Hi all. I had a weird issue during an IDPA match with a pretty new Colt Combat Elite purchased last December. Went to pull the trigger but all I got was a click.
Looked at the back of the gun an saw this:
And the firing pin looks like this:
It look like it got flattened out and no longer fits in the hole in the firing pin stop.
Sizes:
It’s a series 80, so there’s that. It only has 973 rounds; 900 of my reloads and 73 Federal HST 230gr standard pressure (tried to get to 100.).
Any ideas on what caused this? Those first 900 were trouble free.
I had a plain series 80 that did that while dry firing. Stuck forward with no apparent damage. I bought a Wilson BP unit just in case. Never gave me any trouble after that.
Perhaps simply the metal is too soft. I’ve never seen it deformed like that, even when there is some obstruction to its movement due to the FP plunger being out of time. Also when the FP hits the plunger there are very easy to notice marks on it.
Yeah you need to look at the notch in the firing to pin and see if it’s peened. If it is, then the firing pin block is not clearing the pinin time.
I installed a Colt N plunger lever in every Series 80 I ever had.
Try this:
With the thumb safety engaged (on), pull the trigger and press the back of the firing pin to see if the firing pin block is raised enough to clear the firing pin. It should be. If it’s not, disengage the thumb safety and see if you can get the firing pin block to clear the pin before the hammer falls. If you can, then it’s timed correctly. If not, order an N lever. They’re about $5. I used to get 'em directly from Colt.
Ok, I looked for the part Colt. They don’t sell parts any more, they directed me to Brownells and Midway. They’re both out of stock with no ETA. Midway won’t even take a back order.
Just spoke with Colt and they want the gun back for inspection and repair. The customer service rep said it very unusual for a gun with this low of a round count to experiencing these issues.
I’ve never seen it, but it’s their game, and I’ll abide by their rules.
They said that it was very unusual and they wanted to inspect it as well as resolved the issue. Shipping is paid both ways, and I have plenty of other guns to play with.
page 34 has the rule in question if anyone is curious. This thread was educational for me, because I had no idea you couldn’t modify a Series 80 safety for IDPA. This sport is going the way of the USGA
I’ve never had anyone check safeties at an IDPA match.
I can tell by your picture that your firing pin is peened down on the back end. You said the firing pin safety works, there’s really nothing else it could be. This is not an unheard of occurrence with Colts.
You have to be careful letting someone’s ‘warranty department’ fix a 1911. It’s not uncommon for them to make a mess where wasn’t one previously.
An EGW firing pin and you’re back in business, but if you want to send it back to Colt, go for it.
In my experience, once you check the S80 parts for proper timing, they are OK for life, and they don’t add any perceptible weight to the trigger, specially if it’s not a superlight competition only trigger. I would not remove it, you can learn to assemble it just as fast, and is an excellent drop safety.
This is not an issue with the S80 parts, but a bad quality FP with soft metal. I would just replace it, but I’m OK with the colt route too.
After thinking about it about it I’d rather fix the gun my self rather than part with it:
I will drop in a new pin, and do about 100 dry fires and see if there is any peening that shouldn’t be there. I will report back. If it’s just a poor firing pin then there isn’t
I totally get it. I actually want to do this more an more. Unfortunately I’m in California, but if I wasn’t I would buy a Caspian frame and do a complete build. I will probably settle for a SA Mil Spec.
