I have a thompson auto ordinace 45 acp.
Installed a new barrel and sleeve,bushing. toggle link and pin.
Shoots really good except.
once in awhile it will not fully cock, the hammer is back but the trigger appears not to return completely. the feed ramp is in good shape no burs and polished.
i shot it with both reloads and factory and have the problem with both.
any ideas or suggestions
thanks Dave

Given my experiance with these guns, I suspect you have an unlocking problem. remove top end and check for unusual peening in the frame where the barrel rests. If you had some pictures it would help greatly

Chuck

thanks, I will try to get some pictures.
Dave

I did not see any peening . do you think it could be the trigger spring?

The barrel bed in the frame is what I was looking for. I suspect your link might be just a little off. Your lugs in the slide would indicate a slightly long link, based on the wear pattern. A picture of the inside of the frame will tell me the rest.

Chuck

here's the frame the sear has a pretty good size bur on both edges little hard to see. sorry about the quality.

I misunderstood your first post. Yes, I think you have a spring problem, among others. The simplest fix that I can suggest to you is to bend the middle leaf of your leaf spring forward, not a lot, but about 5 degrees. Reassemble the gun and try holding your trigger back and cycling the slide. release the trigger slowly and see if it returns on its own. do this a couple of times and if you feel anything other than the trigger returning let me know

Chuck

thanks Chuck, Ill reassemble it tomarrow. will I creat another problem If I remove the burs from the sear?
thanks again Dave

it shouldnt. I have serious reservations about that sear. it doesnt look straight. Thier QC was always lacking.

The internal parts of the last AO 1911 I worked with were junk. I replaced the trigger, hammer, sear, disconnector, link, and pin with good ones. Used a forged link and of the right length and a forged pin. Never had a problem with the pistol again ... until it needed a barrel due to old fashioned round count

All the AO pistols I've worked on were full of junk parts. The slides and frames are OK but everything else is not.

thanks for the info, all the parts appear to be forged except for the trigger, ill call it a sturip for a lack of a better term.
I have it reassembled. there is about a 1/16" of creep before the sear is engaged and it breaks nice and crisp. there is quite a bit of movement in the disconnector. i have already put a new barrel and a forger link and pin replaceg the spring guide and bumper plus a tighter barrel bushing.
The center spring is at about 5* from streight. I cleaned up all the contact surfaces and debured, polished the pins and all others where I had contact points.
Do not like the creep in the trigger but at this time I dont know how to correct that.
Dave

As long as you have it apart you might check the fit of the trigger in the frame. The trigger should move freely, without any binding or sticking.

Sometimes your trigger can stick and eveything comesto a screeching halt.

Eric

there is a lot of up and down movement of the trigger in the slots.
I plan on replacing the trigger next probably the sear as well. not real sure all that will help the problem.
Dave

Define the problem before throwing parts at it.

Thats what were working on

Chuck

thanks Chuck, I am still mulling it over.
I have been up and down the internet today reading about some of the issues associated with the function of the 1911.
the trigger fit is very poor. 1/16" of creep, no adjustment,the up and down movement to the point where it binds in some places. still looking at the three leaf spring. the grip safty seems ok but the disconnect moves around quiet a bit. the sear was pretty rough but I stoned the burs off and cleaned up the sides. polished the pins.
what do you think the next move should be? would you consider rounding the bottom of the extractor?
thanks again

The only two other areas of note to cause a trigger return problem that comes to mind are
a)your trigger bow is hanging on the grip safety
b) as you noted, the disconnector is very sloppy,which in a worst case it returns too high in its channel and does not properly return pressure to the trigger bow on reset.

for problem a) with the hammer down and the gun empty, pull the trigger back with pressure on the grip safety. while holding pressure on the trigger, release the grip safety. now release the trigger and see if it returns or resets.try this a couple of times. if that test works(trigger resets without hanging) the next step will be to find a good pistolsmith.
I can usually diagnose or fix most 1911 function problems in less time than it took to write this....
....except with Auto Ordnances.
The last time I worked on one of these(for a budding gunsmith friend) I spent almost 4 hours making it work. Highly frustrating. I suggest if you can get it functioning, get rid of it.

Seriously, and no offense intended.

Chuck

"""can usually diagnose or fix most 1911 function problems in less time than it took to write this....next step will be to find a good pistolsmith."""
took the 45 back to the range this morning and ran 40 rounds through it with out a hitch.
thanks chuck, I got a good pistolsmith as long as he keeps replying to my post.
Dave

Glad to help!