1911 Ranger Officer Misfiring

[Richard C.]

Picked up a new 9mm Range Officer Compact a few days ago. During the first 100 rounds it misfired "4" times. Two of the times the round fired after re-cocking the hammer. The strikes on the primer looked light but were very visible. Using Remington 115 gr., FMJ for range practice. This ammo batch has been used without incident in my Sig 226, and S&W M&P. Before I contact Springfield, has anyone experience or know of any issued related to this model weapon, or possibly with this ammo and weapon.

 

[HansGruber]

Try cleaning your firing pin channel, spring, and firing pin. May be excessive lube/gunk on/in it.

 

[Keystone19250]

A common question to a question like that after shooting a new gun for the first time is did you do a basic tear down clean and oil before taking it to the range?

 

[Richard C.]

Try cleaning your firing pin channel, spring, and firing pin. May be excessive lube/gunk on/in it.

It is possible, nothing unusual was visible. Of all the hand guns and thousands of rounds I've fired this is the first Springfield, and the first "Multi" misfire I have experience.

 

[BangBang]

It is possible, nothing unusual was visible. Of all the hand guns and thousands of rounds I've fired this is the first Springfield, and the first "Multi" misfire I have experience.

You said you used the Remington 115gr, is that the only ammo you used? If so I would try something else, another brand maybe even different weight to rule out the possibility of it being that ammo (the Remington).

 

[Keystone19250]

Try cleaning your firing pin channel, spring, and firing pin. May be excessive lube/gunk on/in it.

Hans I’ve read and it’s been mentioned on the forum a few times not to oil the firing pin on a striker fired pistol, does the same apply with a 1911?

 

[HansGruber]

Hans I’ve read and it’s been mentioned on the forum a few times not to oil the firing pin on a striker fired pistol, does the same apply with a 1911?

Answers vary...some say no, some say very light...I usually wipe down with a oil cloth, and then a dry cloth, so there is a very light coat.

 

[Annihilator]

Answers vary...some say no, some say very light...I usually wipe down with a oil cloth, and then a dry cloth, so there is a very light coat.

Yea, agree with this, I also do the same.

 

[Annihilator]

You said you used the Remington 115gr, is that the only ammo you used? If so I would try something else, another brand maybe even different weight to rule out the possibility of it being that ammo (the Remington).

I was thinking the ammo also, plus to clean out the firing pin channel that was also mentioned here.

 

[KLGunner]

Springfield Armory’s customer service representatives can answer your questions/concerns Monday through Friday 8:30 to 4:30 CST via phone at 1-800-680-6866, International: +1-309-944-5631 or email at sales@springfield-armory.com.

 

[Richard C.]

g

Answers vary...some say no, some say very light...I usually wipe down with a oil cloth, and then a dry cloth, so there is a very light coat.

Good info to remember, learned that a long time ago with revolvers, but in this case the ammo did not remain in the weapon, it was fired 1 & 1/2 magazines, then misfired, then fired 10-20 more times, then another misfire. I was able to fire off 3 of the 4 after rechecking the hammer. I've cleaned the gun up, and marked the magazines to narrow possible causes. I may need to polish the ramp also, as I noticed some issue with JHP not feeding as smoothly as FMJ. I will get it figured out. Was just interested if anyone had heard of specific issues with this model.

 

[Richard C.]

I was thinking the ammo also, plus to clean out the firing pin channel that was also mentioned here.

I will try another ammo tomorrow. As you know ammo is somewhat difficult to find, and I was preferring to do my 300-500 rounds of initial practice with this weapon with my Range Grade, as it works fine in my other handguns without any issue.

 

[Richard C.]

You said you used the Remington 115gr, is that the only ammo you used? If so I would try something else, another brand maybe even different weight to rule out the possibility of it being that ammo (the Remington).

Yea that is the only one so far. It has worked fine in my Sig 226 or SW MP without issue. I have a bulk supply for practice. Tomorrow I will reluctlanty try some of my carry ammo. This is disappointing as Springfield is not a cheap brand, and should not be this picky or require fine tuning.

 

[HansGruber]

g

Good info to remember, learned that a long time ago with revolvers, but in this case the ammo did not remain in the weapon, it was fired 1 & 1/2 magazines, then misfired, then fired 10-20 more times, then another misfire. I was able to fire off 3 of the 4 after rechecking the hammer. I've cleaned the gun up, and marked the magazines to narrow possible causes. I may need to polish the ramp also, as I noticed some issue with JHP not feeding as smoothly as FMJ. I will get it figured out. Was just interested if anyone had heard of specific issues with this model.

Magazines shouldn’t cause a misfire; they’re usually more responsible for feed issues.

It sounds like you were getting light primer strikes...most commonly ammo related, but, it might be the pistol...again, some type of issue with the firing pin would be most likely, followed by a bad mainspring.

Question: of the rounds you couldn’t get to fire, did you attempt to fire them in another pistol that usually eats this ammo without issue? That might be something to try next time at the range if the issue reappears...if the other pistol is also misfiring, you know it’s an ammo issue...particularly if you just opened up a new box from a fresh case/recently purchased...there may be a bad lot of primers.

 

[krunchnik]

I had this same problem with my EMP3 in .40-I found a heavier main spring and installed that and cleaned the firing pin channel-I then traded out the firing pin and rebound spring with my EMP4 and haven't had the problem since.
I actually think it was the heavier main spring that fixed it.