1911: Failure to Feed

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TunnelRat

New member
Hi all,
So recently I picked up a SW1911 blued 108285. Brought it to the range this past weekend and it ran perfect, POI=POA, fed 150 WWB FMJs and 50 WWB JHPs with absolutely no problem. Then yesterday I shot it again, to celebrate the 4th, and put 60 FMJs and 8 JHPs through it. On one particular magazine I had 2 or 3 failure to feeds. In looking at it, it seemed that the rounds had gotten stuck on the feed ramp. What was odd was that it was FMJs that got stuck. This was the second to last magazine. The last magazine I did 8 JHPs with no problem.

I am wondering at this point if it might be that magazine, but I had no issues on Sunday when I put 200 rounds through them. This leads me to wonder, do 1911s need a lot of cleaning? This is WWB and I cleaned the gun yesterday and it was filthy to the point where I cleaned the slide and receiver twice. I didn't know if 1911s might be more sensitive to getting dirty and I should be cleaning it more than say every 250 rounds.

Thoughts?

-TR
 
B

BarryLee

New member
I think a 1911 can withstand a good bit of grime, but eventually everything needs to be cleaned. Also, be sure to clean the magazines themselves sometime folks overlook this.
 
S

scottl

New member
Too little lube will affect it more than being dirty.Some people oil the rails,some people grease them.Lube your rails,barrel lugs and hood,disconnector and where it rubs bottom of slide,and inside of bushings.

When you clean your magsdo not lube anything on them.
 
K

KyJim

New member
Agree on lubing. During a longer shooting session where you don't field strip, put a couple of drops on each rail and in the area of the barrel hood. I do this every hundred rounds or so after the first 250 or 300 rounds. Every 30 to 40 rounds in the first 250 to 300 rounds.
 
T

TunnelRat

New member
I had lubed the gun at the beginning of the weekend, though not after Sunday. I re-cleaned, lubed the gun and cleaned the mags too (which were quite dirty).

@scotti
Forgive my ignorance, but do you have a diagram that could point out those things? I obviously know what the rails are but I am not sure that what I have in mind matches the correct definitions of the others.
 
H

HiBC

New member
I will give you something to look at.One component that can cause you feed trouble is your extractor.Is this a new gun?
If you buy a new extractor from,say,Wilson,it is not quite ready out of the package.There are a few file strokes needed to make it right.As the case head is coming up the bolt face,the rim has to rock up under the extractor.Typically,a little steel is removed to facilitate rocking in.The extractor tension has to be adjusted.That may take a little filing and bending.
I do not suggest you start filing and bending,I suggest a properly tuned extractor may help.
There is a fair amount of variation in the cases...rim thickness,dia,etc.Perhaps ammo with thick rims would not feed under an extractor that needed tuning.
 
R

RGR3/75

New member
It's the reason most gunfighters don't use 1911's. It stops accepting a lot of rounds because the feedramp is too steep/needs polished or you have a little lip where the feed ramp meets the gun which the rounds get stuck on. I hand the same problem so I took my 1911 and dremmeled the feed ramps down to create less steep of an angle and then polished it back up. But, yes the 1911 is finniky and requires cleaning after every time you go to the range and only shoots certain types of ammo. At the very least, get some polishing compound and polish the feed ramp.
 
H

Hunter Customs

New member
It's the reason most gunfighters don't use 1911's. It stops accepting a lot of rounds because the feedramp is too steep/needs polished or you have a little lip where the feed ramp meets the gun which the rounds get stuck on. I hand the same problem so I took my 1911 and dremmeled the feed ramps down to create less steep of an angle and then polished it back up. But, yes the 1911 is finniky and requires cleaning after every time you go to the range and only shoots certain types of ammo.
Click to expand...

With all do respect I strongly disagree with most of the above statements.

First off many of the special ops teams (gun fighters) still choose the 1911 gun as their handgun of choice.
The 1911 I used in 1968 served me well and saved my butt several times.

As for 1911 guns not accepting a lot rounds because the feed ramp is to steep is also incorrect. That being said some factory cut feed ramps are not cut deep enough to feed hollow point ammo, this can be corrected.
However I stronly advise anyone reading this that the proper way to do the correcting of the feed ramp depth is not with a dremel tool, it needs to be done on a milling machine.

As for the 1911 being finicky and needing cleaning after every range session, again this simply is not true.
The last American Handgunner World Shootoffs I competed in, I shot a little over 2300 rounds of ammo in four days and never cleaned the 1911 gun I was using one time.
I might ad that we were shooting in extreme heat, blowing grit and even a little rain on one day. Again the 1911 gun I was using never had even one failure or stopage of any type.
I brought that gun home and continued shooting it until the slide speed started slowing down, then I decided to clean the gun. The total rounds throught the gun at that time was a little over 5000.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter
www.huntercustoms.com
 
H

Hunter Customs

New member
TunnelRat,

I have seen some 1911 guns have feeding issues with WWB FMJ ammo; the same guns will feed other manufactures FMJ ammo without any problems.
I believe what you had was an ammo issue and not a gun or mag issue.

However it might be best to number all your mags that way you will know if it's the same mag giving you problems.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter
www.huntercustoms.com
 
P

presspics

New member
"Most gunfighters don't use 1911's" ????? Really??? That is the most ridiculous thing I have read in quite some time. Who are these "gunfighters"? Cops?? Most of the true warriors (spec-ops) will use only the 1911!!
 
3

32 Magnum

Member In Memoriam
If the problem occured when using only ONE magazine - the obvious problem is with the magazine. The way you describe the jamming into the feed ramp, indicates to me that the feed lips on the magazine have become bent in towards each other, just a slight bend will cause what you are experiencing. Take a pair of small, long nose pliers and gently bend the feed lips apart - just a little bit, maybe 1/32" more gap should help or eliminate the problem. If not GENTLY bend them apart a little more. You'll know if you've gone too far because you'll get double feeds as the second round in line jumps out under the slide impact. If that happens, then tighten the lips up a bit. Magazines dumped into a range bag for carry can become bent - I alway keep my magazine (all of them) in carriers that protect them from damage. I've seen this type of problem in numerous guns, hand and long, in a variety of calibers.
 
T

TunnelRat

New member
My magazines ride in slots in a case, not loose in a bag. In addition each magazine went through at least 50 rounds with no problems at the range, and a number of those being hollow points. Still 2 out of the 3 mags came with the gun, so a spring might be worn. I will do as some mentioned and number my magazines (I use tape on the bottom) so I can keep track of it.

@RGR3/75
I have some Mothers metal polish that I use on my nickel plated Smith revolver. I will give the ramp a once over with it.

@scottl
Thanks for the tips! I will check the lubing once more. I usually follow the gun manuals and I normally do all those spots except for the disconnector notch and the barrel bushing.
 
C

Carry_24/7

New member
My Kimber CDP .45 ACP has eaten without a single malfunction:

Winchester 230 gr jhp self-defense
Wilson Combat 230 gr jhp (Hornady bullets)
Numerous types of cheapy range ammo

Clean after every shoot, keep it oiled, pay attention to the feedramp condition, inspect for burs and correct, use quality magazines, use quality ammo, and don't limp wrist; most 1911s will run fine.

Gunfighters love the single action 1911, even though they are more complicated than a Glock. If you want simple, yes, get a Glock.
 
R

RGR3/75

New member
I'd love to see all the "spec ops" guys you seem to know who carry the 1911 besides the ones you've seen in a magazine. Neither here nor there. I love my 1911 and dremmeling out the feed ramp worked fine for me. Like someone said earlier, it's more than likely an ammo problem. Also try using POWRBALL for carry. No problems from what I've seen so far.
 
S

shortwave

New member
You shot a total of 210 FMJ's and 60 JHP's all WWB through your pistol.

No FTF's with the JHP's. So if pistol will cycle JHP's doubt you are having cycling trouble with your pistol shooting FMJ's due to a feed ramp issue's.

You had problems with FMJ's, 2-3rds, with one magazine. Then the pistol fired a flawless mag loaded with JHP's....so...don't think it was a cleaning issue.


After loading your mags., grasp the mag. in one hand and strike the base plate of mag. in palm of other hand a time or three.

A good habit to get into.

You may have just had some improperly seated rds. in that mag.
But I would mark the mag. you had trouble with in case of future issue's.

PS. IMO, You need some more range time with this gun before you go trying to make any adjustments other than simply cleaning and lubing to make a proper diagnosis. Again, it may have been just a case of rds not being seated properly in that one particular mag.
 
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