The bullet was not set back in the case – not enough force.
The position of the slide as it fails to go into battery leads me to think “link” because of the position where it stops – and from here you can easily push-out the slide-stop.
But yank it all apart and there’s no clues but those in front of me.
The link and lugs look OK…
UPDATE: Just grasping the disassembled gun and working the handle controls – grip-safety to trigger and hammer, everything feels graunchy and gritty – I probably should replace all the springs anyhow.
Not Clauswitz 
Thanks Will!! I’ll get my cheap digital calipers out and see if I remember how to measure things…
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Hi Tam! – Yeh it’s a little raw inside where it doesn’t show. I’ll have to take and post more pictures of all the sexy visible gouge and tooling marks on the GI innards. 🙂
SiGreybeard- I don’t have any ultrasonic anything. 😦
Will – I swapped-out barrels and the 1943 Colt barrel doesn’t have the same feed-problem as the High Standard, so it must be slop in the link. Still, I should go through and clean everything…
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I would be inclined to measure the locking lug engagement, since this is not the original barrel.
Calipers are adequate for this. Assemble the barrel with bushing into the slide.
1) Hold the barrel in the locked position, and measure at the front of the port, from the top of the slide down to the top of the barrel. Record the numbers.
2) Unlock the barrel, and slide it forward just a bit, so it will stay unlocked. Measure and record again.
3) Assemble on the frame, with slide lock pin, and measure and record again.
4) Pull the slide back a bit to the unlocked position (as in measurement #2), measure and record.
The important calculation is #2 minus #3. This should give you the actual lug engagement as assembled.
#1 minus #3, gives you maximum possible lug engagement.
Engagement should be at least 50% of lug depth.
#4 minus #2 should be just a few thou. This is more of a reference for link lengths, if lug engagement is bad.
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It’s probably just camera angle, but the difference between the last two photos of the link would have me looking closer. First one shows clearance, but the second looks like the pin would drag on the lug. Is the pin or the link hole worn enough to produce movement? If so, this could be your problem. As Tam points out, the profile of the lugs is not good, which can aggravate this situation. A new recoil spring may cover up the loading problem, but would not be optimum, if the pin has lots of slop.
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Ever try an ultrasonic for cleaning in those “hard to reach” places (as the old magazine ads used to say)? Could it remove the grit without damaging things?
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Jealous!
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