malfunctioning berretta
 

I borrowed a Berretta 92 that is short stroking the slide on almost every round. Before I started shooting it, it was working fine. It began malfunctioning by simply not chambering, and I thought it must have been a mag spring, but I tried all of the mags I had (also borrowed) and I'm pretty sure none of them has been kept loaded long enough for any fatigue on the springs. After I stretched one of the magazine springs out it started cycling so slow that it didn't even eject. I've stripped the pistol numerous times and can't figure it out, because there's barely any fouling and no dust or dirt in it whatsoever. I put about 200 rounds through it on a warm day, and the day I had the constant stoppages it was in the 30-40 degree fahrenheit range. I'm totally at a loss. I've looked the locking block over very carefully, and can't see any cracks, and it's a pretty new gun. It has had a trigger job, but I don't see how that could be causing this issue. Anyone who has ever had this problem, I'd really appreciate some help, because the way it looks is that I broke this guy's gun.

1. How do you know it was working fine before you started shooting it?

2. Change mags, ammo, and shooters. Try to get back to the mags and ammo it ran with before, if not the previous shooter as well.

3. Make sure that the recoil spring has not been changed, bent, or broken. Did you change anything else when you took it apart?

4. Inspect the bottom of the barrel lugs and the slide rails for any cracking or failure.

Good luck!

TR

1. Before I took it off the guy's hands we put a couple hundred rounds through it. Poor choice of words.
2. I tried Sellier & Bellot and Winchester white box, both of which I've never had any problems with. Although all I ever really shoot recreationally is a Glock 17. Should I try something a little more expensive?
3. I didn't want to admit it, but I stretched the recoil spring a little too. This, I realize, might have been very stupid.
4. I'm going to include some pictures of the frame, because it's the only part that looked worn in a way that was out of the ordinary. It looks like there's a scuff on the very front of the left side rail. Also, I put a pic in of the main spring with a ruler, since I figured the 18B's would know if it was messed up. Although to my novice eyes that little scuff doesn't look like it could have anything to do with anything, other than the pistol getting dropped while disassembled, or abused by the guy who did the trigger job.

Wallowing,

My thoughts,

Magazine spring, its job is to push the rounds up to the magazine feed "lips". A weak spring or a restriction in movement of the follower will cause the round to set lower. When the slide goes to strip a round from the magazine, nothing will happen.

To strip a round from a "working" magazine, the slide must move sufficiently far enough back to clear the base of the case, as it begins its forward travel it will strip the round from the magazine.

If it is not chambering a round?

Does it strip a round from the magazine? Does it do it manually?

If yes, then you need to determine why the slide is not going to battery. (see post above)

If it is not stripping a round. Then you need to determine why it is not traveling to rear far enough. When you pull the slide rear wards do you feel, uneveness, excessive drag, or someother type of restriction?

A recoil spring that is either too stiff or too stiff for the ammuntion being used (very light loads?) will limit the rear ward travel of the slide. Too light of a recoil spring will cause excessive "hammering" of the slide against the frame.

As was mentioned above, a good inspection for broken, damaged or worn parts should be done. If you have some dummy rounds, it makes it much safer to to check the action of the pistol, by manually cycling it.

my theory (for what it's worth) is that either there's something dragging the slide or that the ammo (both types of which worked fine in someone else's sig and my glock, making this kind of a long shot) was light loaded. at first the only problems were failures to feed, and apparently stretching the mainspring was enough to slow it down to the point of not extracting.
the pistol cycles and feeds fine manually, and doesn't stand out to me as restricted. it's not as loose as a glock, but i really don't think it should be.

Buy a new mainspring and mag spring from Wolff, and try some 124 gr. ammo.

TR

Spend the $25 or so bucks and buy Wolff replacement springs (Service Pack Type II; it includes a new mag spring to help you figure out if mags are causing your problems). It can't hurt, will ensure you have replacement sprins on hand if one breaks in the future, and will help you diagnose the problem, since you can't know for sure what effect you produced by manually stretching the springs.

WIF - Never stretch springs. Any springs you've screwed with - THROW AWAY. And quit "limp wristing" the pistol when you shoot - just because it's a "girl's gun" doesn't mean you can get away with sloppy technique and expect it not to malfunction. :p Seriously - get the standard weight Wolff spring pack, replace ALL of the included springs, and THROW AWAY the old ones. It's cheap insurance for any used semi-auto. FWIW, your problem doesn't sound like a magazine spring. If the slide won't recoil far enough, it can't function. Check for friction points and broken parts. Clean it correctly and use a quality lubricant on all moving parts. Too much or too heavy of a lube (grease) will also slow the reciprocating parts enough to cause malfunctions. HTH - Peregrino

thanks, all. i'll have to see how a new spring set works when i get out to the range next. it was already lubed; light coat of LSA on the load bearing surfaces. kind of frustrating, since i never cleaned or lubed any glock and they've always run like the wind. To me the pistol seems far cleaner than it should have to be to work. this is pretty aggravating since i'm used to pistols just working, but i'm not going to set myself up for the inevitable "poor craftsman" shot.

Next time buy a Beretta...;)

yeah, i've never been so great with proper nouns. and next time, i think i'll get a p18. had the chance to run one through its paces a couple months ago and fell in love. it was the first time i'd dumped a mag into paper as fast as i could move the trigger and kept them all inside three inches at seven yards. the price tag, however, has kept me in glocksville. come to think of it, i think i have a spare glock and a beretta i'm not using right now...

wallowinginfun,

The next time you post use proper english. A few have taken the time to answer your post, you can take the time to write properly.

Quit spending $80 a gallon on Starbucks coffee (yes it really is $80 a gallon) and purchase a good weapon, steer clear of the glocks.

If you do not know or understand what "limp wristing" is; find out and don't do it.

Team Sergeant

Sorry, I didn't mean any offense. I just thought the tone had gotten a little playful and that I could be more casual. Won't happen again.

As for limp wristing, I know what it is and have a very positive firing grip. Sorry for the confusion.

TS, I've been looking around for a while trying to get a good feel of why you think Glocks are so inferior, and I was wondering if you could condense it down for me. Honestly I hate the trigger, but they've always run like crazy for me.
And honestly they're all I've shot on a regular basis, so I'd also like to ask what you'd recommend as a replacement.

This is gonna be good. :munchin Peregrino