Colt .22 conversion for .45 ACP

About every other shot, the slide fails to return completely to battery, requiring hammer to be re-cocked before it will fire. Dirty or clean, makes no difference, and there's no space age lubricant I haven't tried on the floating chamber, including some of the "dry" ones. Ammo makes no difference either, except that it functioned more reliably with Stingers, but which are too expensive for plinking. Is it possible a stronger recoil spring would help...or maybe a weaker one? Unit made in the '80s, mounted on a Gold Cup frame.

It sounds like it's hanging up somewhere . Shoot it and see where it's at in the cycle when it binds , then see what its supposed to be doing at that point . You can then look there for a burr , tight spot , etc . I bet a couple of file strokes will cure it , just need to know where to do it at .
I shoot CCI mini-mags in my Ace , no oil on the floating chamber or in the barrel hole . I can go a 1,000 rds or more over a month or more between cleanings .
I also bought a spare barrel & chamber , turned and threaded the muzzle , installed an adapter nut for a 1/2 X28 suppressor , turned the barrel OD down to the adapter OD , bought a 1950s Colt 9MM barrel bushing ( much smaller ID than current bushings ) , opened it up to match the new barrel OD , and assembled it all and loctighted the adaptor on . I can now remove the original barrel and drop in the threaded assembly for use with my Sparrow suppressor .
They are fun .
Chris

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Originally Posted by emmagee1917

It sounds like it's hanging up somewhere . Chris

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It's the last fraction of a millimeter before full lock-up, because the fall of the hammer pushes the slide (I guess) forward enough to make it fire after being re-cocked; but that's gets old when it's happening every other shot.

I wonder if the closer tolerances of a Gold Cup have anything to do with it.

The original recoil springs have 27 and 1/2 coils. You may have the wrong one in the kit.

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Originally Posted by musketshooter

The original recoil springs have 27 and 1/2 coils. You may have the wrong one in the kit.

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Ditto

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Originally Posted by musketshooter

The original recoil springs have 27 and 1/2 coils. You may have the wrong one in the kit.

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Actually, the right one (I counted the coils) was installed, so just as an experiment I exchanged that one for a full-power spring, though I expected the recoil wouldn't be great enough to push the slide back for the 2nd shot. To my surprise, I was able to fire a full magazine without having to re-cock, and only problem was a stove-pipe jam on the last shot. Maybe this was some strange fluke, but with a 10 below wind chill raging outside, I'll have to wait for better conditions before I shoot it again. Should not work, but seems like maybe it did. Am currently shooting Federal Auto Match, not because it's my favorite, but because it's cheap.

I wonder if there is a burr on the breechface or the extractor. Either might slow things down just enough. I don't know about extractor tension on a .22 Conversion Unit, but it's worth a look. Too tight might slow feeding. CC

Have to agree with Col. Colt.

I would also clean around the extractor for powder residue. Maybe some black stuff is keeping the extractor from opening enough to let the rim of the cartridge to slide into place.

No idea of what the tension on the 22 extractors should be but you could slide an empty casing under the hook to see if it's really hard to do.

Also if you could polish the extractor head with a Dremel tool. Using the cotton wheel and some metal polish. You could polish the breech face with some fine 400 grit wet dry sandpaper on a three side file.

Finally, check the release point on your magazine. That to complicate for me to explain. Just try another magazine if you can get one.

Maybe those "space age" lubs are not mixing with that cold weather? Have had that kind of problem with a Colt Woodsman.