Colt 1911 Government slide closes when last shot is fired and magazine is empty

[ARshooter]

I figure a 1911 is probably one of the most popular pistols owned and someone will have some answers to the following problem. I was shooting yesterday, and some times the slide would not stay open once the last round was fired. This was happening about 75% of the time with both Winchester factory ammo and my reloads. The first ammo I fired was the factory ammo which is when it first happened, so I know it didn't have anything to do with the reloads. Also, yesterday was the very first time I have shot any reloads in it, so I know that couldn't have anything to do with it. I don't know if this has any significance, but it seemed when the slide would not stay open on the last round, the mag would not just drop out when depressing the mag release button. When the slide would stay open on the last round, the mag would easily drop out. I haven't spent a lot of time trying to look at the pistol yet or researching this, but, I Googled this issue and found one article that said to remove the slide lock pin and re-install it. This didn't sound like a positive solution and feel like there is a little more to it than that. Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[LACamper]

Same mag? Or different ones?

Also, tell us about the gun... brand, age, how many rounds through it, what isn't factory?

 

[LSUSMC]

+1 on trying different mags

 

[DBMJR1]

When you chamber a round, after inserting a magazine, do you use the slide stop, or do you slingshot the slide?

 

[bsoileau24]

When i bought my para ordinance 1911 i had to same issues i switched to kimber pro mags and never had that problem again

 

[LACamper]

Chip McCormick mags.

 

[Swami]

Sounds like a mag issue to me...

 

[ARshooter]

Less than 500 rounds through it. The brand is a Colt Government series 80. The only original Colt Mags I have are the two that came with it. I have bought several 1911 mags from the Kenner gun show in the last year. To be honest, I thought a 1911 mag was a 1911 mag, but from all your comments, it sounds like I'm wrong. The next time I go to the range, I'll load 1 round in each mag and see if any particular mags cause the problem. Then, I'll do the same and see if the same mags produce the same result. Thanks!

 

[scooterj]

Combination of mag follower and slide stop. The slide stop is the correct length for the Colt followers. All the others will be shaped a little differently and the follower is not pushing the slide stop up, it's bypassing it and hanging the mag up. The next time you shoot it, put an empty mag in the gun and pull the slide back while looking at the slide stop/follower interaction. When the slide doesn't lock back, while shooting, pull the slide back and look again. You will see a difference.

 

[Vigilante Sniper]

I had the same problem with my Dan Wesson, I was told to replace the slide stop with one from Wilson, bought one and problem solved

 

[ARshooter]

Yep, it was the magazines. I looked through all of them and thankfully, the original mags that came with the pistol had the Colt emblem. When I put the empty Colt mags in and pull the slide back, it stays open. With the other mags, it won't. There is a little bump sticking up off the Colt mag followers that the others don't have. It looks like the little bump is what comes up and hits the slide stop. Oh well, you learn something new every day. Like I said earlier, I thought all 1911 mags were all the same.

Thanks for everyone's feedback!

 

[scooterj]

The best solution is to get a longer slide stop and fit the followers of the rest of the mags, if needed. Most Colt parts are mil-spec, most aftermarket is not, so there will be differences.