# Had A Situation with My 1911 at the Range Today



## zogger (Jul 11, 2015)

I had an interesting situation at the range today. I am a new 1911 shooter, still learning how best to shoot it. I have had my Desert Eagle 1911 G for only a few months and put <800 rnds thru it as yet.

After I shot about 20 rnds, the magazine would not drop out of the gun. With a little effort I got it out. I then tried another magazine, shot a few rnds, and had the same issue. My buddy loaned me a mag, I shot some more rnds, and it seemed to work fine.

After I shot a few more times with my buddy's mag, the gun started not staying locked back after the last rnd. At this point we had been sharing the mag and it was working fine in his gun.

We inspected my gun but it looked fine. We tried putting it in and taking it out the mag a few times and seemed to work.

I then took one of my mags and used it..all worked fine. At this point we were confused.

Then I noticed that I was keeping my left thumb (I am right handed) very close and possibly resting it on the slide release as I shot. So I made a effort to keep my thumb away from the slide release and voila! No more issues!

So I learned a good lesson today to be careful where I keep my thumb on my support hand!

Anyone else had a similar issue?

Tx!


----------



## SouthernBoy (Jun 27, 2007)

Not with a 1911 but yes with the M&P Shield (both calibers). A few other ones as well. A gen3 Glock 23 I bought in March 2007 came with a 5 pound trigger, night sights, and the extended slide stop, all factory installed. I removed that slide stop because I would hit it on occasion, causing that slide to fail to lock open on the last round.


----------



## boatdoc173 (Mar 15, 2014)

zogger said:


> I had an interesting situation at the range today. I am a new 1911 shooter, still learning how best to shoot it. I have had my Desert Eagle 1911 G for only a few months and put <800 rnds thru it as yet.
> 
> After I shot about 20 rnds, the magazine would not drop out of the gun. With a little effort I got it out. I then tried another magazine, shot a few rnds, and had the same issue. My buddy loaned me a mag, I shot some more rnds, and it seemed to work fine.
> 
> ...


yes--my wife loves to flip the safety as she is readying to shoot a 1911-- then of course the gun does nothing--LOL

she is learning not to do that the hard way


----------



## DJ Niner (Oct 3, 2006)

When using certain 1911 mags in certain 1911 pistols, if the slide release is accidentally held down by the thumb during shooting, not only will the slide not lock to the rear after firing the last shot, but when it closes on the empty chamber, it will slide the metal magazine follower forward slightly and "pinch" the tip of it between the feedramp and the bottom of the slide. When the shooter tries to remove the mag, they find that it won't release. If you see scratches/gouges on the feed ramp, the follower being pushed forward and pinched against it is probably was is causing the scratches.

If this is the problem, start by manually locking the slide to the rear and visually inspecting the magazine follower. Locking the slide back will relieve the pinching problem, but if the follower has slid forward into the feed ramp area, the follower may still be overhanging the feed ramp enough to prevent normal/easy removal of the mag. Use a tool (NOT your finger, due to the danger of the slide unexpectedly slamming closed) to bump/slide/coax the follower rearward, back under the feed-lips and into the mag body, and then the mag should eject normally. If the follower has "popped over" the slide release and the slide release stud is now trapped underneath the follower, then some more fiddling will be required to get the mag out. Get some Wilson 47 or 47D mags (or similar) and the problem will never be seen again (while using those mags).


----------



## zogger (Jul 11, 2015)

Tx for the feedback. I am dry firing at home to adjust the position of my thumb.


----------



## zogger (Jul 11, 2015)

I was back out on the range today and had not issues. I made sure my thumb stayed away from the slide release. This was easier since I put new grips on the gun:









The results at 7 yrds on a 3" target-All 5 shots on target:


----------



## casurvivor (Jan 23, 2015)

deleted


----------

