TNMTBik3r

Smyrna airport. Guess I left that out...

  ^^^ That is part of the reason I want to find a place to park and not pay to get onto the airport grounds. If my daughter gets too cranky and my wife wants to leave, I don't want to be out the admission fees and not be able to see the entire show.

The Blue Angels will be there this year, planning on going Sunday. Anyone else going? If so, are you buying tickets to get onto the airport grounds or is there a good spot to park and watch for free? Been a couple of years, but I remember the park across the road was blocked off so is there anywhere else close that we could park and have a good view of the planes?

I have one of these. Works well for me. http://www.midwayusa.com/product/421353/midwayusa-two-point-tactical-rifle-sling-nylon-black?cm_vc=ProductFinding

We went to St. Louis for our honeymoon back in November. The zoo was amazing, worth paying for but it is free. The city museum was great, wish I was younger/smaller so could have ran around it more - the 10 story slide is worth the climb (or take the elevator to the roof). If you got to Union Station, stop at the fudge shop (I think that is the name actually) - amazing fudge.

  Of course not. That is too much work.

Skipping this one. I have too much stuff to do this weekend.

Trying to free the plunger with a cleaner, dental pick, small screwdriver, and smacking the bottom have not worked. It is jammed and I cannot pry it free.   I am assuming this stuck firing pin block is the root cause of the slam fires - the firing pin moves freely with the plunger stuck so the pin could have moved and struck the primer on the 2 rounds. May have been a combination of a high primer or something else, but regardless this stuck plunger is a problem that needs fixed.   I am calling Para in the morning to setup the return and get this fully checked out and repaired under warranty. Again, thanks to everyone who assisted in this thread. I will update with details on what Para says when the warranty work is processed and the pistol returned.

Tried that with no luck. I am going to soak it for a bit and then try to knock it free tomorrow night. If that fails I will call Para on Thursday. Thanks to everyone who has participated and helped get to this point in finding/resolving the issue!

The firing pin is out, it falls right out, so the plunger is not affecting it.   Dolomite, I think you may be on the right track with someone took the slide apart and lost the spring (or maybe it is just jammed in there). I bought this new at a local shop with a good reputation but who knows what they checked/did. Yesterday/today is as detailed as I have ever gone with a 1911, certainly a good learning experience.   It is a sweet shooting pistol (for the little time I have had it), but think my best bet may be to use the warranty and get it fully checked out. Hopefully any changes/repairs do not negatively affect it...

  Yep, I am slowly figuring this out. The plunger is stuck in the up (depressed) position, and moving the extractor around is not releasing it. Just read a couple of other posts online, am going to try and soak some break free or similar into the firing pin channel and plunger. If that doesn't work I am thinking I will contact Para and send it in for warranty repair, let them check everything.

Ok, found a post online that says this is a series 80 and that the plunger is stuck. Pulling back on the extractor should release it - however in my case that is not happening and I cannot get the extractor to release and come out of the slide. Looks like we may be close to figuring this out.

Now I am just getting confused...the manual is for the GI Expert which is no longer listed on the Para website - the Expert Stainless is listed but does not say if it has the firing pin block or if it is series 70/80, and no updated manual on the website that I see. The slide has the button, but it is recessed and not a push-able button like on other pistols...and looking at series 80 pics on Google the button should be push-able with a finger. This one does not budge even with a punch - so is it a series 80 and the block is somehow stuck? Even if I remove the firing pin the button does not move. Going back to ammo, I had put 50 rounds of PMC Bronze factory though, then about 400 reloads, and the 2 slam fires were the first 2 rounds of a 2nd box of PMC Bronze (51/52 factory ammo). The gunsmith could not get the hammer to fall after those 2 slam fires, and I have not been able to get the hammer to fall either. I am just trying to avoid a dangerous situation and fix a problem if one exists. I have shot several 1911s before, but this is the first one I have owned and I have/had a lot to learn about the platform.

I don't think this has the firing pin block (series 80). I can push the firing pin forward with or without the grip/thumb safety engaged. The manual states there is a firing pin lock that prevents movement of the pin until the trigger is intentionally pressed. Well I can move the pin regardless...is this correct or am I taking the manual too literally? ETA - disregard the above. The manual is for the GI Expert series. Mine is just the Expert, model 96747.

OK the spring IS shorter than the entire pin. I guess I meant the spring stuck out past the pin nose. Again sorry about the link, if I get to my computer sometime tonight I will embed the pics. Mobile devices even viewing the full version are missing many post options. Booted up the computer and fixing the pics. Also, I have to push the pin past flush with the firing pin stop for any protrusion of the pin.

Finger was not on the trigger (laid alongside the frame above guard) on either of the slam fires - first happened to me and the 2nd was with to the instructor/RO. Dolomite, I will double check the firing pin and spring when I get home.

Yes I thoroughly cleaned the firing pin channel before and after the slam fires occurred. I did not notice any metal shavings. The firing pin spring IS longer than the pin. I read that it is supposed to be longer. I can get a pic of it tonight as well. I will remove the barrel and rack the slide multiple times to see if the pin is protruding at all when the slide is released.

No the hammer does not follow the slide. The pics I found online showed just looking at the top of the arms pictured and if they are not rounded then everything is fine....I can continue disassembly tonight and remove the hammer.

Based on my limited understanding and pics from Google, everything looks fine to me...

Glad you are happy with the rifle performance! It was great while I had it, just not used much.

Critical Duty or Speer Gold Dots are what I use in 9mm, .40, and .45.

No the trigger has not been modified at all. It does have the set screw to adjust over travel but I have not touched it. I will try to detail strip the pistol tonight and check the sear spring. If I run into problems one of my neighbors has been shooting and smithing on his 1911s for 20+ years so I can grab him if he is home.

Yesterday we performed sear and safety function tests...is it possible that the tests could pass yet there still be an issue with the sear to cause the slam fire?

Forgot to add earlier, the smith dropped the slide on an empty chamber multiple times testing to see if the hammer would fall. He probably hit the release 20 times. So our testing was about 25-30 slide releases with a mix of live rounds and no magazine/round and the hammer did not fall. Since it was only the two rounds, hammer does not seem to be falling when the slide is released, could it be as simple as a high primer on the factory ammo? A high primer and slight pin protrusion when the slide is released would cause the slam fire - I shot the rest of that box in a different 1911 no issues, but will check other ammo at the next range trip and see if I am getting any dimpled primers when the slide is released.

Just stripped it down again. The firing pin spring IS longer than the firing pin. And the spring does not seem weak but I don't have anything to compare it with.