Savage 1917 difficulty locking the slide back

[ammodave]

I recently bought a very minty 1917 (32acp) but am having difficulty locking the slide back. I can't do it with my hands; I have to push the slide against the front of my workbench to get the slide to engage. Is this a lubrication problem or just the fact that the pistol hasn't been fired much. Is there a magazine available for this model that locks the slide back?

https://ibb.co/3cDLss6

https://ibb.co/HYZZ4st

https://ibb.co/D8V7DD2

[CalhounRR]

There is no automatic lock back of the slide on the 1917. Have to pull it back and engage the safety.

Looks too clean to be a problem with lubrication. But can't hurt. I'd guess a really, really stiff spring. I had a 1907 that was real bad. I locked the slide back and left it alone for 3 months. Didn't feel so bad after.

Can't rule out that somebody didn't swap parts or something and you have bad tolerances now. What does it feel like? Spring, resistance, ??

[ammodave]

Slide feels about the same as my stock 1911. I can chamber (or eject) a round without difficulty. That final 1/16" of slide travel necessary to engage the safety to lock the slide is very difficult. I'll leave the slide locked for awhile and see if that helps.