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1911 fires as magazine is inserted


Grouchy Spike

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1911 fires when loose round pops out of the magazine being inserted into mag well.  The 1911 was not at slide lock, but had a chambered round with slide forward while the magazine was inserted:

 

https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2018/12/20/one-in-a-million-bullet-triggers-race-gun-not-a-negligent-discharge/

 

Best diagnoses:  The loose round either bumped the sear/disconnector or the trigger stirrup, and released the hammer to fire the chambered round.

 

Has anyone had this experience?

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(No, has never happened to me). 

 

So shooter was doing a tactical reload.  He knocked top round off the top of magazine and that round was loose in the mag well.  And the chambered round fired.   

 

It is quite possible that the rim or nose of the cartridge jammed into the trigger stirrup, which presses against the disconnector and sear at the back of the mag well (close to the top of the magazine chase).  Round could not get directly to the disconnector to move it anywhere nearly as easily. 

 

GOOD thing it was safely pointed down range when reloading a mag.

 

Other possibility - his trigger finger tripped the trigger (perhaps due to loose round stopping the travel of the magazine up the well) and with these distractions going on, he didn't notice that trigger finger was jostled.  But, looking at the web page, reportedly he had trigger finger completely out of the trigger guard during the mag reload.

 

Good luck, GJ

 

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GJ,  in you opinion are well used magazines with GI feed lips more likely to allow the top round to pop out of the magazine, compared to say wadcutter feed lips which are parallel feed lips?  I've had a round pop up from well used magazines with hybrid feed lips that are no longer reliable feeders.  Fortunately the round popped up either while loading the magazine, or after insertion into mag well and locking into mag release. 
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I only use Colt and Tripp mags with hybrid lips, and only knock maybe a round or two loose during a year of shooting.  So, my experience is not going to tell you much.  Use the best equipment and don't worry about the freak situations, other than to be ready to make the appropriate recovery if you can.  If you need to take a second or two to think through a disaster, though, take it.  It beats getting a miss, a P or a Safety. 

 

Good luck, GJ

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GS

This situation as you described can happen.  The disconnector in the 1911 is desgined for a certain overall length.  As a 1911 is shot thousands of times parts do tend to wear. 1911 magazines also have to be fitted correctly for proper function.  If the disconnector overall length is shortened by wear its possible for a discharge, as the magazine is pushed hard in the frame the top round is topped out and the slide release has additional wear and it allows the slide release to slip off the slide and go in battery prematurely preventing the disconnector from holding the sear firmly in the hammer notch the round would discharge. When I do a custom action on a 1911 The hammer hooks the sear and the disconnector are all measured for correctness and then hand fitted.  I also reshape the magazine lips for proper fit with a magazine tool.

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Goatneck, will the reformed feed lips of a magazine remain reformed after extensive use? 

 

Can the magazine tool repair feed lips that are spread out and cause feeding problems of 230 gr LRN? 

 

My experience with magazines with deformed feed lips are all mags with either GI or hybrid feed lips.  What's yours?

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GS

 

If the 1911 magazines are of good quality the lips will remain in place after they have been reformed.  What usually happens is after extensive use they get bent from been stepped on or jamming them into the frame.  I have even seen them bent from improper loading. The tools I use will correct the problem of to wide of the lips.  Another issue can be the body of the mag can get bent slightly which will cause problems. Capt Sam and I use Tripp Mags

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