The hammer follows to half-cock when I release the slide. Is that a problem?

original: forum.m1911.org
Retrieved: November 03, 2011
Last Post: February 01, 2007

John
30th January 2006

quote:
The hammer follows to half-cock when I release the slide. Is that a problem?

OK, let's clear one thing from the begining:

Letting the slide run forward at full speed, with no magazine in the pistol, is harmful for your beloved 1911.

Do not do it.

The above action can destroy a perfectly good trigger job.

Another question we often receive is this:

"When I let the slide run forward without a magazine in the pistol, the hammer follows to half-cock. Is this normal?"

The answer is of course NO. The hammer should not follow to half-cock when you release the slide (even though you should not release the slide without a magazine in place).

What happens here is that the slide rushing forward jerks the whole gun forward. Your pistol's trigger, obeying Newton's laws prefers to stay put, so it nudges the disconnector hard enough to disengage the sear from the hammer hooks.

Do the following test:

Lock your slide open and while holding the trigger back, release the slide. If the hammer does not follow the slide in this test, then you can correct the problem by applying some more pressure on the disconnector, by bending the central sear spring prong inwards, towards the front of the pistol. If the hammer follows with the trigger pulled back, then your problem is more involved, and has to do with the sear/hammer engagement.

If your pistol passed the above test with the trigger pulled back, then proceed to check it doing a normal reload with a couple of rounds in a magazine. In other words, insert a magazine with 2-3 rounds in the pistol, lock the slide back and let it ram forward at full speed (DO NOT HOLD THE TRIGGER BACK NOW). If the hammer does not follow, you are probably OK. If it does, then you'd better have that pistol serviced as soon as possible.


warmrain
30th January 2006

Is this a typo?
"Lock your slide open and while holding the trigger back, release the slide. If the hammer does not follow the slide in this test, then you can correct the problem...

My hammer does not follow the slide (stays cocked). This is due to the diconnector operating correctly, right!?


John
30th January 2006

No this is not a typo. If you have issues with your hammer following the slide to the half-cock, it can be due to (a) inertia from a heavy trigger or (b) problems with the sear/hammer engagement. If you hold the trigger back, and release the slide, if the hammer falls, some more tension on the middle leaf of the sear spring can correct your problem. If it still follows, then it's time to check your sear/hammer engagement surfaces.


warmrain
30th January 2006

I don't understand. Your post says: "Lock your slide open and while holding the trigger back, release the slide. If the hammer does not follow the slide in this test, then you can correct the problem..."

What is the problem if the hammer does not follow the slide? Don't you mean if the hammer does follower the slide?


John
30th January 2006

First you try letting the slide run forward without holding the trigger and the hammer follows. So we have a problem. Then lock the slide back and release it again, this time HOLDING the trigger back. If the hammer does not follow, then adding some pressure in the middle finger of the sear spring can correct the problem (the problem of the hammer following the slide to half-cock, when the slide is released, without holding the trigger back).

Does that clarify it for you?


warmrain
30th January 2006

OIC, it's a TWO part test...

The second part of the test doesn't apply if the first part of the test passes...


Tryco
9th May 2006

I'd experienced also the same sear/hammer problem with my newly acquired 9mm m1911A2-FS-2 armscor. What i did was to put/provide a spacer made of plastic about 0.5mm thick in between the sear spring and the main spring housing. From that day untill now , my gun works properly. Am I doing the right remedial action sir? What is the right thing to do if i was wrong? Please help me sir.


John
10th May 2006

Tryco, this kind of solutions are not to be used in a gun. Altering the pressure put by the sear spring, is a simple job. Just put the spring in a vice, so that the lower, solid part of it is held inside the jaws and bend the legs to supply more (or less pressure). Try the gun again. If the sear spring doesn't seem to hold the pressure you put in it (it bends back after a little use), just throw it away and buy a Colt sear spring and be done with it. Plastic things (or even metallic things) in the wrong places can create havoc, and you do not want that in a gun. The sear spring is a cheap part, don't experiment with different solutions.


foxyyy
20th July 2006

So letting the slide run forward at full speed with no loaded mag in the pistol is the only way to test if you have a safe trigger job? Just had my trigger group worked on and everytime the gunsmith slams the slide for 3 to 5 consecutive times, my heart aches seeing my beloved gun slamming.


John
20th July 2006

This is a standard test that you should perform two or thee times after a trigger job is done. NOT MORE, more makes me sick too. If I give my pistol to some one and he tries to do this, I grab it and ... slap him! I know what you mean when you say that your heart aches, but it is a test that should be done, once. Or twice. And that's it.


Stone Knife
2nd September 2006

Seems like you could safely perform this hold the trigger back and release the slide test while using a .45 snap cap in a magazine couldn't you?

Maybe I'm missing something, wouldn't be the first time!


Lazarus
2nd September 2006

Stone, its the mass of the real cartridge that slows the slide down and keeps it from jarring the engagement. Some people call it a test to drop the slide on an empty mag, and I suppose it can serve as such if performed once or twice.

Another way to be reassured about the health of your trigger job is to examine the engagement, making certain you have adequate hammer hook height and adequate sear face engagement along with the correct angles.

This whole thing is similar in nature to the dreaded Smith & Wesson "pushoff test". Everyone and his dog seems to know about this "test". What they don't know (usually) is how to do it correctly. Folks, a S&W revolver will eventually push off if you keep performing the test for pushoff. As usual, there is a better way to check out the safety of the trigger. I've had to replace the hammer in more than one revolver that I let someone borrow. (They just couldn't resist... well, you know.)


1911-MASTERSMITH
1st February 2007

John, I had a simular malfucton with a Auto-Ord. the problem with this case was a out of round hammer pin. check your pin for true, It may the problem.


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