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March 4, 2014
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I tore the 1911 down all the way to the extractor, cleaned re-assembled and shot it again today. It still has the same issues. I'm using Winchester white box FMJ 230 grain and Remington umc 230 FMJ. I used them in the two magazines that came with jt as well as 2 new ones purchased from Dan Wesson.
I put the full magazine in. Rack the slide back and it comes forward all the way except for about an 1/8th of an inch. I took a photo of it in this position. In this state, it will not fire. When the magazine is dropped out to attempt to remove the jam, the slide is very hard to move back. This happens more times than not. I'm not sure what the issue is with it. Any suggestions?
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Dans Club
February 22, 2009
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Fist thought is that you may have a tight chamber. Get a box of match 45 ACP and see what happens
It may also be the extractor tension. Remove the firing pin retainer, firing pin & spring and extractor and (pointed in a safe direction) see if it chambers a round easily. If it does, the extractor may need some work because it isn't allowing the cartridge case rim to slip into the groove behind the hook. There may even be something in there like a piece of pipe cleaner...don't ask.
Technically, the glass is always full; half liquid, half air....
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December 4, 2011
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Also, is the chamber nice and clean, no powder residue, carbon, lead etc.? It doesn't take much to keep a round from going full into the chamber.
Ron, those are great suggestions, I wouldn't have thought about the extractor tension.
Anything worth doing is worth doing well.
My father
If a man designed it, and a man built it, then a man can fix it.
My grandfather
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February 28, 2009
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My wife's PM-9 was doing that. After about 300 rounds and still doing it, I sent it to Keith at DW Norwich. One of the things he suggested was changing the slide lube. Anyway he fixed it and it now operates perfectly. Also, I'm using only DW slide lube.
-Mike
March 4, 2014
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I've never seen any match rounds for sale around here, I will have to try some if I can find them. The gun and barrel is plenty clean, hoping cleaning it would fix the issue. I did not use the DW rail lube, just Remington oil. Upon cleaning the barrel again, I found a spot (see photo) where the barrel is fairly worn on both sides as if its rubbing/catching on something. I oiled this part heavily with Remington oil. It didn't fix it unfortunately
when you sent your wife's pm9 in, did Keith end up having to do any work to it or just use and recommended the DW lube? Is that stuff really work that much better than Remington oil?
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February 28, 2009
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madallih said
when you sent your wife's pm9 in, did Keith end up having to do any work to it or just use and recommended the DW lube? Is that stuff really work that much better than Remington oil?
He actually made adjustments to the fit of the slide and the ejector. He told me that the gun oil I was using was too thin and would cause galling, but not to use slide grease as that would collect dirt and cause premature wear. For a commercial brand of slide lube he recommended FP-10.
Hope this helps some.
-Mike
March 4, 2014
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did you send in the whole gun or just the slide and barrel?
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December 4, 2011
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Don't use Rem oil, Hoppes, etc, they are all too light weight. The Dan Wesson supplied lube is FP-10, MILTEC also works very well. They are both much heavier oils and will stay put and provide a good lubricating film. Before you send anything to Keith, clean off the Rem oil and relube with FP-10 and run it wet. See what that does. The DW 1911's are much tighter tolerance than say a Ruger and require much more attention to lubrication or they will bind up. I use FP-10 on all my 1911's and revolvers for that matter. They seem to run better with it.
Anything worth doing is worth doing well.
My father
If a man designed it, and a man built it, then a man can fix it.
My grandfather
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March 2, 2008
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I'm confused (not uncommon for me), but I don't think the PMA-S is a current or even recent DW 1911 model. If this is the case, any competent gunsmith that works on 1911's should be able to resolve this problem.
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman "Were is the Self Help Section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
George Carlin
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February 28, 2009
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madallih said
did you send in the whole gun or just the slide and barrel?
I had to send them the whole gun so they could adjust the fitment. However, you can ask them to send a pickup and they will instruct you as to how they want the gun packaged and send you a label.
That's a lot cheaper than getting a LGS to do it.
-Mike
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December 4, 2011
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Adam, I sent you a PM too but thought I'd post here too. I always thought that gun felt like it had a heavier spring compared to my PM-7. I wonder if a previous owner put in a heavier spring to handle stouter loads? If so that may be why the action isn't fully cycling. A change of springs would be a cheap and quick thing to try before you ship the gun off to Keith.
What do you guys think, could a spring swap help?
BTW, the gun in question was one of mine that Adam and I swapped recently.
Anything worth doing is worth doing well.
My father
If a man designed it, and a man built it, then a man can fix it.
My grandfather
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March 2, 2008
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For what it's worth, I lube all my guns, including my PM1-S, with Mil Tec, and I normally run auto loaders a little wet. HERE is what Keith Lawton recommends for springs, you might try new springs as indicated and give that a try. Note that he specifically says "no variable springs".
Your problem may very easily be fixed with what you know to be the correct springs and a different lube. Although I never had any problems with my PM1-S, which I bought used, I did re-spring it fairly early on. It has always run perfectly with a wide variety of ammunition, including my reloads.
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman "Were is the Self Help Section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
George Carlin
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February 22, 2009
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It's important to use the correct type and amount of lube. I'd run it wet with the recommended lube before anything else. Did you check the extractor (post 2)?
Technically, the glass is always full; half liquid, half air....
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February 28, 2009
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Steve CT said
For what it's worth, I lube all my guns, including my PM1-S, with Mil Tec, and I normally run auto loaders a little wet.
Hey Steve:
Keith also recommended Mil Tec in addition to FP-10. However, I can't find anything about it or where to purchase it. Help if you can,
Thanks.
-Mike
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December 5, 2008
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Just search for them on Amazon.com. Both of them are on there.
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February 28, 2009
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snake-eye said
Just search for them on Amazon.com. Both of them are on there.
FP-10 is no problem. I already have some of that. However, my Amazon 
does not list Mil Tec, it does have Militec-1. Not sure that's the same stuff.
-Mike
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March 2, 2008
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Miltec 1 would indeed be the product I use. I probably started using it because my son suggested it, and it is the only lube I use. There is a little bottle of it in each of the three range bags and on my shooting worktable.
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman "Were is the Self Help Section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
George Carlin
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February 28, 2009
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December 5, 2008
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Try searching for: Militec-1
that seems to behe correct spelling.
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March 2, 2008
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It would be THIS, and I recall now that my son got me started using it after he completed Gunners Mate A School
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman "Were is the Self Help Section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
George Carlin
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