MGC Colt 1911 total failure

This was supposed to be a review of my MGC Colt 1911, HW. It was my first modelgun and my favourite model at the same time.

This time I decided to film it, instead of taking the pictures. It was, how else, during filming when 1911 decided to self-destruct in a half-spectacular way.

When shooting the second magazine there was a jam (no ejection) that I cleared, the next shot followed but it was a good moment before I realized that barrel sticking out from the front of the slide can't be a good thing! Inspection revealed that was quite a bit of damage to several parts of the model.





After removing slide from the frame I noticed that frame is already damaged. Rails in this model are made mostly of metal, but front piece is plastic. It has broken off on both sides when slide going back hit it.





Chamber part of the barrel fell out of the slide immediately. It probably broke off at the weakest point, thickness of wall in this place is 2.2 to 2.3mm, while the main section is 2.5mm.



Return spring rod, its rod and metal "cup" that holds spring went out without problems. Shavings of plastic were a sign that it's not going to be so easy with remaining parts.

Front of the barrel together with bushing were firmly lodged in the slide. Front part travelled forward with so much force that it struck bushing, pushing it out of the slide, and just stayed there. I hoped to save slide and bushing, and after a bit of coaxing managed to turn bushing and remove it together with piece of barrel.
Slide is damaged inside where the bushing normally blocks against it. When barrel was flown forward, it managed to push so hard that part of the bushing tore a path in the slide towards the front.





Another part of the slide that was broken was the back, near firing pin. There is a plastic bracket that sort of holds whole firing pin block, and it splinted on the right side.
Inspecting the front face of the bolt I noticed that extractor claw is broken off. I found the piece later.





Barrel piece could not be removed from the bushing without cutting off parts of it with a dremel tool, drilling several holes in what was inside the bushing and finally using a hammer and pliers to remove remaining parts. That's why barrel is now in 4 pieces.




Two pictures of a firing pin block removed from the slide:



If you would like to get more pictures - let me know before I dispose of the barrel remains.

Based on evidence it is still not clear to me what happened - was it extractor failing first, cartridge getting stuck in the chamber and blowing off the barrel? Or barrel breaking, impacting the extractor in the process?

This model can be fitted with a new barrel and extractor, I'm just not sure if it will work correctly. There could be more damage that is not visible - such as material fatigue after such an unusual "bang".
It was not my intention at all, though Tanio Koba GM-7 seems to be a more closer replacement now :-/

You have my sympathy smootik, I know only too well what it feels like to have a modelgun break in a big way

Barrel failure is common, possibly more so with HW models. I've seen cracks appear just below the chamber before, but yours has gone several stages further


This video shows one ...



Feed problems leading to jams broke my M9 Firing block in two.

If anything will make a gun break it's putting it in front of a video camera, as I said, you have my sympathy with this one

very typical problem with the new HW 45's and real size rounds i have had so many barrels break i just stopped firing the 45 ans my kimber slide broke in to 2 pieces, sorry for your loss but its a common problem and i am not sure how to stop it, i did by custom metal barrels at great cost from japan but i have never really put them through their pacves to see if they solved the problem.

After I realized what happened - I laughed, as I thought exactly what you wrote. Putting a model in front of camera seems to make it break, indeed! :-D Need to break the spell now with a good video :-)

This model was bough 4 years ago. I put probably 100-150 rounds through it. Before firing it was stripped, inspected and lubed, I did not find any troubles.

I've read before about breaking barrels, even seen this video when searching for GM-7 videos. I was even mentally prepared to replace a broken barrel after some firing, just did not expect that so much additional damage will ensue. Oh well... funny how all the discussions about Tanio Koba extra spring around barrel, watching videos etc. just culminated in this breakage right when I thought it's going to last ;-D

Wow looks like it was run over with a truck

Ka-Boom! Intended to make a joke out of it relating to "The Weakest Link" but decided not to...so sorry to see this as I've this MGC MEU Trust in my collection as well (bought it because it comes with the real Pachmayr grip and only cost around HKD$ 1000 at that time so what a bargain!)...and frankly speaking the barrel is a bit of a worry as it seems more fragile than the slide...

I thought if the chamber is made with metal then it shall withstand the chamber pressure and the rest won't happen (reckon Zeke made some expensive modelgun barrels with metal chamber specially for MGC .45)...and I wonder with the loss of the front end plastic rail can the gun still function properly?

Plastic rail worries me a bit, because I am not 100% sure which parts ae meaningful for operation.
In theory the return spring should have provided enough power to stop slide on its way back, before it hits the rail.
Breakage is almost certainly because slide went back too far when the barrel broke.
It remains to be checked if slide can be manually pushed so far back to touch rails (originally plastic, or now metal section).

Guys,

Any idea why a detonator pin from MEU model would not fit a spare barrel marked "Mk IV / Series 70"?
Seems that either pin is too thick, or hole too small...

smootik,

sorry to hear and see this.
I wonder if there could be some problem in the material been used. I know real size MGC 1911 has a barrel problem, I experienced by myself. However, never heard of simultaneous/compound breakage like what had happened your 1911. As long as it is manufactured product, there always be "better" or "worse" than normal for single product.

As MGC is now gone, I suggest stop firing this MEU even if you get spare parts and restore it.

S

Mark IV Series 70 uses the old chrome/copper head cartridge which is not like the full size cart, Det pin is different design and only 5.5mm thick.

DOC

p.s I have also seen the early MGC cartridge in all brass and all copper

Aaaah, so it won't work here. I had no idea there were different designs of 1911.

Shazhib - I will shoot it only once to break bad spell ;-)