Colt series 70

[magpulsam]

So I have an old 1970 production year colt series 70 I was given by my grandfather. Im have an issue with it now though. Every 4th or 5th shot, as the slide is going forward the hammer falls to the half cocked position. Does anybody know whats going on or what part I need to replace?

[Bob R]

It could either be a sear spring, which is fairly easy and cheap to fix or it could be worn/damaged sear engagement with the hammer which may need a gunsmith to look at, depending on your level of comfort with the 1911 platform. The good news is the half cock notch is catching it preventing it from firing so I would probably look at the sear spring. If you are comfortable and capable with it, sometimes just bending the left leg of the spring to provide more tension can fix it. If it were me, I would just replace the sear spring and give it a try.

bob

eta: A video

[magpulsam]

Great! Thank you very much. To be completely honest I haven't actually put any rounds through it. Ive just noticed from manipulating it that it happens 4th or 5th time I rack the slide. I just thought I should clarify. I think Ill take it to rick before I fire it. Thanks.

[Bob R]

If you are dropping it on an empty chamber, that may be the problem. Put a snap cap in the chamber and see if it repeats. It may be as simple as not dropping the slide on an empty chamber.


bob

[ron]

Great! Thank you very much. To be completely honest I haven't actually put any rounds through it. Ive just noticed from manipulating it that it happens 4th or 5th time I rack the slide. I just thought I should clarify. I think Ill take it to rick before I fire it. Thanks.

Taking it to Rick would be your best bet. You might also have him order you a complete Wolff spring package for it. It's 17 dollars for the complete package of all new springs.

That's a really nice gun. Hang on to it and take good care of it and you can hand it down to the next generation.

[magpulsam]

Thanks! The snap caps stopped it. Ran it through about 50 times with not one fall to half cock. Glad I clarified and more experienced 1911 users could help me. Still gonna take it to rick to have some parts changed out.

[edzz]

Having it checked out would be a good idea. On of the problems with most guns that have a half cock safety notch is that anytime the hammer is caught by the half cock notch it has the potential of damaging the sear. I'm not saying damage that would cause it to be unsafe, but damage that may affect the feel of the trigger pull. If upon firing the pistol the hammer ever follows the slide down it is unsafe and needs to be fixed. Unintentional full auto 1911's are a scary thing.

And as has been mentioned, dropping the slide without a round being striped from the magazine will cause most gunsmiths to cringe (or smile if they are thinking about the dollars headed for their wallet), if you watch people that are accustomed to correctly handling semiautomatic pistols and observe them dropping the slide with no magazine (or an empty magazine) in the gun you will likely see them lightly pressing against the slide with their trigger finger to prevent the slide from slamming shut on an empty chamber.