1911 Hiccup at range...

[Detox]

Issue at the range yesterday and was curious if anyone has any suggestions or insight.

Fired one 8 round magazine out of my Kimber Custom II. No issues.

Next mag, step up to the line, pull the trigger...click. Hammer drops, but doesn't go boom. I clear the round, drop the magazine and start over. Same thing happens. Hammer drops but does not fire the round.

I manually pull the hammer back and it proceeds to fire all the remaining rounds

Any ideas why this happens? I'm not an expert on the gun but was always disassembled and cleaned after every range trip. Round count is probably around 750.

Thanks in advance for any knowledge.

[Lycanthrope]

If your grip safety will allow the trigger to be pulled with only a slight amount of depression, then it is possible for the hammer to drop before the drop safety is disengaged fully.

Eventually, this can result in a broken drop safety plunger.

Lycanbroketwothrope

[pitt45GAP]

Remove the evil drop safety parts!

[Detox]

Thanks for the replies. Are there any good videos or resources that I should be aware of to help me diagnose this potential problem?

[DBZ220]

I've had this happen on two Kimbers. In both cases it was the timing of the Schwartz safety being off a bit. One was fixed by removing the firing pin and cleaning the channel. There was some gunk and particles in there, and after a good cleaning/flushing it worked fine. The other one had to go back to Kimber for work.
Some folks bypass the firing pin safety system with good results in Kimbers. The easiest way people do that is to simply install a Series 70 firing pin. I don't advocate doing that, but it seems to work.

[Lycanthrope]

Get a wood No2 pencil with the eraser on the bottom. Drop it down the bore and dry fire with full depression of the grip safety. You'll notice the pencil jump out of the barrel on most 1911's.

Next, dry fire with the minimum amount of depression on the grip safety as possible. If the pencil doesn't jump as far, you know you're a bit out of time and a bad grip can result in light strikes.

Alternately, you can take out the firing pin block by removing the rear sight.

LycanKimberloctitestheirsightsthrope

[thundrr1]

Isn't the eraser on the top of the pencil???? An honest question. Honestly. I've never bought one with the eraser on the bottom. That would make it hard to write with.

[harold63]

Thanks for the replies. Are there any good videos or resources that I should be aware of to help me diagnose this potential problem?

Here ya go.



Although the series 80 works off the trigger instead of the GS, like this one does, it can still be made to have an excellent trigger feel by taking the time to tune the contact points of the 80 parts. You won't have that problem with the Swartz safety, though yours prolly needs tuning to lift the block all the way. Check to be sure the actuator didn't bend on you, also.

[Manxdriver]

Isn't the eraser on the top of the pencil???? An honest question. Honestly. I've never bought one with the eraser on the bottom. That would make it hard to write with.

Hahahaha I read that and fully expected to look up at the top left and see Streaker's mugshot! Hahahah you beat the Amish to the joke!

[justashooter]

that's what you get for buying a name, rather than a gun.