Has anyone had this happen or hear of it happening ?

[PeterJ]

I am on my 2nd 1911 E series, round butt, commander size pistol. The first one was replaced when I returned it for the plunger bracket on the left side of the gun had the rear rivet break, making the gun totally unsafe. S&W replaced the gun. The second gun just had the exact same malfunction and I sent it back and am waiting to hear from Smith on the outcome. Anyone else experienced this ? I shoot nothing but factory ammo and the first gun had less than 500 rounds through it and the second had about 1200 rounds. This is starting to erode my faith in the gun.

[wproct]

I had this happen once on a Springfield Armory pistol. I had a gunsmith re-stake it and never had it happen again.

[zzclancy]

Originally Posted by PeterJ

I am on my 2nd 1911 E series, round butt, commander size pistol. The first one was replaced when I returned it for the plunger bracket on the left side of the gun had the rear rivet break, making the gun totally unsafe. S&W replaced the gun. The second gun just had the exact same malfunction and I sent it back and am waiting to hear from Smith on the outcome. Anyone else experienced this ? I shoot nothing but factory ammo and the first gun had less than 500 rounds through it and the second had about 1200 rounds. This is starting to erode my faith in the gun.

Frankly I would carry something else. Range gun now.

[medic15al]

Back when the MIM was starting to be put on guns I had a plunger tube break and a hammer snap in two. Never with the steel components. This was Colt and Springfield respectively.

[stansdds]

I had the plunger tube loosen on my stainless Colt Delta Elite. Red Loctite flowed under the plunger, then re-staked. It has not come loose since. Of course, this was not a MIM or cast part, so re-staking worked well enough. Plunger tubes coming loose is enough of a problem that Ruger's 1911's have the tube cast as part of the receiver. I think Caspian Arms also sells receivers with plunger tubes cast as part of the receiver.

[BMCM]

Originally Posted by PeterJ

I am on my 2nd 1911 E series, round butt, commander size pistol. The first one was replaced when I returned it for the plunger bracket on the left side of the gun had the rear rivet break, making the gun totally unsafe. S&W replaced the gun. The second gun just had the exact same malfunction and I sent it back and am waiting to hear from Smith on the outcome. Anyone else experienced this ? I shoot nothing but factory ammo and the first gun had less than 500 rounds through it and the second had about 1200 rounds. This is starting to erode my faith in the gun.

But but...MIM is every bit as good as wrought steel right

Seriously I've heard of this plenty of time. There's nothing wrong with your base gun just some of the components parts are questionable. It all comes down to what gives the company the highest profit margin. I would not send it back to S&W and have then replace it with another questionable part.

The plunger tube is quite easy to install given the correct tools. What you want however, is to source a plunger tube milled from real alloy steel and not a MIM part. MIM is fine in many applications, for example I prefer MIM in fire control components (hammer & sear) but in parts with tiny shanks subject to high shearing forces? Not so much. Get you a wrought steel plunger tube and have that staked on and I predict no more trouble. Tubes from Wilson Combat, Harrison Design or Nowlin come to mind. For the record, I like Harrison's Extreme Service Plunger tube.

Cheers
Bill

[GaryS]

My son has a newer Remington 870 20 gauge. We were shooting a couple of years ago when suddenly, it stopped ejecting shells.

A strip down revealed a broken extractor. I looked on Brownells and found out that there are two different ones. A MIM version and a "police" version which is milled. His had a MIM version and I ordered the police version. Easy install and he's back in business.

Originally Posted by BMCM

But but...MIM is every bit as good as wrought steel right

Seriously I've heard of this plenty of time. There's nothing wrong with your base gun just some of the components parts are questionable. It all comes down to what gives the company the highest profit margin. I would not send it back to S&W and have then replace it with another questionable part.

The plunger tube is quite easy to install given the correct tools. What you want however, is to source a plunger tube milled from real alloy steel and not a MIM part. MIM is fine in many applications, for example I prefer MIM in fire control components (hammer & sear) but in parts with tiny shanks subject to high shearing forces? Not so much. Get you a wrought steel plunger tube and have that staked on and I predict no more trouble. Tubes from Wilson Combat, Harrison Design or Nowlin come to mind. For the record, I like Harrison's Extreme Service Plunger tube.

Cheers
Bill

[Guevera]

I had a compact 1911 S&W that the plunger tube came loose on soon after purchase. Had it fixed and traded the pistol to the same shop that sold it to me. Much happier with a Dan Wesson, even with the dollar difference between the two.

[PeterJ]

Thanks for all the replys. Got an e-mail yesterday that the gun will be shipped today, so I guess they repaired it rather than replacing again. I sent it in on the 1st of May and it is supposed to be here on the 25th which is a lot faster than the last go round.