Posted: 4/8/2003 5:48:08 AM EDT
|
Was at the range Sunday with a friend. He brought his Kimber 1911 with him to function test. We have been having a problem getting it to feed. I polished the ramp and had him install a new recoil spring since he bought the gun used and didn't know how old it was. Well on the 3rd shot the barrel bushing breaks off horizonally between the barrel and guide rod plug. The plug, spring, and piece of the bushing go downrange. We found the piece that broke off and the spring, but couldn't find the plug. Noone was hurt, just shaken up a bit. Once we got home I took the firearm apart. I noticed on the muzzle side of the guide rod head (part towards the chamber) that it was being hit by the slide for a while. Well defined markings. I asked him about the old spring and he said it was about 1 1/2" shorter and had several less coils. Just want to verify my thinking that what caused the problem was the previous owner may have put in the wrong size spring and over time it weakened the bushing to the point that it failed? |
|
That gun must have "kicked" hard for those 3 shots? After a very careful inspection, the rebuilding process would begin. Assuming it's a full size, another bushing, guide, spring and plug shouldn't be a problem to aquire. A bit of "dry cycling" before actually firing would be in order. A bushing failure is repairable, a Kaboom is another story. Used guns from a reputable shop may be taken care of. Used guns from a gunshow...  use a string and hide behind a tree when firing! 
|
|
Believe it or not this has not been an uncommon occurrence in earlier 5” Kimbers. I’ve heard of this happening many times. The earlier guns had an MIM barrel bushing that sometimes would have the ears sheared off during the firing cycle. It’s not a big deal. Call Kimber up and tell them what happened and that you need a new bushing. Kimber does no hand fitting on their barrel bushings so the part should literally be drop in... or at least that’s what they told me when I got a new bushing from them. As far as the slide hitting the guide rod head during the firing cycle this is completely normal in a 1911 and was not the cause of the bushing’s breakage. The slides reward travel during recoil is stopped when the slide comes in to contact with the guide rod head and consequently the guide rod head with the frame. Once in contact the recoil spring transfers all the energy it has stored during recoil back onto the slide thus driving it forward and returning the gun into battery. |
I can’t think of any way the barrel bushing on this gun would cause a feeding problem. I would go back to basics and first try a different magazine and also check the extractor tension. Since it sounds to me like the barrel bushing was an MIM part I would bet that the extractor was too, check the hook and the tension. Also, if anything, a reduced weight or worn out recoil spring would only reduce the pressure on the barrel bushing and actually stress the part less. Let us hear what it turns out to be and what Kimber does for ya’. |
|
1.5 inches SHORTER THAN STOCK That means he was operating on about 13 lbs or less of spring. That will cause the slide to come back like it wants to tear your head off. I think you might want to make sure the guide rod fits properly, get a new spring (and obviously bushing and plug). and then give it to a competent gunsmith who can give it a look and a nod if it looks good. Then go back and fire it. A good gunsmith can diagnose 1911 problems (even when they require complete detail stripping) in less than 10 minutes. My gunsmith detail stripped my SA 1911 once and had my problem fixed and me out the door in 5 minutes once. |
Hi Green0 - Could you post the name and location of your smithy? I'm always on the lookout for a good 1911 guy - Thanks! |
It does even feed with the extractor removed, for that matter. Colt's "finger collet" bushing had a reputation for shucking a finger and locking the gun up completely, even worse than a misfeed. But at any rate, that gun had to have a "few" rounds through it to get the original recoil spring collapsed to that point and it's time to get it healthy again. |
But that is not what was described..... From 9supercomp’s description of how the bushing broke no feeding problems would have occurred since the gun would not have been functional. Once the ears have been sheared off of the barrel bushing the gun would had been inoperable. The bushing didn’t break until the 3rd shot and when it broke it was due to the combination of the recoil impulse and pressure from the recoil spring pushing forward on the ears of the barrel bushing. Once again the bushing should have nothing to do with this guns pre-existing feeding problem. As I said before I would go back to basics.... try a different magazine and check the extractor tension. While a 1911 may very well feed some of the time with out enough extractor tension, the gun will have very erratic feeding with too much extractor tension. |
|
sounds like a perfect example of the kitchen gunsmith stricks again.some ya hoo probably thought by cutting down the spring it would improve the preformance of his kimber.then after he reailized he screwed up a fine gun he unloads it. it has nothing to do with it being a kimber for cryin out loud.any 1911 would have done the same thing maby sooner. |
Nope, it has to do with a substandard part that couldn’t meet the tolerances necessary to perform its task. Five will get you ten that spring length or weight had no effect on the breakage of this bushing (as it shouldn‘t)..... but that’s just my 2 cents. A bit of further information from 9supercomp may help shed some more light on this subject. I wonder, was the Kimber a Clackamas gun or a Yonkers gun, and if it was a Yonkers gun what was the serial number range? |
|
If the spring had several more coils than the originial, then there's a good chance of spring stacking and it will break bushings. The recoil spring should not be solid compressed when the slide is racked. If it is then the bushing is takeing the force of the slide moveing backward and not just the spring tension , which is all it should be takeing. So that's what probubaly broke the bushing. It could also cause this spring set up to have feeding problems. If the spring was stacking solid before the slide moved fully rearward then he timeing would be off. And the shorter rearward slide movement will cause feeding problems. But since the old spring had feeding problems it could of been weak and a new properly fitted recoil spring woud have cured the problem. Most recoil springs will fit out of the box, but there are those that are too long (too many coils). And the wire size can alsochange the number of coils. So the length of a new spring should be longer, but should still have the same number of coils, IF it was the same type and same mfg as the originial spring. This is why you check for spring stacking any time you put a new recoil in any firearm. 1911.org has a good tech artical on checking proper recoil spring length. this is at broke your bushing and it wil break another one if you use that same spring without tuneing it for proper length.. |