Pardini GT45 Issue

[montster]

Infrequently I am having the slide stay back/open when there are still rounds in the magazine. If I push the catch and release lever down the slide moves forward and chambers the round with no problem.

I observe the slide catch and release lever is has little to no tension on it when there is a loaded magazine and a round in the chamber.

The slide catch and release lever has tension on it when the magazine is loaded, inserted and there is no round in the chamber. Also tension on it when no mag is installed.

I think the recoil of the pistol is sometimes enough to move the loose lever up during sustained fire to catch the slide.

Pardini USA support says I dont have the pistol assembled properly. I have been unable to assemble and create tension on the catch and release lever when the pistol is loaded and magazine has rounds in it. (using dummy rounds) I was advised to replace the catch and release lever and have done so. No change.

Advice is appreciated. Wonderful pistol just don't trust it anymore for competition.

[John C]

I'll check mine out and see if I can replicate what you're seeing. Have you considered sending it back to Pardini, if you can't fix it yourself, even with new parts?

-John

[schatzperson]

I have a Pardini GT45. I believe the GT is just like the PC , just early.
With a loaded mag inserted, there should be movement under spring tension on the slide catch-Just as much as no mag inserted.
The reason for this is because with a loaded mag, the mag follower will not be in contact with the slide catch at all, so this catch will be free to move under its spring tension.
If your slide occasionally locks open with a full mag, then most likely your suspicions are correct : "the recoil of the pistol is sometimes enough to move the loose lever".
Having said this however, there should be the right amount of spring tension on the slide catch to prevent this from happening.
I hope to have access to a Lyman digital trigger guage tomorrow and will measure the spring tension on my pistols catch.

It might be difficult to say why your pistol is behaving the way it does without knowing just how much the tension is, or if there is some sort of incorrect assembly.

I find the Pardini 45 to be an odd pistol..at least mine; and I have owned my fair share of eclectic guns over the years.
The bore on mine must be well over .45"; Most factory hard ball I have tried, have too small a diameter bullet, will cause gas flyby, will throw appalling accuracy and malfunctions to boot !!!
The cherry on the cake must be the rear sight windage adjustments.....each click is so huge that the point of impact cannot be resolved !!!! ....you click too far right or too far left :-)

Why do I put up with it ?
Well, I have found that 155 grain plastic coated bullets over 4 gr VVN310 give oneholers at 50 ft and excellent accuracy on the shortline with 185 gr plastic coated SWC. Both .452 " dia.
I have yet to shoot a better feeling 45, mainly due to its low boreline and rake angle ( yes, high rake angle will decrease actuall bore height too).
And then of course there is the adjustable trigger...out of the box. High horse gunsmiths hate this one.

Sorry to ramble on so much. I dont know if I should love or hate this pistol. Seems to me to be a reminder that a decent target 45 ( not a combat pistol descendant) is possible direct from the manufacturer...some day :-)

[John C]

Schatz;

What do you mean by plastic covered bullets? Is this something you do yourself, or something you purchase? Do you have a link?

Thanks,

-John

[schatzperson]

John, the plastic covered bullets I am using now are made by Ares. They are cast but appear to be consistent. I suspect that they are mostly aimed for the action shooter. http://www.ares-gun.sk/?lang=english
H&N offer a similar product but are more expensive. http://www.hn-sport.de/en/products/bullets.html

Just measured the slide catch spring tension when there is no magazine in gun or when there is a loaded mag inserted; It is about 100 grams or so. I used a Lyman trigger guage.
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[schatzperson]

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[montster]

Thanks for measuring the force needed to move the slide catch. Mine has no tension on it whatsoever. It flops up and down. On the trigger assembly there is a leaf spring that runs along the left side and that is the only possible spring that could possibly touch the round pin part of the slide catch. I put a little bend in it and it is now rubbing on the side of the pin. Tension is pretty light but there is some,

I will talk with Pardini on Monday and order a new leaf spring and compare it to the one I touched up.

Will shot the pistol Monday and to check and see it there is a difference.

Thanks for all the help. Hope to see this resolved as I would like to use this pistol this year for BE.

[sobakavitch]

. . . .

[schatzperson]

Montster, that loose slide catch should be an easy fix for Pardini techs.

Just asking, if ever you have a chance to converse freely with them, can you ask them if there is much difference between the GT45 and PC45 please? I wonder if my oversize grove diameter was a one off PC45 thing... maybe an experiment or a substandard barrel.
My rear sight adjustment is also ..er memorable: Each click is huge ( too big, you're either too far left or right to POI).

I had emailed Pardini about these points but received nothing from them.
Go figure !

[montster]

Discoverd the problem. On the trigger assembly the small wire spring that put tension on the catch level has a small 90 degree bend that sticks into the trigger assembly frame. This short bend of spring anchors one end. It had broken on and you could not tell unless you removed it.

New one ordered.

Now the problem is getting the little 0.045 wire spring out of the hole. It is stuck pretty good! Some .040 drill stock piece is on order. Hoping to punch it out with that.

Thanks for all the help.

[montster]

Montster, that loose slide catch should be an easy fix for Pardini techs.

Just asking, if ever you have a chance to converse freely with them, can you ask them if there is much difference between the GT45 and PC45 please? I wonder if my oversize grove diameter was a one off PC45 thing... maybe an experiment or a substandard barrel.
My rear sight adjustment is also ..er memorable: Each click is huge ( too big, you're either too far left or right to POI).

I had emailed Pardini about these points but received nothing from them.
Go figure !

I have not talked or emailed with pardini USA about this issue.

My pistol is an older model judging by the serial number. It is shooting lead 185 and 200 semi wadcutters very well but will not feed them reliably. Following the advice of the original owner and some others I shoot 185 jacketed hollowpoints. Mostly Zero brand but Magnus brand appears to shoot as well. Jacketed 185 semi wadcutter feed well but I have not put more than a 100 of them through it. Loads I have tried and use are 4.4 and 4.7 V310. Staying with the 4.7 v310.

Appears that the pistol will feed semi wadcutters other than lead ones pretty well. Lead may have higher friction than the plastic or jacketed. Might be something else.

[tuj]

monster: I am having the exact same problem as you; the slide locking back while there is still one round in the magazine. I emailed Emil at Pardini about it and he said he hadn't heard of this issue before. The issue for me seems to be isolated to one magazine, so I think the follower might be suspect.

I am also having erratic ejection issues and stovepipes regardless of what loads I shoot (factory or 750 fps jacked reloads). This issue is not isolated to the magazine (I have four I rotate with and are numbered). Not sure what to do. The ejector feels tight to the frame and the extractor holds a round when an empty is placed in the slide and pushed inward (which was the test Pardini told me to try).

[schatzperson]

Montster,
When I first got the Pardini I tried factory 230 fmj, and had shotgun patterns at 50 ft. Later I tried Fiocchi 200 grain jacketed semi wadcutters, for the same miserable result. Ejection was erratic as well and had a few failture to totally eject clear of the gun, even through the mighty wallop of factory ammo.
Then I tried the pictured 155 and 185 lead swc and it all came together.
No malfunctions, casually all shots touching at 50 ft.

Strange thing is that the bore is oversize to the point that ALL factory fmj I tried produced gas flyby.
Everyone I heard says the Pardini likes fmj ?????
Beats me. Its like talking about another gun. Or maybe the Pardinis have a schizoid personality.

They are well thought out though. But I suspect this is not too difficult to achieve because everyone compares it to a one hundred year old design.
Esentially all Pardini did was put the slide rails inside the frame and lower the bore axis.

Doing so, they lowered the extractor axis also.....it now sits very low.
The ejector is also low.
For optimal ejection, extractor and ejector would be opposite one another with the central firing pin as diagonal.
In the Pardini, they are both much lower to the center, and this is most probable why they have erratic ejection.

I can go on a little more but dont want to bore anyone.
If you want another surprise, pick the gun in your hand and very very slowly pull the slide back and watch what the barrel chamber does.
It moves immediately-stops for duration of bullet dwell time presumably-and then unlocks.
I wonder why have the barrel drop and register at this crucial instant.

PS :
good results with 185 gr over 4 gr of VV N310

[tuj]

schatzperson: My GT45 grouped about 5" for 10-shots at 50 yards using Nosler 185 over V310 (the Zins load). That was just off sandbags and using a 4MOA dot.

[schatzperson]

Nosler 185..is that fmj ? Actual diameter ?

[tuj]

Nosler JHP, I believe it is .451"

[schatzperson]

My pardini's groove must be about .451". With factory FMJ's I could see clear signs of gas flyby on recovered slugs and the rifling was barely engraved.
If your's groove diameter is also .451 then you need a 452 bullet.
At least this appears to be so in my case.
Not sure, but mine is a PC45 model, presumably pre Gt.
I asked Pardini but got no reply.