Slide stop....stopped

Hey folks, I'm kinda in need of some help. I installed a new slide stop and it went in fine, no issues. But when I went to pull it out to put in some other new parts it started to slide out, there was a loud click, and it lodged itself in place. I can't get it to move in any direction. Looking at it the pin slid over so it is out of line with the hole. The actual slide locking piece is wedged between the slide and frame. The slide is locked solid, it wont even rock back and forth. Any suggestion or should I just take a pair of heavy snips and say goodbye to the slide stop?

However, it looks to me like you're trying to push it out through the lockback notch rather than the dissassembly notch, which explains why it won't come out. I could be wrong, though. It also looks like it's bent pretty thoroughly, so it may be damaged beyond repair already.

its all the way back in the takedown notch, sorry about the bad pic quality. and yea, I heard a loud click and the pin slipped sideways. I think it got stuck in the frame. I pressed it out with my thumb and lifted with my other hand on the lever. next thing I know the pins torqued sideways and wont come out.

It's bent now, so it's useless. Break it or cut it, do whatever you have to do to get it out. It can't be straightened and used -- it's scrap metal.

Quote: its all the way back in the takedown notch...

No it isn't. Please pay attention to what others have been trying to tell you. Your picture shows the slide in the slidelock position, with the 3-sided cutout for locking the slide back at the aft end of the slide stop. I can tell it's in that position by the orientation of scallops in the frame and slide flats. The takedown notch is the smaller arc-shaped cutout located about 1/2 inch farther back.

The slide is frozen in place because the inside tab on the slide stop got jammed under the slide rail - where it's not relieved to allow free passage of the tab. Recommend you cut the arm in half and tap the aft half back in to free up the slide.

Disassembly instructions for the 1911 can be found in the Army TM's and FM's in our Tech Issues section.

Take a close look at this photo:

The smaller, arc-shaped notch under the "1" in "1911" is the take-down notch. The larger, 3-sided notch under the "G" in "EAGLE" is the stop notch, where the slide locks open. What niemi24s is telling you is that your photo shows the slide stop lug positioned in the lockback notch, NOT in the take-down notch. The take-down notch is cut all the way through the slide wall. The lock-back notch is NOT cut all the way through.

The firing pin stop spring plunger got caught in the groove cut in the slide stop lug. If the spring plunger doesn't have a smooth round or it the slide stop groove has sharp corners or burrs then the plunger will easily get caught.

I break the sharp corners on slide stop and polish the plunger to help eliminate this frustrating event.

The sure way to disassemble the pistol is to remove the thumb safety and remove the spring plunger assembly.

It appears that Eric has spotted the horse amongst the zebras...

Careful examination of the OP's photo strongly indicates the slide is indeed at the slidelock position.

* Lock the slide back on a 1911 at notice the near-vertical alignment of the scallops in the flats of the frame and slide, with the slide's perhaps 1/8" ahead of the frame's. Then look at their alignment as shown in the OP's photo. They're about the same.

* Take a close look at the bottom of the slide at the left side of the photo. The take-down notch is barely visible there - especially if you play with image's brightness & contrast.

* In addition, the third photo in Post #7 of this thread http://forum.m1911.org/showthread.php?t=72844 shows a similar AO with the "Thompson In The Bullet" logo at slidelock. The base of the bullet is even with the front surface of the trigger guard - just as in the OP's photo.

There's no doubt in my mind, at least, the OP's photo shows a Pre-Kahr AO at slidelock and taking care to avoid the plunger catching on the stop's groove won't make disassembly any easier.

The OP description of what happed was the clue that lead me to state the plunger was stuck when he stated there was a loud click when the SS got stuck. (the plunger snapping into the groove)

I had this very same problem happen to me after I hard chromed my MetroArms because chrome build-up on the SS groove made it nearly impossible to remove the slide stop. My slide stop started to bend like the one in his picture but I stopped before it did. I deburred the slide stop and the problem went away.

egumpher, I stopped as soon as I heard the click, but it had already wedged itself into the position. Bad luck for me. Ive grown up and worked on enough stuff to know that if something isnt working the way you know it should, force is rarely, though sometimes, the answer and stopping and looking at it closely is probably (almost always) the best bet.

And I see that you are correct niemi24s. I was shown incorrectly when I bought it how to field strip the pistol. The fella at the pawn shop said the slide lock was the notch to set it to when I remove the slide stop. Oh well, lessen learned, luckily it was a relatively inexpensive part all things considered.

It is good to hear that everything got worked out. I was pointing out another way a slide stop can get stuck as a possible expatiation.

Have you picked out a replacement slide stop?

Quote:
The firing pin stop spring plunger got caught in the groove cut in the slide stop lug.

Once upon a time I had one of these 1911 pistols that would do that. And when it did get caught it was caught.

Have you removed the slide stop yet? If not...

Quote:
Recommend you cut the arm in half and tap the aft half back in to free up the slide.

...because if the stop is removed by continuing to force its aft end out (to the left) it may create another take-down notch in the slidelock notch.

And you don't want another take-down notch!

yep, I took a diamond edged grinding wheel on a foot controlled grinder and sliced through that sucker from different angles til it dropped off in two pieces. I was bummed about that, but like I said, I learned a lesson from a relatively inexpensive piece.

and right now I have the skeletonized stainless steel slide stop that was on it when I bought it on there just so I can use it until I find another stop somewhere. Mostly because I don't want to pay for the shipping for a single slide stop from somewhere.

So it seems the "snap" the OP heard wasn't the plunger pin dropping into the notch it was the casting breaking...

No, its wasnt a snap, it was a click. I dont know, it just didnt sound like something breaking, more like something moving out of place quickly. And the slide stop that I had to cut wasnt a casting, it was "metal injection molding"

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/sid=...AUTO_SLIDE_STOP

It fit fine right up until it locked up in my gun