Colt Commander Jam

[Doctor Sam]

May be a new book title by James Lee Burke.  My daughter was shooting my .45ACP commander at the range this Friday with conventional loaded 200g SWC.  We had a 1911A1 also.  She loaded the 1911A1 magazine into the commander and fired away.  She got off 3-4 rounds and the gun hung up.  We had to take it apart to clear it.  Did not eject the spent round.  Tugged and pulled on the 1911 clip, pulled the take down pin and got the pistol torn apart.  Reils engage the slide until the ejector comes into play.  A sharp rap with a plastic hammer on the ejector didn;t help.  Moderate tapping will force to slide back then must be driven off the receiver.
Any ideas of what has gone wrong and how to fix this?  I bought this gun back in the late 60s in brush crome and stocked it with ivory handles.  Daughter wants the gun when I pass on.  I need to know how to fix it.
Many thanks.
Dr. Sam

[Savage]

Doctor,
Sorry to hear of your problem with the Commander. You didn't specify if the pistol you have is the lightweight (Aluminum) frame. There were instances of frame cracking reported in this model. That would possibly explain your problem. That's just a shot in the dark tho-------it would be difficult to identify the problem without actually handling the gun. I would suggest you take the pistol to a gunsmith for a checkup. Hope it's nothing serious!
Savage

[williamlayton]

It could be as simple as the grip contacting the slide release or a spring.
It will be hard for any to detect the problem by phone.
Save yourownself some time and headaches by visiting with a gun smith.
You will get it worked out and will be happier with the results.
Blessings

[Mikey]

Take it to a gunsmith and let us know what he said.  Mikey.

[Mikey]

Hey Sam - I thought of something else last night - on ocassion my old lightweight Commander will jam up on me like that when I'm using reloads.  It's like one of the empties gets stuck in the chamber and doesn't want to come out.  Never happens with factory ammo, only with a reload once in a while.  

Whenever that happens to me I just remove the magazine (not always easy), find someplace at the range like one of the shooting benches, er sumptin, where I can use the bench as a stable table, and apply lots of weight against the front part of the slide at the bottom of the barrel bushing, as though I am pushing the slide back.  It works for me.

Don't know what causes it - maybe an older piece of brass that just expands to fill the chamber too much, maybe that in combo with a dirty chamber, but when I get the empty out I just toss it.  

I'm willing to bet that once you got the brass out she cycled just fine.  The mag didn't want to release most likely because of the slide pressure on the top round and the pressure that places on the magazine release.  

If you got the empty cleared out she should cycle fine.  Try some factory rounds and she should work fine for you.  

When you say 'conventional 200 gn swcs' - were those reloads???  Mikey.

[Mikey]

Hey Sam - I thought of something else last night - on ocassion my old lightweight Commander will jam up on me like that when I'm using reloads.  It's like one of the empties gets stuck in the chamber and doesn't want to come out.  Never happens with factory ammo, only with a reload once in a while.  

Whenever that happens to me I just remove the magazine (not always easy), find someplace at the range like one of the shooting benches, er sumptin, where I can use the bench as a stable table, and apply lots of weight against the front part of the slide at the bottom of the barrel bushing, as though I am pushing the slide back.  It works for me.

Don't know what causes it - maybe an older piece of brass that just expands to fill the chamber too much, maybe that in combo with a dirty chamber, but when I get the empty out I just toss it.  

I'm willing to bet that once you got the brass out she cycled just fine.  The mag didn't want to release most likely because of the slide pressure on the top round and the pressure that places on the magazine release.  

If you got the empty cleared out she should cycle fine.  Try some factory rounds and she should work fine for you.  

When you say 'conventional 200 gn swcs' - were those reloads???  Mikey.

[Savage]

Mikey,
The "Lee Factory Crimp Die" will solve the occasional thick brass problem you described.
Savage

[Questor]

On the topic of thick  brass: I've got a target 1911 with a tight chamber and I only shoot Remington brass in it because I've got chambering problems with other brands.

[Mikey]

Questor - do you use the collet type die that Savage mentioned??  I don't have one but I usually run my loaded roudns through an 06 sizer for the same effect.  Mikey.

[Savage]

Mikey,
An old carbide sizing die with the depriming punch removed will work too. Just use it for postsizing as your last operation. The Lee FCD is less than $15 and works better.
Savage

[Dee]

Have you guys ever heard of a TAPER CRIMP DIE? As for the hung round I would guess reload with dirty brass or extreme chamber fouling. The hammer should be left in the tool box. Beating on ejectors of 1911s with a hammer was never in my tuneup schedule. However, a file sometimes was. You may have bent the ejector with the hammer and it's not lineing up with the slot milled into the slide it rides in.  Sounds like you need a smith. However, it is your gun.

[Savage]

Dee,
All dies of current manufacture for the .45 ACP are taper crimp dies. This operation will not guarantee that the round will function in all chambers. Using the LFCD or a carbide resizing die with the deprime punch removed on the last operation will.
Savage