PT99 locked up??

[merlin101]

I was happily shooting at the range when all of a sudden 'CLICK', I had only fired about 3rds from that full mag so I waited a few seconds then tried to rack the slide. Tried is the key word because the action was locked up tight! I dropped the mag and tried to wiggle the slide and got nothing. About then I noticed that the slide was out of battery about 1/8" . I used a wooden skewer to slide down the barrel and determined that there is NOT a live round in there. It seems like the barrel is not dropping down and releasing the slide. I tried tapping on the rear of the barrel/chamber area with a plastic hammer to no avail. This was loaded with some home rolled boolits but I've fired thousands of them without trouble.Any suggestions?:confused:

[tazman]

Some time ago I had that happen when I tried to chamber what turned out to be an oversize(too large diameter) round. It was just short of battery and would not move. I finally used a small plastic mallet to drive it into battery by tapping on the rear of the slide and then was able to fire the cartridge.
Since you say there is no cartridge in the chamber, I have no idea what might be causing it. I don't think tapping on the barrel itself will help anything. You might try tapping on the rear of the slide to get it into battery and see where you can go from there.

[MtGun44]

I would normally expect this to be a no powder round with a boolit partially out of the
case, but if the chamber is really empty (are you SURE?) I am baffled.

Bill

[376Steyr]

I had something similar happen with a 1911. Cause there was a broken barrel link which jammed things up enough to prevent the barrel from tilting down and unlocking. I suspect your problem is something akin to that.

[seaboltm]

I would double verify there is not a round in the chamber. I too have had this happen with an over sized bullet or a case that had not been completely sized. If this is not the case, something broke. Or something, like a primer or shard of metal, is in the action locking it up. I have had that problem too.

[tazman]

I had something similar happen with a 1911. Cause there was a broken barrel link which jammed things up enough to prevent the barrel from tilting down and unlocking. I suspect your problem is something akin to that.

What you just said made me think of a problem Beretta and Taurus both had to some extent. The locking block that sits under the barrel can crack and if it does it will lock up the pistol just as you describe. The fired casing may still be in the chamber from when you were shooting it. You would not really be able to measure it with a skewer or see it if the barrel never really unlocked.
I am not familiar with how you would get the pistol apart under these circumstances. Try unlocking/removing the slide take down lever and see if you can remove the entire slide assembly.

[RED333]

What you just said made me think of a problem Beretta and Taurus both had to some extent. The locking block that sits under the barrel can crack and if it does it will lock up the pistol just as you describe. The fired casing may still be in the chamber from when you were shooting it. You would not really be able to measure it with a skewer or see it if the barrel never really unlocked.
I am not familiar with how you would get the pistol apart under these circumstances. Try unlocking/removing the slide take down lever and see if you can remove the entire slide assembly.

After looking at the manual this post is very close to what just might be wrong.

[seaboltm]

http://www.ar15.com/mobile/topic.html?b=5&f=15&t=101362

[tazman]

Excellent link. Good information to have.

[merlin101]

Well it's all apart now, it even has one extra part! One ear broke off the link and caused it to jam. Thanks for the help and advice guys.

[tazman]

At least that is an easy fix. Most of those are drop in replacements.
Was the fired casing still in the barrel?

[merlin101]

At least that is an easy fix. Most of those are drop in replacements.
Was the fired casing still in the barrel?

Yup fired case still in there, looked pretty good too considering I slide a brass drift down into it and lightly tapped it just in case the primer had backed out and caused the problem. Parts ordered and now just waiting. Thanks again for the help.

[tazman]

No reason for the case to be deformed unless it was seriously over pressure. That locking lug wasn't broken by just one shot. It breaks over time from repeated firing. It cracks before it breaks. If you check it when you clean your weapon, you can spot it before it breaks.
It is one of the parts that wears out on the Beretta/Taurus 92. You just need to check it periodically.
You also need to replace the recoil spring every so often. I think the recommended number is around 5000 rounds. I recently replaced mine with a stiffer spring and my pistol is actually slightly more accurate now than before. Stock was 13lb. I installed a 16lb. Haven't had any failures to feed, eject, or lock open since I did that about 500 rounds ago.

[lead-1]

I know this is an old tread but, "hey merlin101" where did you get your part to fix your pistol or did you fix it? I'm not so sure about a used one from Numrich Gun Parts.
I went shooting today and ironically two years and two days after your's broke, mine broke. Mine is a model 99AF but it take the same part.

[tazman]

I know this is an old tread but, "hey merlin101" where did you get your part to fix your pistol or did you fix it? I'm not so sure about a used one from Numrich Gun Parts.
I went shooting today and ironically two years and two days after your's broke, mine broke. Mine is a model 99AF but it take the same part.

The locking lugs are readily available on eBay. The lugs are interchangeable with the ones for Beretta 92fs models. I have used Beretta lugs with my Taurus guns no problem. A simple drop in replacement.

[lead-1]

Thanks for the heads up, I may have to see if my sister still deals with ebay, I don't do paypal. Brownell's has them listed but out of stock.
Tazman, have you had to change out the plunger on any of yours?

[tazman]

Thanks for the heads up, I may have to see if my sister still deals with ebay, I don't do paypal. Brownell's has them listed but out of stock.
Tazman, have you had to change out the plunger on any of yours?

Never had to change the plunger on either of the Tauruses(Tauri?) that I owned and I put over 10,000 rounds through each of them. I did have to change the recoil spring on both at about 4000 rounds. I went with a little bit heavier spring. I use medium to full power loads and had no trouble with function. The more powerful spring seemed to make the pistol lock up tighter and became slightly more accurate.
I had to change one locking lug that cracked. I was lucky and caught it when cleaning the gun after a shooting session before it completely broke.