Tanfoglio Witness and Swiss Arms 1911 Jamming Problem Fix

[Freeonthree]

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.

[Ben 36]

Well done for a helpful thread. Personally I've always only used 7. It does seem odd to load 18 into a 1911 replica doesn't it.

[sniper24687066]

Very helpful as the man above said.

[Ben 36]

How are the Ekols coming on?

Sorry that should have been; How is the Mak coming on?

The Ekols went somewhere else.

[Freeonthree]

I totally agree with the 7 rounds for replica realism, and these really are awesome replica's.
I found another thread on this website where a guy was calling these pistols "JUNK", so I cut and pasted the same words I used above, hoping readers will realise the truth about these wonderful replica's.
Since i've been loading 7 and 8 rounds at a time, I have not had even one double feed or jamming issue. Both Witness and my Swiss Arms versions are working flawlessly. Dennis

[Freeonthree]

Since these are replica's of the real 1911's, I think KWC should have designed the clip to only hold 7 or 8 bb's, or at least put a big warning in the instructions about the danger of damaging the clips feeder tube by loading more than 8.
My Tanfoglio Witness's origional clips feeder tube failed before it had 100 shots on it, but my new Swiss Arms version has never seen more than 8 at a time, and life is good. Dennis

[zippy]

If you stretch the spring after shortening you can keep the mag empty hold open feature. If the spring is stretched back to its original length, it's travel will remain the same, but its pressure for any given % compression will be reduced. But as it is full length , the follower should still lock the slide.

[Freeonthree]

By the way guys, keep an eye on the two small screws that hold the bottom plate on the clip. I've found them loose even on my newest virgin clips, so snug them up ocassionally.

[Freeonthree]

Also, and this is very important, always ease the loading plunger up after loading the bb's. Never let it slam the bb's against the feeder tube retaining lips.
I always put my finger over the top of the feeder tube and press down, so if the plunger gets away from me, my finger will lessen the blow of the bb's against the feeder tube lips.

[Freeonthree]

Well done for a helpful thread. Personally I've always only used 7. It does seem odd to load 18 into a 1911 replica doesn't it.

I totally agree, but I must confess, i've been loading 8. Just don't like odd numbers

[Benelli B76]

I always carried 8 in my .45, one in the chamber and 7 in the mag. Could have been the one that made the difference especially when a lot of the crims in South Africa had double stack 9 mils.

Baz

[Freeonthree]

I always carried 8 in my .45, one in the chamber and 7 in the mag. Could have been the one that made the difference especially when a lot of the crims in South Africa had double stack 9 mils.

Baz

Too bad they don't pack bb pistols

[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.