1911 aluminium slide issues

[gray134]

Hi Allanother question tonight.  My wife has a WE 1911 nighthawk customs she bought as her first gun, the slide cracked the other week and I am fitting a gunsmith brothers tricut slide to it as an anniversary suprise for her.  rather than refit with her WE upper parts i have tested a spare TM hi cappa slide on her gun which worked so have stripped the parts and popped them into the new slide, and i have sanded the slide lips on the lower it moves pretty well now but may need a little more.  the issue i am having is every so often the slide will stick on the return, its only a slight sticking as the slightest movement and is completes its return to battery.

I have a feeling it may be due to the additional slide weight and i need an uprated recoil spring.  the nozzle doesnt seem to be cracked and slides easily??

any ideas, really want to get this working well for her

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[Kastrioti]

It could be the notches on the front sight post end of the outer barrel catching on to the inner portion of the slide. I had a similar issue with a 1911 before, and I'm pretty sure if you strip the gun down, there will be some wear on the barrel or the gun at this point. This could be due to slight differences in compatibility and design. Personally, I ground down a bit from my outer barrel and that worked for me, but you have to be careful because it's not likely to be metal of the highest quality, and you could risk the integrity of the barrel.

Once again, check to see if this is indeed your problem before taking any drastic actions, I've just had similar issues with 1911s in the past when switching slides around and the like.

If it sticks in the fully open position, it could be that the slide is too light (due to being skeletonised), and the recoil spring is throwing it too far backwards, so the notches on the outer barrel get caught on the slide.

In the photos attached, the points I've drawn arrows to usually get caught if the notch on the inner portion of the slide catches on the notches of the outer barrel when the slide is thrown too far back/compatibility is an issue.

This might not be your issue, but I've seen it before.

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[gray134]

Thanks Kastrioti, I have checked the barrel and does not seem to be an issue.  the Slide is for the TM Hi capa and the front sight just pushes in to place so no post scratching the barrel thankfully.  I have a feeling I had some debris somewhere from sanding the slide lips as it seems to be running smoothly.

 

[Seany.exe]

Might be that it just needs a breaking in period? make sure it's properly lubed and sit there racking it for half an hour or so make sure it's nice and smooth

 

[gray134]

thanks all for the help, i forgot to update this thread to say it all seems to be working now. 

pistol lower is WE knighthawk custom 1911

upper gunsmith brothers tricut slide with hi capa parts from tm

issues 

slide fit - had to sand the back slide lips on the lower to fit, front slide lips needed a little sanding too

slide lock not working - this was caused by a little wear on the original slide lock forming into a small dent where the pin from the safety touches, also the slide seemed to be moving quite well but believe that the little extra sanding freed the movement up helping the lock

debris - from the sanding, got a little in the mag release jamming up the mags.  solved by a good clean

have had the gun engraved for her by a trophy shop and she loves it, chrono has it firing around 290 fps on stock TM parts.

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[AshOnSnow]

You sound like you have the best wife ever!

Might I suggest the right amount of lubricant might help things along. Not 100% what to do about the gun though.