Inglis Hi-Power malfunctions

Need some help here.

I have a pair of Inglis & Sons Browning Hi-Powers, a No 1 Mk I* and a No 2 Mk I* FTR'd by Enfield in 1963. The latter has always fuctioned flawlessly and I have, maybe, 100 to 200 rounds through it in the 15 or so years since I bought it. I have detail cleaned it religiously and never had a malfunction with it.

The other one, the No 1, is my problem child. Does NOT like to feed any sort of ammo, even standard FMJ - and manufacturer makes no difference. Routinely the casing will fail to fully extract or, even it it does, the slide will still fail to return to battery.

It was suggested to me that the main spring on the No 1 was worn out and possessed insufficient tension to return the slide to battery. As an experiment I swapped the main springs AND their respective guide assemblies and afterwards switched them back after firing some 26 rounds from each pistol, then expending another 13 from each.

1. The problem in the No 1 Mk I* has not abated, though the interval between failures has improved somewhat.

2. I am now experinecing the same problems with the formerly reliable No 2 Mk I*.

Any assistance in solving this problem would be greatly appreciated as I am completely flummuxed.

Cheers

I would look at your extractor first. A weak recoil spring or magazine spring can cause your feeding issues, as well as a bad extractor. But a broken, worn, or dirty extractor is usually the cause of extraction problems. Since you have both feeding and extracting problems, I'd sort out the extractor first.

I would do what Johnny C says, then swop the complete slide assemblies over. That will eliminate any body or magazine problems. It should be a doddle after that

Thanks guys!