New P64 owner--pistol not going completely into battery

[lowercase]

Hello

I just took my new P64 to the range to test it out, and ran into a problem. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

On every magazine, I had multiple failures where the pistol wouldn't go completely into battery. The slide was set back only about a millimeter, but I couldn't tap it and make it go all the way. On every one of these failures, the ejector rode up on the rim of the cartridge, but wasn't grabbing it. I had to remove the magazine and work the slide until I could get the round to come out.

The failure to go into battery happens both when I chamber the first round and when shooting. I'm thinking that maybe, it needs a really long soak to remove any hidden cosmoline, and I might need to use brush and brush the heck out of the chamber to eliminate any possible lacquer buildup.

Here is what I've done and/or checked:

-The pistol is nice and clean (soaked and scrubbed in mineral spirits), and well-lubricated.

-Springs haven't been changed, recoil spring has correctly-flattened ends and is installed correctly (large end towards muzzle)

-Ejector isn't frozen in place

-Button next to ejector (for chambered round indicator) moves freely

-Chamber appears okay with no visible burrs

-Tried 2 different types of ammo. S&B and Tula. The Tula had a ton more problems not going into battery.

[lowercase]

Update:

Checked the chamber by dropping a round in when the gun was disassembled. The round had zero problems going in and was an easy fit.

The gun's chamber isn't the problem.

[Ketchman]

Is your extractor damaged in any way? That might explain riding over the rim but not grabbing it. Have you checked the chamber at the bore end where the case headspaces for anything{dirt, cosmoline, brass shavings, etc.) that may be getting in the way of the casing going all the way into the chamber? I have seen cosmoline accumulate and dry in the chamber along where the case mouth should headspace. Just a small layer of cosmoline right there would prevent a round from fully going into battery. If that is the case, take some spray action blaster, spray it into the chamber and then rotate a brass brush inside the chamber taking care not to get the brush onto the rifling in the bore. A couple times of that should get rid of the cosmoline.

[lowercase]

I checked the breech end of the chamber and noticed that the lip on the chamber opposite the extractor is slightly peened from having the cartridges hit it. My guess is that the extractor is pretty tight, and instead of going over the rim of the cartridge, it is slamming the round into the chamber lip where it stops and causes the failure. This lip height is the same distance that the gun is out of battery during the failures. If the lip of the chamber was resting on the cartridge, this would explain why I can't tap the slide into battery.

Obviously, I'm not a gunsmith, and this is just guesswork.

[Ketchman]

can you post pics of the breech end where the lip is peened?

[lowercase]

Here are some pics. My apologies for the quality, it was a difficult pic to take with my camera.

[Ketchman]

Nice pics, and I see what you were talking about. I would say to very GENTLY and CAREFULLY take a needle file and file that lip back and then see if it will go into battery. I will bet that it will cure most if not all of your problems. seems like there is another thread here that dealt with this. You could also use a dremel if you are extremely steady, but one slip could cause problems and I am NOT steady enough with mine to operate in tight quarters like this. You might shoot a message to dfunk on this post and ask him what he thinks, he seems all knowing. Also, that is the breech / bolt that you have taken pics of, the chamber is the part of the barrel that the cartridge fits into. Is that peened / damaged as well?

[Ketchman]

Nice pics, and I see what you were talking about. I would say to very GENTLY and CAREFULLY take a needle file and file that lip back and then see if it will go into battery. I will bet that it will cure most if not all of your problems. seems like there is another thread here that dealt with this. You could also use a dremel if you are extremely steady, but one slip could cause problems and I am NOT steady enough with mine to operate in tight quarters like this. You might shoot a message to dfunk on this post and ask him what he thinks, he seems all knowing. Also, that is the breech / bolt that you have taken pics of, the chamber is the part of the barrel that the cartridge fits into. Is that peened / damaged as well?

[Ketchman]

I don"t know how that got posted twice, sorry.

[lowercase]

Nice pics, and I see what you were talking about. I would say to very GENTLY and CAREFULLY take a needle file and file that lip back and then see if it will go into battery. I will bet that it will cure most if not all of your problems. seems like there is another thread here that dealt with this. You could also use a dremel if you are extremely steady, but one slip could cause problems and I am NOT steady enough with mine to operate in tight quarters like this. You might shoot a message to dfunk on this post and ask him what he thinks, he seems all knowing. Also, that is the breech / bolt that you have taken pics of, the chamber is the part of the barrel that the cartridge fits into. Is that peened / damaged as well?

Thanks for the advice. I will use a file on that peened part.

The chamber of the gun looks great, and there aren't any burrs or other imperfections. With the gun disassembled, I can drop a cartridge into the chamber with no problems.

[fully machined]

That is the slide stop contact area---bottom pic at three oclock. Remove recoilspring, reassemble, insert mag, cycle back then forward and take a look. Looks like a lot of unusual wear there---stop not returning, twitked?

[lowercase]

That is the slide stop contact area---bottom pic at three oclock. Remove recoilspring, reassemble, insert mag, cycle back then forward and take a look. Looks like a lot of unusual wear there---stop not returning, twitked?

The slide returns to battery with no problem when the gun is empty.

The problem only happens when chambering rounds.

[fully machined]

In that one pic are you depressing the extractor to raise it and the others not depressing? The extractor looks like it is bottoms very low. Mine sits high at rest with large open gap. Great pictures. Very clean, grease and oil it a little--those skid marks hurt my eyes!!!!

[Curly1]

+1 on the skid marks maybe that is causing the slide to not go into battery.

http://eyebleach.com/

[fully machined]

Thanks for that Curly, was kinda afraid to say something. I love this site and do not want to be a smart butt or A. This is not an electric pistol--there is no battery--YUK,YUK. Thanks again for the pictures, I'm going to look at them and my P-64 all night!!!!