The Unofficial P64 Resource Forum

My P64 fires a few rounds.
Then the slide sticks at almost full-travel to the rear.
The only I have found to free the slide is to put a dowel down the barrel,
against the bolt face, and smack the dowel with a light hammer.

Does anyone know what's going on?
Thanks.

I don't know, but would take it apart, clean and oil it and see if it repeats the problem.

BTW, welcome to the forum, from another new guy.

Could be a slightly bent disconnector getting wedged, or possibly magazine related (once last round is spent it's supposed to hold the chamber open).

Thanks, Drec
I have done two deep cleanings already -- the most thorough cleaning I can, without gunsmithing skills and tools.

snailman, the disconnector moves freely up and down, with no bend I can detect. I have seven magazines, and have not noticed any consistency in which magazine accompanies the problem.

I am using Fiocchi ammo. Are the P64's ammo-sensitive?
I have installed the Wolff 22# recoil spring and 18# hammer spring, but that doesn't seem to have affected the problem.
I have also installed the rubber grips made by Russ Burchfield, which do a nice job -- when the gun manages to fire!

Wow, I don't get why it sticks

Check the rails on the slide and frame for any damage.

Curly1, okay, did that. No damage I can see.

Before heading to the range this morning, temperature 36F, I did a couple things differently:
1. Taking a cue from another thread, I loaded my (7)magazines with just 5 rounds each, and put a box of extra Fiocchi 9x18 in my pocket.
2. On a whim I applied synthetic grease to the slide and frame, instead of gun oil.

The first 7 magazines were a mixture of perfect firing, FTF, and FTE, but NO STICKING!
I took a break, shooting a Bulgarian Makarov with no problems at all -- 50 rounds.

I reloaded the P64 magazines and fired them off with no FTF and no FTE and NO STICKING!
I reloaded the magazines with the remaining 15 rounds, and immediately the slide STUCK BACK
I put a dowel down the barrel and hit the bolt face, freeing the slide.
I finished off the 15 rounds with no problems.

OKAY, what is happening? What helped?
1. The grease?
2. The 5-round magazine loads?
3. Is the pistol just "getting broken-in"?
4. Or.....

Or?? Magic. You would think when it stuck, there would be some evidence of a metal to metal contact. You might pull it apart again to see if there is indication of this.

I have another theory...is it possible recoil is causing the trigger guard to bump into your fingers? If you let the muzzle flip too much it could cause the guard to hit your fingers and pull the slide release open. This, could allow the slide to slip off the rails then slam back into the frame, wedging it stuck.

This means two things. You need to stiffen your grip at the wrist, and the recoil spring you put in there is probably too soft for your ammo. Many people mistakenly think a recoil spring change is to reduce recoil. A recoil spring is there to store energy to load the next cartridge and close the breech. Being that this is a blowback breech, it must be matched to the slide travel and ammo you are using. Too soft and the slide slams into the rear stop too hard, and can damage or jam the firearm, and cause FTFs.

Too stiff and the slide doesn't move far enough, causing FTEs.

Try the original recoil spring, which I believe is stiffer, and get a firm grip with a stiff wrist. Focus on trigger technique to not reset the trigger until you have brought the muzzle back down from the previous shot. Many FTF and FTE issues are largely driven by technique, a.k.a. limp wrist. You have to train yourself to not relax your wrist.

in a life or death situation with adrenaline flowing IMO limp wristing will not be a problem and will be an unconscious thought to stiffen up.

Like when you fall or see a crash coming your reaction will be to brace, a hard thing to practice for cause you have to think about it when in reality you react w/o thinking.

Practice will get you used to the actions of drawing, acquiring targets, trigger pull and the mechanics of reloading or clearing malfunctions.

I have noticed that when i haven't been to the range for while or haven't used a particular carry piece the first time I shoot is right on cause I really didn't think about the first shot. Then I become more conscious of what I am doing and I begin to drift on my shots.

To me this means reactive response comes into play in a real situation as you are not thinking about anything but the situation in front of your and
your body will react.

I can remember an instance as a young lad where a serious situation caused me to an action that saved my friend from getting run down by a car, didn't even think about what I was doing just did it.

Several occasion while driving I went into a "James Bond" mode without any thought that avoided serious crashes and scared the be Jesus out of Mrs. Curly1 on two of those occasions.

I am not saying practice is not necessary cause it is but being familiar and comfortable with your weapon is also key. I feel naked if I don't have mine on me when I go out and when I am carrying it is a part of me and it is always in the back of my mind what I need to do to get it into action.

Drec, I will be cleaning the P64 today, and will be watching for metal-metal contact.

Snailman153624, yesterday I was shooting right-handed and left-handed, two-hand grip and single-hand grip. I used to limp-wrist, but have pretty much overcome that tendency in recent years. The stuck-slide situation happened before I changed the recoil spring, so I doubt that is the problem, but I will experiment as you suggest, when the weather improves. The slide has stayed in its track on the frame....

Curly1, I fire modern .357 and .44 Magnums without flinching. One of the more brutal / harsher recoils I get is with the Bulgarian Makarov I shot yesterday, and got back on target, with no problems in 50 rounds fired.

At last, I disassembled the P64 this morning and gave it a close-up, thorough inspection. Before my last range day, I had put a thin coat of black, synthetic grease on contact points. The inspection today did not reveal any bright spots indicating inappropriate touching I continue to be perplexed.

check and make sure the recoil spring is on right , small side goe's on the barrel first


NORM

Yes, the recoil spring is installed correctly.