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AR15.COM
3/9/2014 5:52:56 AM EDT
I was dry firing last night and noticed the slide sticking occasionally on return.  I removed the guide rod and barrel and the problem remained (this time while I manually slid the slide forward slowly).  It felt like metal on metal with no grinding. Just a sudden stop.

I removed the firing pin and extractor and the problem went away.  Replacing just the extractor removed the problem too (though it could have torqued/spun after assembly).

It looks like the end of the firing pin isn't setting through the hole in the stop and it is forward a little.

I am not real experienced dissembling and troubling shooting a 1911.  Is there any diagnosis why the firing pin now doesn't feed straight through and/or a solution?

A Harrison rear sight was recently added and it may be possible the stop isn't completely sliding into its grooves now (the bottom of the Harrison is pretty close).

Thanks.
3/9/2014 6:36:32 AM EDT
[#1]
you should be able to easily push in the firing pin with a punch without much effort...  ink the nose of the extractor with a marker and see if it is bumping the chamber causing  the closing problem...check for drag on the slide stop and possibly the ejector rubbing
3/9/2014 8:55:24 AM EDT
[#2]
You can take metal off the top of the firing pin stop if necessary, and it sounds like it is.
3/9/2014 1:25:09 PM EDT
[#3]
thanks, that's what I figured.

What file do you all use for the small work in and around a 1911?
3/9/2014 4:04:54 PM EDT
[#4]
for a firing pin stop I grip it in a pair of vise grips and carefully grind it on a bench mount disc sander... set of good (German?) needle files for things like extractors... to keep things straight and square, most of the time I use a milling machine
3/9/2014 7:12:15 PM EDT
[#5]
A Nicholson 4" bastard file is a good general purpose file.   Smaller than that?  I like the Kart barrel file, it has safe sides and is handy for a lot of different things.  For even smaller files, a good set of Swiss needle files is great to have.
3/10/2014 3:17:06 PM EDT
[#6]
Ok, I think I figured it out.

The top of the firing pin stop needed to be filed down some so the firing pin fully returned through the hole in the stop.  However, that didn't completely fix the issue; the bottom (curve) on the stop was no longer sitting flush to the slide so some had to come off the bottom as well.

Cycling like a champ while dry firing now!

Thanks for the help all.