About twice a year, I get a customer who complains their semi-auto pistol is “locked up” or a revolver has a barrel obstruction. Most often, this is associated with handloads or budget factory ammo. The jam usually is just after a light recoil, a round that did not eject from the gun or a feeling of, “It felt weird.” The shooter hand racks the slide and then the trouble starts.
Squib loads (loads with little or no powder) have plagued shooters forever. Most often, the light load fails to get the bullet out of the barrel, and the second round fired after it creates enough pressure to “bulge” and sometimes split the barrel.
In my latest case, the gun was a numbers matching WWII Colt 1911 used by the owner’s father. The bulge occurred in the chamber area locking the slide up solid. First, I did a complete exam of the gun, seeing what damage may have been done to the slide and frame. Most times, I can get the slide to move with a few whacks of a leather mallet. Not this time. To separate the slide from the frame, I cut the slide stop pin, allowing the slide to come off. Now I could see the issue clearly. The barrel was now too fat to slip out of the slide.
The slide which was serialized to the frame was my main concern, I had to be very careful. After thinking about it overnight, I decided to cut material from the barrel chamber area through the ejection port with my mill. Hopefully this would allow the chamber area to squeeze out the slide tunnel. I cut a lot of material away with a ⅜th endmill, being careful not to touch the slide. Next, I used a brass drift and hammer to tap the barrel out, hitting the lower feet. The barrel reluctantly gave up and came out. The slide was fine, ready for a new period correct barrel. If you ever have a “weird recoil or what feels like a weak round,” please take the time to check the barrel safely for an obstruction.
Read the full article here