Pardini SPE short cycling? need tips

[bikeart1]

Picked up a used Pardini SPE and took it to the range today for the first time. Accuracy was great but function was a bit poor. After inserting loaded mag and charging the action, the first round goes bang but the second or third does not always. I have to re-cock the action ejecting the live round re-cocking the hammer. I think it's short cycling but i'm new to this pistol. I was using a variety of standard velocity ammo but wondering besides ammo what should I look for when I take her apart? thanks

[Gwhite]

Make sure the chamber is REALLY clean. Running a bore brush through it won't necessarily get the chamber clean, especially if the brush is worn at all.

If it was short cycling, it typically wouldn't come back far enough to pick up the next round. Do the primer hits on the misfires look substantial? It could also be a broken firing pin. All the parts can stay inside the bolt, but the break will cause unreliable ignition.

[j-team]

A pistol as old as the SPE. Wouldn't hurt to replace recoil spring and hammer spring. Even if that's not the cause, it's good maintenance anyway (particularly the recoil spring).

[bikeart1]

thanks for the tips!!! ended up taking it apart completely, cleaning chamber and re-lubing with rem oil in bolt cavity and bolt lightly, checked firing pin (AOK) spring and spring guide (straight), lots of dry spent residue powder in receiver and dirt or dust in the grip cavity

went back to the range today, worked like a champ with all ammo I had at house and is a joy to shoot!!
Think the old dried out lube had some stiction.

i should have done the usual field strip - clean and fresh lube first

[Dipnet]

Yep, it needs a new recoil spring. When the recoil spring wears, it becomes stiffer, causing the bolt to short stroke and fail to pick up the next round. My SP BE began doing this after ca 5000 rounds. Simple fix. dipnet

[Rover]

"cleaning chamber and re-lubing with rem oil"

Gotta luv the bottle, but it says on it, "Since 1911".

I think it's just 3 in 1 oil.

[Gwhite]

"cleaning chamber and re-lubing with rem oil"

Gotta luv the bottle, but it says on it, "Since 1911".

I think it's just 3 in 1 oil.

Nope. Rem Oil is MUCH thinner. The stuff is like water. 3-in-1 oil is fairly light, but it's definitely thicker than Rem Oil.

[JamesHH]

Yep, it needs a new recoil spring. When the recoil spring wears, it becomes stiffer, causing the bolt to short stroke and fail to pick up the next round. My SP BE began doing this after ca 5000 rounds. Simple fix. dipnet

This is the first time I've heard of a spring getting stiffer with age or wear.

[divingin]

My old SP does pretty much the same thing when it gets really dirty (and my HP does it when it's mildly dirty): The round is chambered, but the crap in the chamber prevents the cartridge from seating fully. The visual telltale: the slide "ears" (handles? grips?) don't extend as far as usual beyond the frame/barrel junction. You can usually push on them and seat the slide fully forward, but the problem will recur in the next few rounds. Cleaning the chamber takes care of it until the crap builds up in the chamber again.

[Gwhite]

Yep, it needs a new recoil spring. When the recoil spring wears, it becomes stiffer, causing the bolt to short stroke and fail to pick up the next round. My SP BE began doing this after ca 5000 rounds. Simple fix. dipnet

This is the first time I've heard of a spring getting stiffer with age or wear.

Replacing the spring may have fixed it, but as JamesHH said, I doubt it's because it was stiffer. A tired spring will usually be shorter than when new, and it exerts LESS force. However, in the complex world of cartridge powder combustion, it may allow the bolt to come back before the burning powder has had a chance to build up enough pressure to cycle the bolt completely. There a very tricky balancing act between the mass of the bolt & spring pressure and how it affects the bullet velocity, internal pressure and the recoil of the bolt.

[bikeart1]

Pardini is back to bad functioning again, just my luck. Replaced recoil spring and installed new buffer, old buffer was shredded in pieces with only center guide section intact to protect receiver and recoil spring was a bunch shorter than the new replacement. firing pin not broken and rounds seat in chamber with out difficulty. also took apart and cleaned dirty magazine. was using standard velocity ammo (1080 fps?) and some of that sweet smelling yellow box eley. Same issues as before, cycle new round - pull trigger and she goes band but get a dead trigger next round or round after and have to recycle bolt to cock hammer ejecting round. I'm in Mass and have a great smith (Santurri) who suggested a sear issue but it's a road trip for me. the previous owner used 38 grain sv only and mentioned length as a possible issue. any ideas and as always thanks for any suggestions! when she works she does it well though.

[j-team]

Can you be more specific. Is the hammer following the slide forward, or is the hammer cocked but not firing when the trigger is pulled?

If it is the hammer following the slide forward then you probably need to increase the sear engagement (if it is this I'm surprised you haven't gone full auto).

Or, if the hammer is cocking OK, but not being released when you pull the trigger, then you probably need to increase the forward travel of the trigger (1st stage) so the trigger bar resets properly in the sear. You can check this by looking in the window of the frame with the grip removed. Hard to explain, but really easy to show if the pistol s in hand.

It could be something else of course, but these are common problems with trigger adjustment, and are both easily fixed once you understand the way it should function.

[bikeart1]

"If it is the hammer following the slide forward then you probably need to increase the sear engagement (if it is this I'm surprised you haven't gone full auto). "

thats what it was doing not the second thing


I think your right with the hammer follow and thanks!! actual it did go FA once for the first time today. caught me off. the trigger was adjusted by the first owner to be super light but maby too much so. I did find an adjustment chart pdf online but really have to read it to understand how it works. have been googling like mad but not much info. thanks for the suggestion

[Gwhite]

Sounds like somebody screwed it up big time. The Pardini trigger design is inherent extremely safe.

I'd start here to understand how it's supposed to work:

http://www.targettalk.org/viewtopic.php?t=19268

There are detailed instructions from Don Nygord on how to set up the trigger:

http://www.pilkguns.com/tenp/sphptriggeradjustment.htm

I think he also had notes on how to reset the trigger to something like the initial factory settings. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to quickly locate that info.

[bikeart1]

Thanks for the tip and link! also Pardini called back and said same thing. read the link enough to get trigger to function today with a slight sear adjustment. previous shooter was a competition shooter who knew the pistol inside and out but it did not work for me. was able to get through a magazine but still had a few hammer follows but no FA. going to take a few days to really read and understand trigger function or at least get it to a better factory base.

Thanks to all for all the help gents

[Gwhite]

Unlike many US pistol triggers, the Pardini is designed to have LOTS of sear engagement. The first stage is not taking up slack in the mechanism, it's actually moving the sear over a significant distance. If somebody set it up so the sear was even close to where it can go full auto, they didn't know what they were doing.