Oil plus a few hundred hand cycles of the slide while watching TV should fix it. And smooth out your slide to frame fit a bit too.
And if it's like every other Dan Wesson I've ever felt, might need a few hundred clicks of the thumb safety to go from God awful tight to just right too.
I read the manual completely before cleaning it, before firing it. With the ammo shortage, seems to me manually cycling the lubricated action would be helpful in “breaking it in”. I have done about 150 cycles. I had the recoil spring in when doing it. I wonder if that is the best way? Of course I’m not letting the slide be pushed back into battery with the spring but I’m working the action against the spring. Without gloves you see the effectiveness of the slide serrations; they would work well with sweaty hands. I feel it getting smoother already.
If you are going to try to break in via hand cycling I would suggest buying some 10 mm dummy rounds and cycling them through the action. That way you can slingshot the slide and let it function as designed without worrying about damaging the seer engagement.Originally Posted by Rmiked
As little off topic but not worthy of it’s own thread- I cleaned my first Dan Wesson 1911 today. I am impressed with how tight ... well ... everything is- the manual safety, barrel to slide fit, slide to frame fit. I love the feel of the locking lugs engaging when the slide goes into battery. I bought it used from Hickok45. It is the Vigil with the threaded barrel that was featured on one of his shows. Just cool all around.
Am I correct that IF the hammer stays back when manually pulling slide back and forth, the sear engagement never changes? Therefore no possibility of damage? You are just saying using dummy rounds would cycle the complete action including loading and ejecting including not moving sear?
No. On 1911’s (and unlike most modern pistols) dropping the slide on an empty chamber can cause damage to the sear engagement if done with any regularity. The hammer being back is irrelevant it’s the mass of the slide slamming home without being retarded buy the resistance of chambering a round.
If you are not chambering a live round or a dummy round you should always control the slide of a 1911 as it is released.
It’s something peculiar to 1911s, Similar to the issues caused by flipping the cylinder of a double action revolver closed like in old movies.
I understand. When I am manually cycling the slide I never let go of it. I hold continually and pull back with right hand holding pistol with left. So I am reciprocating it to allow slide and frame rails to rub together but never letting go. I have watched the Bill Wilson video before getting mine. I understand slamming it home with no resistance is not good which is why I don’t let go. Thanks for the reminder.
Regardless of how many times you hand-cycle the action, I would not feel the gun is through the break-in period until you have fired the prescribed 300-500 rounds. The dynamics of hand-cycling the action, especially if you're not using a dummy round to allow the slide to forcefully move forward into battery, are just not the same as the dynamics of firing the pistol.
And once the break-in period is over you should be able to slingshot the slide or use the slide release with equal results. If not, something needs addressing.
I just wanted to bump this comment because it's important.
Don't be dropping 1911 slides on empty chambers y'all!
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If your going into battery issues persist, check the lower locking lugs for barrel bump. My Razorback had terrible teething issues and DW had to replace the link due to improper fit. My lower lugs show evidence of barrel bump but runs fine, now.
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