The pistol in question is a 1911 .45 Commmander circa 1955. When I put in a loaded magazine with slide forward, I can consistently chamber a round when I fully retrack the slide and release it.
However when I put in a loaded magazine with the slide held back by the slide stop, I cannot consistently chamber a round when I fully retrack the slide and release it as the slide stop sometimes rises up slightly and catch the slide. I can manually push down the slide stop and the new round will chamber but I had rather not operate the pistol that way.
Sounds like a good candidate for a shallow detent cut into the slide stop with a ball cutter in a Dremel. This will help keep the stop down and also prevent it from locking the slide open before the magazine is empty. Just grind a little depression where the stop should be showing a shiny spot from the plunger when in the "down" position. If you cut it too deep the mag follower may not override the detent and lock the slide open. Go slow and keep checking.
Actually sounds to me that the slide cannot go far enough to the rear. The rear of the stop should be even or a tiny bit forward of the beginning of the slide notch when you pull the slide all the way back. If you have a shok-buff in there take it out, close your eyes and toss it over your shoulder into a lake. If no Shok-buff maybe you have too much spring and you are coil binding.
I took it apart and darn... there was a shok-buff in there. I had not fired it in a while and is not a self-defense pistol, so I guess I slipped it in to "protect it" and forgot all about it.
I did not know a shok-buff could cause the problem.
I'll try taking it out and checking the function before I bring in the dremel.
Don't bring in the Dremel!
Putting a dimple in the slide stop will do nothing at all to make it go down when you slingshot the slide.
You never need to do that unless you have premature lock-opens before the mag is empty.
Even then, there is most often another cause besides lack of a dimple.
I'd think taking out the Shok-Buff is going to cure your problem anyway.
Navy Joe hit it, although the slidelock can be pushed up by a nose of the bullet, but good God, you don't use a dremel to fix that. You use a few swipes with a needle file!
Removed the shok-buff... and it test-functions perfectly. I will have to wait for range time, but it appears to be fixed.
Problem solved... fired it today with the skok-buff removed. Flawless function. Thanks to Navy joe who came up with the resolution!
I repair automobiles for a living, often electrical work. I've lost count of the number of times some add-on gadget - either through itself being faulty, or improperly installed - caused the problem. Useless gadgets can be found in guns, too.
I had the same problem with a Kimber.
When I called Kimber they said "we dont recomend a buffer".
Buffers can also cause other malfunctions. The M1911 type pistol is designed so that the slide "bounces" off the frame, thus getting back some of the energy that it lost to the frame on recoil. A buffer absorbs that momentum so the slide has less energy to strip a round from the magazine and chamber it.
Buffers are put in by people worried about the normal impact on the frame; they don't realize that there is a "down side."
The lower lugs finally ripped off my Rem-Rand barrel when it was 57 years old most likely due to banging on the frame. I'll drop in a barrel every few decades rather than suffer the day to day headaches of a buff. Fun story, I had a new to me Dan Wesson with the buff still in since I hadn't stripped it. First mag of my reloads I tossed in were too long, worked in every other chamber, not this one, most likely from the .452" truncated cone bullet. Wouldn't chamber, couldn't pull the slide far enough to the rear to eject the round thanks to the buffer. Good times.
Bill, glad your problem is better.