I have been asked for some advice by an old friend of mine...

He has a 1911 in .45 ACP, which is no longer in production, manufactured by a company called Wyoming Arms. He says it is a "Parker" model 1911.

He is having problems with it "stovepiping"....and said it has done this 5 or 6 times out of his last box of 50. He took it to a local gunsmith near his house and discovered the ejector appears to have been tampered with (filed down to be exact)...so that could potentially be the culprit. However, I believe some people also have problems with "stovepiping" as a result of bad recoil springs.

Can you guys offer any advice that I can give him?....or recommend any competent 1911 gunsmiths in the north Houston area where he could bring the gun to be looked at/repaired?

Have him contact Carter Country.

I take it you mean it is stove piping fired brass and not stove piping loaded rounds.

Stove piping loaded rounds is normally a mag propblem, but could be other things also.

Stove piping fired brass can be caused by many things.

Recoil springs, bad extactor, bad ejector,weak ammo, limp wristing,poor grip, slide galling,barrel drag on bushing, case hitting the ejection port.

One or more or a combo of any of them, any thing that might slow the slide down or not allowing the case to extract or eject properly

Has he tried a box of milspec 45 acp 230 fmj round nosed ammo ?
If these empties stove pipe, I would suspect the recoil spring or ejector first.

Recoil springs come in many flavors (see Brownells) and what is correct for bone stock milspec ammo is probably wrong for a plus P defense load. Replacing the ejector is no big deal and won't hurt anything.

When you are dealing with an off brand 1911, it could be a lot of things, but that's where I would start.

If the ejector has been donkeyed with he would be better off in the long run to have a new commander style extended ejector installed anyway and have the ejection port opened up by a knowledgeable pistol smith. Benny Hill is the best one I know of and he's in Corpus Christi. He does a lot of work for the champion shooters, Jerry Miculek, etc.

I have to chuckle at how folks tell someone to spend a ton of money on an off brand gun when the most basic test(s) have NOT been done.

Benny Hill's most BASIC 1911 is $1900. This Wyoming thing, if mint, would bring about $400.
No matter what you do to it, it's a $400 orphan.
I'd sell it and buy a new Remington 1911 .... they work.

Question:"I bought a push feed 721 30-06 that shoots 3" groups with WW II military ammo. What should I do ?"

Answer "Well first you have to get the action blueprinted, then install a SAKO extractor, then a McMillian stock, a new Shilen barrel, a Jard trigger and a case of federal GMM ammo. That should fix it."

When in fact:
1. Make sure bore is clean to bare metal.
2. Set trigger to 3 pounds.
3. Replace scope and check all mount/ring screws.
4. Check action mounting screws for proper torque.
5. Test it with several brands ammo.

still lousy group ?

Glass bed recoil lug and tang. Free float barrel.
It will now shoot bug holes.

Huh??!!! Bug hole groups with WWII military ammo??!!
I have a bunch of 173 gr. "military match" bullets and they do not shoot anyway close to "bug hole groups" from my Rem 700 HB in 308. Whereas it WILL shoot very well with 168gr. SMK's. Guess I don't have the wealth of knowledge that artshaw has.
Peter

1000 pardons. Actually I have some 70 year old FA 172 FMJBTs that will shoot with any SMK as they were hand made for 1000 yards shoots back in the 1920-30s olympics.

I was making an illustrative point. Let me restate it for you. It is foolish to send a $400 gun off to a $75.00 hour gunsmith to get it rebuilt BEFORE you have exhausted DIY 101. Like trying ammo that should work in any mil-spec 1911 45ACP FIRST.

Sorta like checking the gas gauge before having your car towed and the engine rebuilt because it won't start.

Capisce ?

Wade

I would check the extractor tension.

With the slide off the frame and the barrel out of the slide, slip a 45 ACP case under the extractor. The extractor should hold the case in position, under a little tension.

If it does not you can try bending the extractor, to give it more tension or replace it with a new one, but the new one may have to be "bent" a little as well.

If it is real hard to push a case under the extractor then you will have to "unbend" it a little.

I would also replace the recoil spring.

Also check the frame and make sure the ejector is tight to the frame.

Then lube the pistol up and try shooting it again.

I Agree to the general theme....

extractor or magazines

Before doing anything else or doing anything that costs money, tell him to let you or someone else try shooting it.

It just might be a case of "limp wristing" like p dog shooter suggested.

In a non gas-op firm resistance to the recoil impulse is important to the gun's cycling. Otherwise stove piping of empties can result. But if it does this in the hands of an experienced shooter, I wouldn't mess further with it and would trade it on something better.

i'm a bit familiar with the parker/wyoming. enough so to say - GET RID OF IT. i worked on one that had a stovepipe problem. ended up that the barrel was a 2 piece affair. the rear of the barrel holding the link was a seperate which would sometimes separate on firing and then be pushed back in place by the recoil spring. they have the worst reputation of any 1911 ever made