Early Colt Commander in 9mm

jebbar

I inherited a Colt Commander in 9mm ~ early 50s manufacture. From what I have learned I don't think the pistol was fired much - though there are handling marks. Everything appears to be in original condition and from what I know about the previous owner I doubt any alterations were made.

The pistol WILL NOT cycle modern target ammunition. I've tried Winchester White Box and Fed in 115 grain and it fires these rounds as a true single action pistol - just not automatic, i.e. I have to cycle the slide to clear the jammed round every time it fires.

Except when I use older ammo - I know some ammo collectors are going to weep, but part of my inheritance was a lot of old ammunition, and I've tried some of the 9mm in this pistol. It fires all the OLD 9mm without fail, but none of the new ones I've tried so far (all standard target grade American marketed - Win, Federal, Remington). I've read that older 9mm were spec'ed to a hotter load. Is this true? I'm going to try tome European brand ammo this weekend. Should I expect better results?

charliemeyer007

Really hard to tell from here what is going on. What exactly is the ammo that functions properly in your pistol. I would take it apart to clean and lube it properly.

Older ammo can be corrosive primed and you need to clean for that if they are.

yoshmyster

I'm wondering if the recoil spring is for the .45? I'd look for replacement springs from Wolff.

perry shooter

all good answers above but also try ammo with heavier weight Bullet . They will give more recoil impulse

nmyers

I think that we may be missing something.

It may help if you could post photos of your gun, both assembled & "exploded" with all parts in their relative position. And, I'd like to see the ammo. If it won't function properly with White Box ammo, the problem has to be with the gun.

Have you looked closely at the chamber? Polished it with J-B Bore Paste?

Neal

jev1969

My money is on the recoil spring. At first glance I would think ejector but that would not account for the old ammo working properly.

Txs

You'd have better luck here if you described the exact condition of these stoppages rather than simply saying the pistol 'jammed'.

Malfunction diagnosis revolves around analysis of the failure conditions, so absence of detailed information will only get you people's best guesses.