First-time 1911 owner with a question

[CDE10]

Yesterday, I got my first centerfire pistol, a Colt Delta Elite 10mm. It was slightly used, but in like-new condition. I have only put a little over a hundred rounds through it, but I already love it! It is very accurate and feels great in my hand. Since this is my first experience with a 1911, I've come here for some advice.

I noticed that the brass leaves these little marks on the outside of the slide as I have shown in my picture below. My questions are: How do they get there? Is there a way to prevent this? How do I clean it off? I tried rubbing it with some Hoppe's solvent, and that doesn't do much.

The only other problem I've had was failures to eject the spent cartridges, but a slight change in my grip seems to have fixed that problem completely.

Thanks for any information you can give me!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v340/sturmwaffle/100_0970.jpg

[quantico]

Originally posted by CDE10

I noticed that the brass leaves these little marks on the outside of the slide as I have shown in my picture below. My questions are: How do they get there? Is there a way to prevent this? How do I clean it off? I tried rubbing it with some Hoppe's solvent, and that doesn't do much.

The only other problem I've had was failures to eject the spent cartridges, but a slight change in my grip seems to have fixed that problem completely.


The brass marks come from the brass spinning out of the ejection port and nicking the slide as they tumble away... they can be minimized by adding a tad more or less extractor tension. Your gun may be slightly on the tight or loose side in extractor tension. I don't know which direction you are.. The marks can be reduced a bit by leaving a bit more oil there when shooting... a good solvent can help clean off the marks, but be careful not to over-do it on the finish.

There are checks you can do to check extractor tension... or a local gunsmith can check and adjust the extractor for a small price. Since you are borderline on having ejection / extraction problems I would have someone loolk the pistol over. You can certainly clean the extractor and easily remove it first and try that.

Wearing safety glasses... and with the slide removed... you depress the center of the back of the slide where the hammer hits the back of the firing pin. There is a liitle metal door that slides down, and once removed you can gently pull out the extractor and clean the firing pin and spring. The FIRING PIN AND SPRING WILL BE UNDER TENSION , so be careful. You can clean and check out the extractor. Sometimes folks that don't know better put a cartridge in the chamber and let the slide slam shut over the edge of the brass cartridge. This can chip the extractor edge. The extractor should hold a loaded round securely when you slide a round under it... if it does not... you need to bend it a bit to get more tension.

If you are not comfortable doing this... it can be done easily by a gunsmith while you watch and learn. maybe 15 - 20 bucks is my guess...

[Robert McLeod]

Originally posted by quantico


Wearing safety glasses... and with the slide removed... you depress the center of the back of the slide where the hammer hits the back of the firing pin. There is a liitle metal door that slides down, and once removed you can gently pull out the extractor and clean the firing pin and spring. The FIRING PIN AND SPRING WILL BE UNDER TENSION , so be careful. You can clean and check out the extractor. Sometimes folks that don't know better put a cartridge in the chamber and let the slide slam shut over the edge of the brass cartridge. This can chip the extractor edge. The extractor should hold a loaded round securely when you slide a round under it... if it does not... you need to bend it a bit to get more tension.



Be sure to remember the Delta Elite is Series 80, which means the firing pin lock plunger must first be depressed in order to move the firing pin forward enough to allow the firing pin stop plate to be drawn out of the slide.

Removing the extractor is a little more complicated, when I get home from work I will try to post something for you. If another member wants to chime in that would be great as well.

[quantico]

Originally posted by Robert McLeod
Be sure to remember the Delta Elite is Series 80, which means the firing pin lock plunger must first be depressed in order to move the firing pin forward enough to allow the firing pin stop plate to be drawn out of the slide.

Removing the extractor is a little more complicated, when I get home from work I will try to post something for you. If another member wants to chime in that would be great as well.

Thanks, forgot that the delta was an 80 series... most of my 1911's are 70 series .... push in the pin lock before dropping the door....

the extractor is still the same.... deal.... you just have to remove the pin and spring ( very easy ) before you work the extractor out...

This is not rocket science... the parts all make sense when they are removed...

[10hasteeth]

I'm confused CDE10. Fom your profile I see you are 18?
Your first centerfire handgun is a 10mm Delta?
How did you get so smart so fast?;z ;z ;z ;z ;z ;z




Great choice and Happy Birthday a little early!!

[CDE10]

Thanks, everyone, for the information. I don't really feel comfortable working on my new gun myself, so I'm going to take it to the 'smith on monday. I'm planning on having a bit of trigger work done anyway.

10hasteeth: Thanks for the happy birthday! Regarding my choice, I'm glad I picked a good one! A while back I shot a Ruger Blackhawk convertible .38-40/10mm and was impressed with the power, so I started looking at my options regarding a 10mm in an automatic. The Delta was the most attractive in my opinion, and I've heard so many good things about 1911's.