - works like a charm.

Now halfcocking works perfectly, and it doesn't lock the slide like it did before at all.

I'm a happy friggin' camper now.

[Roughneck]

You mean the sear spring should be bent out (away from the grip) to function properly? I've had the same issue but no time to sort it out lately.

[ancorp]

It was bent a bit out, perhaps because I constantly carried it cocked and locked during games. I bent it back straight so it applies more pressure to the sear and holds it tight. All good now!

[Luckless]

Don't suppose you could take some photos of the spring, one showing how it currently is, and then edit another to show the shape it was before your fix?

[ancorp]

It's fully assembled ATM. Should it mess up again, I'll post pics of it disassembled. It was nothing major, just seemed like it wasn't putting on enough pressure, a couple degrees off from "straight". Eventually it just wouldn't half cock anymore at all, and the hammer would constantly fall and lock the slide.

Now it runs awesome, and is still deadly accurate with .3s.

[mcguyver]

Yep, I've fixed a few WE Hicapas with the same problem. As soon as I'd see one with a dropped hammer, out came the sear spring and I'd reassemble all the leaf points in their appropriate spots. Sometimes it would take 5 minures or less to fix, sometimes a bit more.