UPDATE. Still failure to battery with the stock guide rod/spring. I did dry cycle it a couple thousand times (seems like) but to no avail. So back to Springfield.
Totally agree with Model457, a $1200 gun should work reasonably out the box.
Clarification on BassCliff's assumption that maybe this malfunction is due to lack of 'cleaning'. That does not apply. My pre-inspection, as noted, means determining if a deep cleaning is necessary. I know what a clean gun should look like. This gun was pretty pristine and well lubricated. There was no packing grease, nor manufacturing detritus like machine shavings present. My lite lube means I always as habit wipe down the internals just for good measure, so I reapply lube that was removed by wiping. I do not consider that cleaning... but maybe so.
Interesting conversation with another certified armorer at the range. He said he has seen this same malfunction on new 1911 type guns, even Stacattos and Colts. He said the habit of using a stronger recoil spring can 'fix' the problem, but in many cases it does not really resolve the problem, but masks the real problem.
He said the real problem is a misaligned breech/ramp face which causes the rear end of a cartridge to slightly hang up when transitioning from the magazine. (Somehow he also included the extractor in the description but I did not quite understand everything about that...) Using a stronger recoil spring over-powers the cartridge hang and everything works normally, and it is an easy fix so most folks go that route (including for over-applied cerakot). He says the real fix is honing and polishing the breech face, ramp, and extractor surfaces.
He did not think this is a disconnector hang because the slide stalls well past the disconnector/stripper contact.
Anyway, stayed tuned. Hope Springfield will make it right.
