Nelson .22LR 1911 Conversion

topclass52 · Post by **topclass52** » Thu Jan 09, 2014 1:27 pm

I recently acquired a Nelson conversion. I'm quite impressed with the fit, finish, and ease of installation. Weight-wise It feels little different from my 1911 with a .45ACP slide. I took it out last night for the first time to a local bullseye shoot, and while generally accurate, I had a couple issues.

1. Cycling. Initially it cycled just fine with SV ammo (SK Jagd Std Plus), then began to fail to cycle occasionally. It would eject and feed fine, but failed to cock to hammer. Any thoughts? By the time the evening was over, I had to cock the hammer after each round. I was told that it should cycle with SV, and in fact was told the units are tested with CCI SV. It may be a matter of mechanical break in. I also tried Federal Auto Match (I know, not the most accurate of ammo, but higher velocity) and had the same experience.

2. More disturbing were "doubles" -- a single trigger pull and two shots fired. After experiencing this for the third time during the evening, the gun was put away. Thsi happened with each type of ammo. Any thoughts?

Isabel1130 · Post by **Isabel1130** » Thu Jan 09, 2014 4:00 pm

topclass52 wrote:I recently acquired a Nelson conversion. I'm quite impressed with the fit, finish, and ease of installation. Weight-wise It feels little different from my 1911 with a .45ACP slide. I took it out last night for the first time to a local bullseye shoot, and while generally accurate, I had a couple issues.

1. Cycling. Initially it cycled just fine with SV ammo (SK Jagd Std Plus), then began to fail to cycle occasionally. It would eject and feed fine, but failed to cock to hammer. Any thoughts? By the time the evening was over, I had to cock the hammer after each round. I was told that it should cycle with SV, and in fact was told the units are tested with CCI SV. It may be a matter of mechanical break in. I also tried Federal Auto Match (I know, not the most accurate of ammo, but higher velocity) and had the same experience.

2. More disturbing were "doubles" -- a single trigger pull and two shots fired. After experiencing this for the third time during the evening, the gun was put away. Thsi happened with each type of ammo. Any thoughts?

Are you using it on a dedicated lower? And what is the trigger weight?

topclass52 · Post by **topclass52** » Thu Jan 09, 2014 4:22 pm

yes (dedicated lower), originally built for a .38 special upper. I had a Kimber Conversion on in and had no problems. Trigger weight is 3 pounds 1 ounce (average of 5 pulls).

Isabel1130 · Post by **Isabel1130** » Thu Jan 09, 2014 4:42 pm

topclass52 wrote:yes (dedicated lower), originally built for a .38 special upper. I had a Kimber Conversion on in and had no problems. Trigger weight is 3 pounds 1 ounce (average of 5 pulls).

Im not a gunsmith so I hope one will chime in here, but my guess is something is going on in the interface between the conversion unit and the lower. Possibly the hammer hooks or the hammer spring weight, but the doubling, and hammer follow are almost always a trigger issue.

Try the unit on other lowers, maybe with a heavier trigger weight, and see if the issue persists. i know a few gunsmiths who are really good with these units. They can change a few things, and get it back in order.

Jon Eulette · Post by **Jon Eulette** » Fri Jan 10, 2014 12:55 pm

In my experience building dedicated lowers for the .22 conversions I've noticed that the disconnector rail on the slide of the conversions is dimensionally different and changes the relationship between disconnector and the disconnector rail on the slide. You really should have a pistolsmith who specializes in the conversions look at it. I've seen many of them double when putting them on working lowers with lighter trigger pulls. I won't personally build a dedicated lower for someone without having the conversion in my possession for final function testing.

Jon

topclass52 · Post by **topclass52** » Fri Jan 10, 2014 5:56 pm

Thanks John. As it turns out, I got a call from Larry Nelson today and he said to send him the pistol (lower + conversion) and he would go through it, similar to your suggestion, and sort it out. glad to know the company stands behind its products!

topclass52 · Post by **topclass52** » Thu Feb 27, 2014 3:08 pm

I'm the original poster with an update. I sent my pistol (lower and upper) to Larry to get it sorted out. While there, he noticed some other issues, called me, and asked if he could go through the pistol and tune it up. I got a detailed list of the work performed and his estimated cost -- extremely reasonable! To me, this is great customer service, going above and beyond! Probably the biggest expense was shipping it back to me, for which he was very apologetic. I got the pistol back late last week and took it to the range last night. I had ammo issues, but once a change in ammo was effected, the pistol functioned perfectly. It preferred CCI SV over Federal 711b, which in hind sight doesn't surprise me as I have had issues with that ammo in other semi-autos (Hammerli 208) in the past. I'll do some ammo experimentation to figure out the Conversion's preferred diet.

So my bottom line: the Nelson Conversion is a well engineered piece of equipment backed by exemplary customer service to ensure complete functionality and customer satisfaction with the product. It's accuracy with low to mid range ammo was more than acceptable on its first night of bullseye shooting.

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