Colt .45 Officers' Jamming

woodit · April 16, 2000, 05:42 PM

I have a jamming problem with my .45 OACP. Every six or so rounds the empty cartridge fails to completely eject, sticking half way out of the chamber end of the barrel,and the next round on top of the clip jams underneath it, necessitating my manually opening and locking the slide, removing the clip, shaking the empty casing out,replacing the clip, and then chambering the next round.

What is the likely cause and solution?

James K · April 16, 2000, 09:42 PM

Hi, Woodit,

With empty cases, try feeding them up under the extractor and into the chamber, then extracting them. I suspect the problem is the extractor not fully gripping the empty cartridge. It sounds like the slide is coming back far enough to pick up the top round in the magazine, so it is not the recoil spring or anything blocking the slide.

On a recoil operated pistol (unlike a blowback) the cartridge is not pushed out of the chamber by firing pressure, it must be extracted, although some borderline residual pressure may remain.

So look at the extractor hook and extractor tension. A broken or badly shaped hook will require extractor replacement; too loose a tension can be corrected by tuning the extractor.

Jim

HankL · April 17, 2000, 08:34 PM

In addition to Jim's fine words, these short strokin wonderful pistols suffer from undersized or rough ejection ports. Enlarge on the radius and smooth the internal surfaces. Due to the short stroke everything includeing recoil spring, extractor etc. is going to need to be right on. It's a bitch but once you get it things will be right and stay right.
Enjoy

James K · April 18, 2000, 09:21 AM

Hi, HankL,

Good advice for further refinement, but in the immediate problem Woodit says the case is not being fully extracted from the chamber, so the ejection port does not seem to be a factor.

Maybe Woodit will let us know what develops.

Jim

HankL · April 18, 2000, 07:36 PM

Yes, we will see.
regards

jimmy · April 19, 2000, 11:01 AM

The failure to eject described here seems to me most likely an extractor problem--at least, the extractor is what I'd check first. The extractor needs to grip the cartridge case rather firmly until the case hits the ejector and pivots outward.

BTW, weak extractor tension has caused more problems in my Colt O-frames than all other problems combined. I never could figure why Colt's allows so many of its pistols to leave the factory, apparently without checking something as basic as the extractor tension.

[This message has been edited by jimmy (edited April 19, 2000).]

April 16, 2000, 05:42 PM	#1
woodit Senior Member Join Date: April 6, 2000 Posts: 289	I have a jamming problem with my .45 OACP. Every six or so rounds the empty cartridge fails to completely eject, sticking half way out of the chamber end of the barrel,and the next round on top of the clip jams underneath it, necessitating my manually opening and locking the slide, removing the clip, shaking the empty casing out,replacing the clip, and then chambering the next round. What is the likely cause and solution?

April 16, 2000, 09:42 PM	#2
James K Member In Memoriam Join Date: March 17, 1999 Posts: 24,383	Hi, Woodit, With empty cases, try feeding them up under the extractor and into the chamber, then extracting them. I suspect the problem is the extractor not fully gripping the empty cartridge. It sounds like the slide is coming back far enough to pick up the top round in the magazine, so it is not the recoil spring or anything blocking the slide. On a recoil operated pistol (unlike a blowback) the cartridge is not pushed out of the chamber by firing pressure, it must be extracted, although some borderline residual pressure may remain. So look at the extractor hook and extractor tension. A broken or badly shaped hook will require extractor replacement; too loose a tension can be corrected by tuning the extractor. Jim

April 17, 2000, 08:34 PM	#3
HankL Senior Member Join Date: March 11, 1999 Location: The Sunny South Posts: 2,174	In addition to Jim's fine words, these short strokin wonderful pistols suffer from undersized or rough ejection ports. Enlarge on the radius and smooth the internal surfaces. Due to the short stroke everything includeing recoil spring, extractor etc. is going to need to be right on. It's a bitch but once you get it things will be right and stay right. Enjoy

April 18, 2000, 09:21 AM	#4
James K Member In Memoriam Join Date: March 17, 1999 Posts: 24,383	Hi, HankL, Good advice for further refinement, but in the immediate problem Woodit says the case is not being fully extracted from the chamber, so the ejection port does not seem to be a factor. Maybe Woodit will let us know what develops. Jim

April 18, 2000, 07:36 PM	#5
HankL Senior Member Join Date: March 11, 1999 Location: The Sunny South Posts: 2,174	Yes, we will see. regards

April 19, 2000, 11:01 AM	#6
jimmy Senior Member Join Date: January 29, 1999 Location: Texas Posts: 1,796	The failure to eject described here seems to me most likely an extractor problem--at least, the extractor is what I'd check first. The extractor needs to grip the cartridge case rather firmly until the case hits the ejector and pivots outward. BTW, weak extractor tension has caused more problems in my Colt O-frames than all other problems combined. I never could figure why Colt's allows so many of its pistols to leave the factory, apparently without checking something as basic as the extractor tension. [This message has been edited by jimmy (edited April 19, 2000).]