[TexasDeputy]

My 1 month old PT 640 Pro is totally locked up, and I am seeking suggestions on how to clear it, or whether I just send it back to Taurus for repair.

Today was my 4th time at the range with it. The purpose of todays shoot was to sight in this PT640 after installing a set of adjustable Firesights.
I was shooting Federal American Eagle FMJ and the US made Fiocchi FMJ.

Total round count, including today's 54 rounds is almost 500 rounds. Prior to todays shoot, the pistol was clean and lubed; as is usual I gave it a thorough cleaning with Breakfree CLP after going to the range last Friday. I also had a few drops of Rem Oil (with teflon) on the recoil spring assembly.

Using one of my factory PT 640 mags (not one of the modified 24/7C mags), loaded with the Fiocchi FMJ, there was some type of failure when the tenth round in the 5th full magazine of the day was fired. The shot felt normal, but the slide froze in mid cycle while ejecting. The brass was held by the extractor, and almost fully extracted from the chamber. Using a pencil, I verified that the brass was empty, and the barrel was clear; I wanted to make sure that it was not loaded for obvious reasons. There was no bore obstruction.

I tried the rack and tap drill to no avail; the slide was locked in that position. Using the brass fob on my key chain as a lever, I was able to move the slide back a fraction of an inch, and the brass fell out through the mag well. The fired brass appears normal in all aspects, and was not stuck in the barrel.

The slide is locked in its current position, about 1/2 way between battery and full rear. I checked the takedown latch, and it appears to be fully in place and not interfering with the functioning. I can not pull back the slide to do a takedown, and it will not move forward. I do not want to force anything unless necessary. I can not see anything physically restricting the slide.

I am attaching a few photos I took at the range with my phone-camera.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to free the slide so I can take the pistol down and inspect the working parts, please let me know.

If I can not come up with any way to free the slide, then I will have to send it to Taurus, but I would rather try to clear it myself.

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

-----------------

With brass held by the extractor:


---------------------------------

Brass has been cleared; the chamber is empty:






The clutter by the muzzle is my staple gun - I am leaning the pistol against it.

 

[Rangerscott]

I shot mine yesterday (second time) and put 150 down the pipe. The last mag I shot had a few that shot normal but the gun felt "weird." I don't really know how to explain it but I guess if I had to describe it, I would have to say the upper felt "loose." I took the upper off and nothing looked damaged. I'm gonna clean it up and will take it to the range this weekend and hope for the best.

The dang thing is a nail driver for such a small barrel and I don't even consider myself as an average shooter. Out of the total 225 (give or take) rnds I shot, I only had one bullet not chamber. I think the nose of the bullet was just tilted downward.


*edit*


This may be dumb, but lock and unlock the storage safety allen screw and see if maybe it engaged or something.

 

[Fluidpower]

That's a bummer. Never seen anything like that in 30 years of shooting. And I've seen a lot!
I absolutely suggest you return your weapon to Taurus. They will take care of you. Play it safe.
Sorry to here of your problems. I've been there and feel for you.
Frosty

 

[TexasDeputy]

Problem resolved!

FIXED! (or at least solved!)

After careful examination at home, I GENTLY tapped the back of the slide with a plastic hammer, and it moved forward; tapped gently again, and it went almost all the way forward; one last tap and the slide went all the way forward.

I manually racked the slide, and the first rack has some hesitation at the same place that it hung up this afternoon, but it did rack. Another rack went perfectly.

I took the pistol down, and found the problem.

Apparently something abrasive or a "foreign body" of some type (unknown) got caught between the flat on the top of the barrel above the chamber and the corresponding spot on the underside of the slide causing a small galling type gouge or scratch on both parts. (photos below).

I carefully cleaned the PT 640 Pro, paying special attention to the scratch on the top of the barrel and the bottom of the slide. I polished the spots with some fine steel wool and now they are both mirror smooth. Carefully cleaned the area again to remove any possible grit or metal dust. Dry, I put the barrel in the slide, and it slid back and forth; it was almost friction free, with no sign of galling. I lightly lubed the top of the barrel and the underside of the slide where they slip against each other with a dry teflon lube, and now they are slick.

Reassembled the PT 640 and manually cycled the slide 100 times, paying careful attention for any unusual friction or delay; it was very smooth and flawless.

In the next day or two I will go back to the range and try it out to verify that the function is again perfect.

This looks like one of those things that was a fluke, and is not likely to happen again (fingers crossed).

Thank you all for your help and advice!

 

[Fluidpower]

Be careful as this is the locking lug. That is something I've never seen. I've seen photos on a Forum largely anti-Taurus where someone had a big burr chip off at this point but it also looked like it damaged the shoulder of the barrel lug as well. My concern is on the slide. Maybe run it by the service department to get their assessment???? I find it hard to believe regular cartridge components can gall hardened steel like that. I know as I work with hydraulic pumps and valves and only see this with other hardened steel contamination. (not brass or copper) I know you buffed it out but there is real damage to the slide steel in a critical area. Be careful my friend!
Good Luck.
Frosty

 

[MilProGuy]

Maybe run it by the service department to get their assessment????

Sounds like some good advice to me.

 

[DHPatrick]

Cosmoline

When I first saw the PT 640 at Academy, I wondered about the heavy grease I noticed inside the pistol. I don't ever recall seeing a commercially sold handgun with such heavy grease. The grease reminded me of cosmoline. I spent many a Summer on work detail applying cosmoline to Springfields 03s, BARs, Colts and such in armories. Funny thing about cosmoline, though it really works well to preserve a gun from rust, it can and will harden over time into a solid mass. I imagine that even a small amount could foul the internals of a slide and receiver for a pistol.

If it is a cosmoline problem, and I believe it is. You should use some WD-40 on the internals, let it sit for a hour to break down any possible cosmoline, soak it in solvent, clean it well, and then apply lube. On it's own, I do not believe it will/would hurt your handgun, as much as to cause it to jam. I might add, I had thought most gun manufacturers had gotten away from using cosmoline. Not that it is particularly bad for it's purpose, but more due to the ease of using PET.

 

[TexasDeputy]

When I first saw the PT 640 at Academy, I wondered about the heavy grease I noticed inside the pistol. I don't ever recall seeing a commercially sold handgun with such heavy grease. The grease reminded me of cosmoline.

When I bought it on Black Friday, it was not heavily packed in grease, but did require a good cleaning. Unlike cosmoline (try cleaning an arsenal stored Moison-Nagant!), the "grease" on the recoil spring and rod, and around the firing pin was a small amount of a white grease, possibly a lithium grease. I used the nozzle on the WD-40 can to "pressure clean" the striker/firing pin assembly. There was a light waxy coating on the slide and in and on the magazines. As with any new guns I buy, I thoroughly clean them inside and out (including the mags), and lube as appropriate. I did use WD-40 as an initial cleaner, followed up with CLP, then wiped and thoroughly dried. My personal favorites are EEZOX for blued firearms (the PT640 slide), and a thin film of dry Teflon (goes on wet, but dries very quickly) such as SuperLube or the liquid white DuPont teflon (Lowe's) on the stainless steel parts.

For those following my original posts on this thread, after buffing the galled area on the barrel and slide, the PT640 Pro has functioned flawlessly with several hundred rounds of various ammo.

 

[3AmBulls]

Glad to hear it's up and running again. How did the sights work? I put a 45 24/7 rear on mine and it shoots low. Point shoots very well and have had one FTFeed out of about 300 rds. Otherwise pefect though the reset is not as short as some of my other Tauri.

 

[TexasDeputy]

Glad to hear it's up and running again. How did the sights work? I put a 45 24/7 rear on mine and it shoots low. Point shoots very well and have had one FTFeed out of about 300 rds. Otherwise pefect though the reset is not as short as some of my other Tauri.

I have had a lot of admirers of the 640 with the Firesights at the range. Everyone who tried it mentioned about how much they liked the #70969 adjustable Firesights. They are extremely visible during the day, and very visible in dim light. My only issue with them is the front sight is too tall, requiring the rear sight to be cranked up high in order to get it properly sighted in. The high sights fit fine in my Fobus holster, but are too tall for my Taurus branded ITC holster. If I could find a lower front Firesight, it would be great. While Williams has an 800 customer service number, I would prefer to email them but could not find a customer service email address.

 

[DHPatrick]

Ruling out the improbable

I guess if you eliminate the improbable, what ever you are left with must be. I imagine there are at least four possibles. Part of the pistol came apart inside the pistol, part of the shell casing/primer managed to get inside the slide, there was other foreign matter inside the pistol, there was abnormal barrel expansion inside the slide area - maybe due to an excessively loaded round or dirty barrel. I can't imagine other possibilities.

If all your casings are intact, you should be able to rule out one possibility. If the pistol and it's parts are intact with no real damage, you should be able to rule out two more.

You are left with foreign matter inside the slide/receiver area.

What ever, I imagine it is a good feeling to be able to shoot the pistol again.

 

[MG-70]

Good-looking pistol; glad to hear you got it running!

I did notice two things in your excellent pics, though. One, the "scratch" you pointed out in your pic on the underside of the slide appears to extend towards the front end of the slide, albeit not as deep simply because that part appears to be machined thinner than the area immediately in front of the locking lug on the barrel. Another thing is that the very edge or forward portion of the center rib on the underside of the slide, immediately below the firing pin channel, appears to be a bit deformed and blackened, as if from very high pressure and/or heat. It could be that it was simply dirty when you took the pics, but the metal that became embedded onto the top of the barrel could've come from there.