KWC built 1911's - slide stop not releasing on pullback

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Nov 11, 2017
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I have a Umarex Colt Commander (in BB) and just got one in Airsoft (doesn't say Umarex but it appears to be a KWC built gun AFAIK). On neither will the slide release by pulling back the slide. On a fresh magazine, on NO magazine, at all. You HAVE to pull down on the slide release lever to release the slide. It seems the detent is cut way too big to actually engage the back of the slide lock lever. Since I bought it for a realistic practice gun, I'm not happy with that, but I also don't have high hopes that I happen to just coincidentally have two guns with similar problems - I suspect this is a design flaw, as everything else appears well made.

Does ANYONE have a KWC built 1911 where the slide release functions correctly? Has anyone modded it to fix this? Perhaps a bigger release lever bump?
 
So apparently it's a known problem common to virtually all of them. I've found three different fixes

1) disable the slide stop detent spring. This might work for some, but on mine (and the ones in the video below) the slide stop catch is cavernous and would never push the slide stop lever down - it has to fall.
2) Fill in the slide stop notch so that it can contact the slide stop lever. On a steel 1911 slide this could be filled with weld, recut, heat treated, and blued. Certain to exceed the cost of the gun. Or you can just fill it with something else - metal/superglue/plastic/etc.. Some of the videos I found go this route. With some care it can work and not look horrid. But you're also messing with the dwell time for the slide to lock back in the first place, and the weaker springs in co2 gun magazines could make it a bit more sluggish.

3) Replace or modify the slide stop lever. The video uses one I found here (https://www.evike.com/products/32432/). This one actually keys off the slide bottom itself and doesn't require contact with the sloped backside of the notch. If you want your CO2 1911 to release the slide from pullback - this looks like the ticket.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyeDwXXQNys


 
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