CS45 Questions

[motorcitymadman]

Hi, I just picked up a CS45 recently and had some questions about it.It has an ambi decocker on it and it is only a decocker and not a safety.It also has the warning on the slide that says as much. Decocker works fine. My question is when I rack the slide the hammer stays back like its ready for single action but the hammer wont drop when I pull the trigger (feels like on Smiths with a magazine safety). Does that mean that its DAO or somethings wrong? And if it is DAO why is there a decocker on it to begin with? Also did it come from the factory that way?
Thanks, hopefully that makes sense....it just seems like the other 3rd gens I've seen that were DAO did not have a decocker? BTW I have not shot it yet

 

[Fastbolt]

S&W often made special runs and configurations for LE agency clients. Maybe that's what you bought? Might be a gun in which a previous owner had the spring-loaded decock assembly installed by the factory, too. Dunno.

Are you trying to dry-fire the EMPTY gun without an EMPTY magazine in the gun?

If the hammer stays fully cocked in single action when you manually retract & release the slide, what makes you think it's supposed to be DAO (instead of TDA, meaning traditional double action, which some folks also call DA/SA)?

The spring-loaded, decock-only option means that when the cocked gun is decocked (by depressing either lever, if the gun has an ambi lever), the decocking levers return upward to the ready-to-fire position under spring power, without having to be manually raised.

The spring-loaded decocker assembly being installed doesn't mean the magazine safety still doesn't perform its function.

 

[motorcitymadman]

Hi, I tried dry firing with an empty magazine inserted with the hammer cocked and the trigger just pulls without much resistance and the hammer does not drop. But if I decock it first it will perform in double action with the empty mag inserted.

 

[JohnHL]

Hi, Mr. Nugent!

I've spent a lot of time with these.
Your description of the operation of this pistol seems contradictory.
The hammer should not lock back if it is DAO.
I would be happy to examine the pistol for you at no charge if you were in the St. Louis, Mo. area, but from your screen name, it sounds like you are in Detroit.

John

Pictures may help.

 

[Fastbolt]

So, with an empty gun & empty magazine ...

Insert mag and the gun dry-fires in DA mode?

However, insert mag, lock back slide, depress slide stop lever to allow slide to go forward into battery, the hammer remains cocked in single action ... but the trigger won't release (in dry-fire) the cocked hammer? The hammer remains cocked in single action? Spongy or inconsistent feeling in the trigger pull? Sporadic in occurrence?

I'd be inclined to start looking at either the specific mag (if it's happening with just one of them), for a damaged left lip, or the ejector (damaged, or out-of-spec for that particular gun).

The bottom of the ejector has to index off the left mag lip (at the rear). That's the reason for the wiggly curved section on the bottom of the ejector, to be wide enough to catch and engage the left mag lip, so the ejector can be lifted when a mag is inserted.

If the ejector tip slips off to the 'inside' of the empty mag lip (no 'top round' to catch the ejector tip), it might not rise enough, and might let the gun remain disconnected. I had that happen one time with an ejector that didn't fit right in a 6906.

Gun ought to be checked by someone.

Might also be an assembly problem (when frame previously disassembled & then reassembled), or something worn, wrong or out-of-spec with the hammer, drawbar or sear.

No way to know without examining the gun.