Tanfoglio Witness and Swiss Arms 1911 Jamming Problem Fix

[robdav]

I appreciate this is an old thread but I have a Swiss Arms 1911 pistol which seems to be suffering this problem with the auto lock back not working when the magazine is empty and not firing properly.

However, the main problem is I cannot even remove the magazine, it appears to be well and truly stuck. When I press the button there is no sign of it wanting to come out. Does anybody have any idea what might be wrong? I admit I'm new to this gun,

The pistol is not at fault, it's the clip.
The spring in the clip has more pressure than the plastic feeder tube at the top of the clip can endure.
After a while, the feeder tube gets warn prematurely from the excessive spring pressure, and it starts double feeding or worse.
I've spent many hours figuring out the cure for this problem.
First of all, real 1911's hold 7 rounds, and these are replica's, so why not load 7 or 8 rounds, and make it more realistic ?
I've found that if only 7 or 8 bb's are loaded at a time, the pressure on the feeder tube is alot less than if you load 18 bb's, and I believe the feeder tube can handle the pressure involved with 7 or 8 loaded.
If you've been loading 18 bb's since the pistol was new, and the jamming has gotten worse over time, try loading 7 or 8 and see if that cures the problem.
If it still jams, then the damage is done, but all is not lost.
What you can do at that point is remove the spring retaining plate on the bottom of the clip, remove the spring, and cut 2 inches off the bottom (larger end), then reinstall.
Now your pistol with operate dependable, even with 18 bb's, however the auto lockback (when the last bb is fired) will not function.
I now have 2 clips with shortened springs, and they work great.
With any new clips, only load 7 or 8 bb's and you should never have any problems as far as I can tell so far, but im still testing that theory.
So far i've shot alot of rounds, and havn't had a single jamming issue with either of my 2 new clips.
So we have 2 options, 18 rounds and no auto lockback with the clips that have shortened springs, or 7 or 8 rounds with the stock clips,and the pistol fully functioning.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with these wonderful KWC made 1911 replica's, but the clips would be better if they had better quality plastic or even better, metal feeder tubes. I hope this helps alot of people experiencing problems with their KWC made 1911 blowback pistols.

[Marc.RG1]

I appreciate this is an old thread but I have a Swiss Arms 1911 pistol which seems to be suffering this problem with the auto lock back not working when the magazine is empty and not firing properly.

However, the main problem is I cannot even remove the magazine, it appears to be well and truly stuck. When I press the button there is no sign of it wanting to come out. Does anybody have any idea what might be wrong? I admit I'm new to this gun,

Hello,
Does your slide not lock back at all? Ever?

As for you not being able to eject the magazine and it's stuck maybe it's catching on the blowback unit loading nozzle. Can you rack / move the slide backwards by hand?
If you can, do that first, then press the magazine release and see if the magazine drops..

Give it a try and let me know.

If you still struggle let me know..

ATB, Marc.

[Arthur John Smithsplease]

Don't know if it helps, but when I lived abroad and had the real steel, I would never just release the slide lock and let the gun slam into battery.

I would hold the back of the slide and ease it back.

With guns made of soft metal this would make even more sense.

[robdav]

Thanks Marc. Got it working now.

I was able to rack in manually by hand but still the magazine wasn't coming out. I managed to apply a little pressure down through the top of the pistol, using a screwdriver, while pressing the magazine release clip and it came out along with a single BB which somehow seemed to be jamming the magazine. Have tested with 7 BB's only and it seems to be working as it should.

Thanks again.

Robert

Hello,
Does your slide not lock back at all? Ever?

As for you not being able to eject the magazine and it's stuck maybe it's catching on the blowback unit loading nozzle. Can you rack / move the slide backwards by hand?
If you can, do that first, then press the magazine release and see if the magazine drops..

Give it a try and let me know.

If you still struggle let me know..

ATB, Marc.

[PaulR]

I have given up with these guns (I have two).

The problem is indeed jamming - one was replaced three times from new. I have done everything mentioned here and more including complete stripdowns to search for errant bbs (none found).

Even with a new magazine and 8 bbs they both jam.

I have tried four different makes of bb and they all jam.

They are now just static models.