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Stupid Mistake - Slide locked halfway on pistol - CW-380

10K views 39 replies 6 participants last post by  Excelwell 
#1 ·
I have been having a problem with my slide not locking back with an empty magazine on my CW-380. Following a recommendation on the forum, I removed the slide and inserted the slide lock to check if the slide lock was moving up when an empty magazine is inserted (it did). Then without thinking I started to reinstall the slide with the slide lock still inserted. The slide is now locked partially on. It won't come back off no matter what I do . The slide lock is retained by the slide and cannot be removed.

Extra poor timing on this as it's Christmas weekend, so I can't talk to the factory until Wednesday or maybe January!

Anyone with any experience with this?

I feel naked without my pistol!!!
 
#6 · (Edited)
Looking at mine?...................



Okay....That slide "MUST" go forward before you can remove the slide lock.
If you can push down on lever- any amount may help?

See that little rounded tit sticking up on the right- that part is caught behind the slide rail. It can not come out as long as it it behind the rail.
 

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#12 · (Edited)
Okay.........Got it! Praise the Lord.


You may or may not want to try this........

I put a screwdriver down from top between slide and stop lever...and I gently pried it out. Remove it.

Then push the slide all the way to the rear like I was cocking it. I pulled the trigger and pulled the slide off.

Edit: Slight nick on slide here- not bad, can barely feel it with finger-
 

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#13 ·
He might have to move the slide a fraction to the rear, in order to clear the back of the slide and get the trigger pulled. As long as the trigger is pulled all the way to the rear and held there, (even if it doesn't click), the slide should then move forward. But as I said the slide may need to move backward just a hair in order to be able to pull the trigger all the way back. He may even need to apply some amount of force to gain that fraction, such as by pushing the muzzle against a table or workbench and leaning on it, but only enough to get the little pointed part to clear.

AND MAKE SURE YOUR GUN IS UNLOADED (from memory since you can't check the chamber).
 
#15 ·
if you mate the slide stop to the slide Higgy you'll see that the slide will move all the way off it to the front without obstruction. What is keeping his slide in place (and yours too), is/was the upper ear of the cocking cam. Once the trigger is pulled and that ear move back and down, with the trigger still pulled the slide should come right off.

Were you unable to pull the trigger back? If so was it because the ear on the cocking cam would not clear the slide back/plate?
 
#16 · (Edited)
I was able to pull the trigger....but it didn't help.

Once I got the slide lock lever out- it was pretty much over with. Push (slide) all the way on, pull trigger, remove.


I didn't intend to push my slide on that far- I was just trying to get close so I could see where the issue was- I pushed too far and found it.
 
#17 ·
I'm only asking these questions, because I don't know the answers, AND I might just make the same mistake someday.

What was keeping the slide on when the trigger was pulled? Was it because the ear on the cocking cam was still pressed up against the slide back and could not descend?

When you leveraged the slide stop out, how did you do this without having to line up the half-moon cut on the slide? Did you have to actually deform the frame so that the stop's ear wouldn't need to be lined up with the cut (which at that point was too far forward)?
 
#18 ·
No....the lever was not lined up with the cut out.....when i put pressure on it with the screw driver.... I guess the poly frame gave a little and allowed the lever to pop out. It did leave a tiny mark on the underside of the slide rail- you can barely see it in the photo.

I put the lever back in with the slide off- and looked to see what? may have held it that the lever was involved with but saw nothing?

I still believe it was the trigger cocking mechanism holding the slide on- but how removing the lever released that?....I do not know.
Once the lever was out- I pushed the slide to the rear- then pulled it off- but did have to pull the trigger.
 
#19 ·
I took one of my slide stops out of its hole and mated it to the slide, also off the frame. That stop slides in the slide's left channel with nothing to prevent the slide from moving forward and all the way out. I'm not going to do what you did and push a slide on with the stop in place so I may never know what was holding it and why whatever it was was no longer doing so after the stop was pushed out. But I'm conjecturing that once the stop was out you were able to move the slide rearward enough so that the locking cam's ear was able to clear the slide plate and move down, freeing the slide.

One thing we could try would be to see if the trigger can be pulled all the way while trying to prevent that ear from moving downward. I have to go to town right now but if I get back and you haven't already tried it, I will. Because if the slide plate is blocking the locking cam from moving down and out of the way without hindering the trigger from being pulled, that would explain it. And if true, moving the slide back even a very small amount rearward after forcing the slide stop out could also free up that ear to move downward. And solve the problem. That's why I suggested pushing the muzzle against a workbench earlier.
 
#23 ·
Wait now. I didn't think of this, and missed the meaning of this post at first. Given that the barrel can be held tight against the slide stop, but the slide can move backward against the recoil spring pressure and independent of the barrel, then one should be able to move the slide rearward far enough to clear the locking cam and allow it to move down when the trigger is pulled all the way to the frame! The trick would be to put pressure only on the slide while staying clear of the barrel, and moving it (the slide) to the rear. Right?
 
#21 ·
Here's what happens. If you remove the slide lock and install the slide up to the point where it gets stuck, you will have just run over the top of the locking cam. That cam fits up against a ramp on the inside of the slide plate. With that in place you can pull the trigger all the way, but the cam will not move downward to free the slide. If you move the slide back a bit it will. But I don't think you can move it back far enough to clear the cam if the lock is already butting up against the rear of the barrel lug.

This means the only way to remove it is the way you did it Higgy. Not desirable, but I believe it would be the only way. Pushing the slide against a workbench as I suggested earlier would not move it back enough to clear the cam and allow it to descend, because the barrel lug is already tight against the slide stop.
 
#24 ·
You all have found the issue. All that is required is to finesse the sear so that it can rotate down. I believe that some folks have slipped some form of a shim in from the rear of the slide, others have removed the frame side plate to access/move the sear!

This can be done without breaking anything!
 
#25 ·
Problem is though Lefty that the locking cam fits tightly against the bevel, or ramp on the inside of the slide's rear plate (back). Until the slide is move farther backward than it sits when the barrel lug first contacts the slide stop it cannot move downward. What Capt. Steve should try to do is push the slide further to the rear, just as if he is racking it, while pulling the trigger. This should allow the slide to move just enough to clear the cam (sear) and allow it to move down. Once that happens, with the trigger still held against the frame the slide should come forward and off.

I think it must be done in such a way that the slide is moved back enough to clear the cam, and then the trigger is pulled so that the cam then drops. Otherwise if the trigger is all the way back and the slide clears the cam, the cam may not drop, as it is passive once the trigger is all the way back.
 
#26 ·
There is an explanation that has been posted before, it may well have been on the Kahr Talk forum! IIRC, there were photos included!

Again, IIRC, it is an easy fix when understood! I don't have time to search for it but, I know that it is on one of these two forums! There have been two different methods used to overcome this boo-boo!
 
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