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New Prodigy 4.25” initial problems

S

Saviorself

Alpha
My local Scheels finally had one of these in. Picked it up this morning and took it to the range. I did not clean it prior to shooting it. I had a box of blazer 115. I shot 5 rounds no problem. Put another 5 in no problem. However it quickly deteriorated from here. I tried both magazines and started getting a failure to feed every 2-3 shots with one of the magazines the other one not as often but did hang up a couple times.

I took it over to the gun smith and he checked everything over for me. He said it was well oiled and greased. He did make a slight adjustment on something and forgive me I can’t remember what he said it was and I’m pretty new to firearms in general which is why I probably can’t remember.

After he put it back together I took it back out and grabbed a fresh box of ammo. In any case ripped through one magazine no issues. Picked up the second magazine and loaded it. Started jamming again. Started switching back and forth and it would appear the one magazine was causing an issue but I have no idea what. But the other one wasn’t hanging up anymore. Or at least I was getting lucky and it wasn’t.

When racking the slide on the prodigy it seemed soft on the release? I don’t know if that’s the right word but it felt lighter when it snapped back into place.

My experience with handguns prior to this purchase have mostly been with compact handguns I’ve rented at the range and my personal Ruger Mark IV Tactical 22.

So I guess my very long winded question is do I contact Springfield and just send the whole thing back? Should I grab a different brand magazine and give that a try to completely rule that out first. I’ve read some people have had better luck with other mags. I’ve also read the spring might be the issue and a stronger spring is necessary. Overall a bit of a let down to spend that much on a gun and have those kinds of issues. But when it was working with the one magazine I loved it. Just not sure what to do next at this point other than sending it all back to Springfield to have them look at it?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
 

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Congrats on the purchase. I have a 5" Prodigy myself.

A 1911 (2011) loves to be wet. Lube it.
I would have recommend cleaning and lubing and racking it a whole bunch before you shot with it the first time, but since you've already used it, clean and lube and rack it, a lot.

After doing that, see how it performs.

If you're still having issues, send it in to Springfield - they'll take care of everything. (Providing pictures helps them a lot as well)

I ran about 1000rds through mine and had a couple hiccups, but I sent it in and I'll be getting it back this week, 5 business day turn around!
 
Oil not grease, wondering what was adjusted? as mentioned while empty cycle the slide while you are at it practice your dry firing. when you cycle the slide does the slide seem like its sticky and not gliding smooth?
 
xdman said:
Oil not grease, wondering what was adjusted? as mentioned while empty cycle the slide while you are at it practice your dry firing. when you cycle the slide does the slide seem like its sticky and not gliding smooth?
Click to expand...

So I went and Racked it a few times. When I pull it back first picture below it has a bit of a hesitation at this spot. It’s not really noticable on a fast rack but I can feel it a little and on the release it seems find. Other than that it feels quite smooth (and I’m prefacing my next sentence by saying I know not to ride the slide back but I am not sure if the hesitation I can feel is normal and want to be as detailed as possible) So I did a slow pull back and rode the slide back to see if it hung up at all. if I pull it back slowly I can feel it sort of catch here in the first picture. When I ride the slide back closed I can feel slight hesitation in the next two positions Which are the 2nd and 3rd pictures. If this normal please just correct me. But I have nothing to compare against.

Im using m7pro cleaner and lube for my Mark IV I assume this is fine on the 1911 as well?

For dry firing is it ok to do it without a snap cap? Or is it like a rim fire and should have a snap cap in place?

I kept a few empty shells from the range just in case.
 

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I have a 5in Prodigy with 1500 rounds through it and other than a very small amount of failure to feeds on the first range trip it has been faultless. It sounds like the area of resistance is the disconnector, which is not uncommon with the Prodigy. If the slide is not hanging up on the disconnector and refusing to go into battery don’t worry about it. I have bought multiple Springfield mags and none of them have caused problems. Honestly, I don’t understand the logic of dropping a big chunk of change on a Prodigy and not cleaning and lubing it properly first, but that ship has sailed. I often use MPro7 as a cleaner but I am not that keen on it as a lubricant. Get yourself some gun oil - Hoppes, whatever floats your boat, or clean and lubricate with Ballistol. It is very good at both. As you are a relative newcomer to guns and 1911s in particular I would send your Prodigy in to Springfield and have them wave their magic wand over it. Good luck, it’s an awesome gun when it runs right. Mine is magical.
 
SimonRL said:
Honestly, I don’t understand the logic of dropping a big chunk of change on a Prodigy and not cleaning and lubing it properly first, but that ship has sailed. I often use MPro7 as a cleaner but I am not that keen on it as a lubricant. Get yourself some gun oil - Hoppes, whatever floats your boat, or clean and lubricate with Ballistol. It is very good at both. As you are a relative newcomer to guns and 1911s in particular I would send your Prodigy in to Springfield and have them wave their magic wand over it. Good luck, it’s an awesome gun when it runs right. Mine is magical.
Click to expand...

I appreciate the insight and will do tear downs and clean/lube on purchase before firing going forward. I will look into the Ballistol. Thanks for the recommendation. Like I said loved the gun when it was firing well. My only actual complaint about the gun as a hole is I don’t care for the slide lock. But being left handed definitely doesn’t help that situation.
 
Feeling the disconnector is like dual recoil springs. There gets to be a segment of resistance that seems like failure/grind/rough area. As you mentioned it doesn't have the feel when racking fast. Unfortunately when live firing it tells you more.
 
Clean and oil it. Mark your magazines so you can tell them apart. Take it to the range and see what happens with 20-50 rounds per magazine. If issues are present in both magazines, you have a gun issue, if only in one magazine, you get the idea. Call SA with your findings. If a gunsmith tweaked your gun, you may have voided your warranty.
 
HayesGreener said:
You said it was jamming but how? Is it double feeding, as in trying to chamber a live round while a casing remains in the chamber?
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Casing ejects and then slide doesn’t come back into ready position (sorry I don’t know the technical term) and the next round is not chambering as you can see in the first picture I posted in my first post. The position of the slide in that picture was exactly how it stopped after a shot.
 
Saviorself said:
After he put it back together I took it back out and grabbed a fresh box of ammo. In any case ripped through one magazine no issues. Picked up the second magazine and loaded it. Started jamming again. Started switching back and forth and it would appear the one magazine was causing an issue but I have no idea what. But the other one wasn’t hanging up anymore. Or at least I was getting lucky and it wasn’t.
Click to expand...
If you're noticing that it is happening with one magazine and not the other, then it's a magazine issue, not the gun itself.

I would closely inspect both magazines, especially the feed lips and see if there are noticeable differences in spacing, finish, etc.
 
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Saviorself said:
Casing ejects and then slide doesn’t come back into ready position (sorry I don’t know the technical term) and the next round is not chambering as you can see in the first picture I posted in my first post. The position of the slide in that picture was exactly how it stopped after a shot.
Click to expand...
Ok so it is ejecting the spent round but failing to feed the next round. Next question, in the referenced photo I can't see. Is the bolt face in contact with the base of the cartridge, or stuck on the side of the cartridge case? Is the nose of the bullet jammed into the bottom of the barrel (feed ramp)?
 
HayesGreener said:
Ok so it is ejecting the spent round but failing to feed the next round. Next question, in the referenced photo I can't see. Is the bolt face in contact with the base of the cartridge, or stuck on the side of the cartridge case? Is the nose of the bullet jammed into the bottom of the barrel (feed ramp)?
Click to expand...
It’s jammed into the feed ramp. My gunsmith when he took it apart commented that the feed ramp looked great no rough spots. The bullet clears just fine with a quick rack and next bullet goes into place just fine.
 
Ok since you are a new shooter let's try this. After you clean and lube the gun, go back to the range and run two magazines through it, from the bench with a bag rest. Be sure to maintain a firm two hand grip and lock elbows when shooting. If your problem clears up shooting this way, it is your grip. If not, it's the gun.
 
Saviorself said:
My local Scheels finally had one of these in. Picked it up this morning and took it to the range. I did not clean it prior to shooting it. I had a box of blazer 115. I shot 5 rounds no problem. Put another 5 in no problem. However it quickly deteriorated from here. I tried both magazines and started getting a failure to feed every 2-3 shots with one of the magazines the other one not as often but did hang up a couple times.

I took it over to the gun smith and he checked everything over for me. He said it was well oiled and greased. He did make a slight adjustment on something and forgive me I can’t remember what he said it was and I’m pretty new to firearms in general which is why I probably can’t remember.

After he put it back together I took it back out and grabbed a fresh box of ammo. In any case ripped through one magazine no issues. Picked up the second magazine and loaded it. Started jamming again. Started switching back and forth and it would appear the one magazine was causing an issue but I have no idea what. But the other one wasn’t hanging up anymore. Or at least I was getting lucky and it wasn’t.

When racking the slide on the prodigy it seemed soft on the release? I don’t know if that’s the right word but it felt lighter when it snapped back into place.

My experience with handguns prior to this purchase have mostly been with compact handguns I’ve rented at the range and my personal Ruger Mark IV Tactical 22.

So I guess my very long winded question is do I contact Springfield and just send the whole thing back? Should I grab a different brand magazine and give that a try to completely rule that out first. I’ve read some people have had better luck with other mags. I’ve also read the spring might be the issue and a stronger spring is necessary. Overall a bit of a let down to spend that much on a gun and have those kinds of issues. But when it was working with the one magazine I loved it. Just not sure what to do next at this point other than sending it all back to Springfield to have them look at it?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Click to expand...
There is another thread on Prodigy issues and although it is long there are posts shared by others that have given great tips on how to correct this issue and others. If you continue to have problems contact Springfield customer service they are great people to work with and will help you.
 
Keystone19250 said:
There is another thread on Prodigy issues and although it is long there are posts shared by others that have given great tips on how to correct this issue and others. If you continue to have problems contact Springfield customer service they are great people to work with and will help you.
Click to expand...
I will dig around for those. Thanks for the help. And I did end up contacting Springfield this morning and they already have a label sent to me to drop off at FedEx. Thanks everyone for the help. Much appreciated!
 
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