1911 feeding problem

[Marauder2003]

600-800 rounds through my new 1911 .45. Ammo used includes Winchester, PMC Bronze, S&B and Remington. Magazines used are S&W stock, Chip McCormick, CobraMag and Wilson Combat.

The last 2 times at the range I started having feed problems. The spent case is ejected and the new round has travelled up the ramp and the nose is in the chamber. There is about 3/8" of travel still needed to fully chamber the round. A slight push on the back of the slide and the round finishes chambering.

Manually racking the slide does not reveal any hang points as the slide goes forward.

Folks at the range think the recoil spring is fatigued or needs to be a bit stronger.

I am thinking of getting a 16.5 and 18 lb sprint for testing.

Thoughts?

 

[SW CQB 45]

does it do it on one certain mag?

plenty of lube, especially on the rails?

mag springs....all fresh?

its possible for a recoil spring to fatigue early, but exclude good mags and try and identify the culprit first before changing stuff on a new gun.

another issue, could it be shooter induced failure to go into battery. I shoot high thumbs and with my 9mil 1911, my thumb rides the slide and sometimes the aggressive rear slide serrations (springfield armory) and my thumb cause it to slow down enough to NOT go into battery. I bump the mag and it goes in.

I am thinking about going up one # up in recoil spring...but we are talking 9mil and it seems very soft...maybe 11#s.

 

[SHAMUSPI]

You say your gun is new; give S&W a call and talk to one of the techs.

 

[Chili Vega]

We are currently having the same problem with some issued guns to my team. They are at the factory getting checked. The problem has not been diagnosed yet. I would contact S&W and arrange to have it sent back if it is continual problem.

 

[shawn mccarver]

600-800 rounds through my new 1911 .45. Ammo used includes Winchester, PMC Bronze, S&B and Remington. Magazines used are S&W stock, Chip McCormick, CobraMag and Wilson Combat.

The last 2 times at the range I started having feed problems. The spent case is ejected and the new round has travelled up the ramp and the nose is in the chamber. There is about 3/8" of travel still needed to fully chamber the round. A slight push on the back of the slide and the round finishes chambering.

Manually racking the slide does not reveal any hang points as the slide goes forward.

Folks at the range think the recoil spring is fatigued or needs to be a bit stronger.

I am thinking of getting a 16.5 and 18 lb sprint for testing.

Thoughts?

You have "ker-chunk." This is the phrase a performance center guy used to describe. Send it back to the attention to the performance center. They do something - additional polish, fit or whatever, and will make the "ker-chunk" go away. It is not identifiable except during shooting. It is not a magazine, or any of the other possible solutions mentioned. Send it back, and you will get back a perfect gun that you will never want to get rid of.

 

[Marauder2003]

SW CQB 45,

All mags are new. Today I was using 4 Tripp CobraMags with Remington and PMC Bronze ammo. Happened with all ammo and mags.

Tuesday I will make a coordinated test noting mags and ammo used.

 

[Bruce51]

Since your problem didn't start until you fired a lot of rounds I would strip and clean the magazines first. A good cleaning and some lubrication may go a long ways toward fixing the problem. Check your feed ramp as well for fouling and polish if needed.

Bruce

 

[b52buff]

I had the same trouble will my 1911PD. I called S&W and they sent me a shipping label. They had it for about 2-3 weeks. It looks like they replaced the barrel and some other adjustments. I took it to the range and it worked perfect.

 

[presspics]

Mags, mags , mags...You are using so many different types of mags. Try to narrow down if it is certain mags that have the problem. 1911 mags are of many designs. The best advice I can give you after using and working on 1911's for 20 years is to find a mag that works and stick with that manufacturers mags. Dump the ones that don't work 100%.

 

[PPCSHOOTER]

DEDICATED LUBE , MILITEC, FP10

 

[Marauder2003]

Got a reply to my email from SW. They said
"Sounds like it needs to be broken in a little more also might be dry"

Yesterday lubed the gun again with some extra on the recoil spring guide and spring. Used the 2 mags that came with gun and had almost no use. Used Winchester ammo. 3 shots and got a failure. One other shooter had me try some of his hand load ammo. Same problem. 2 guys looked at the gun and suggested the ramp might need to shaving to change the angle a bit. I am loath to do anything to the gun that SW has not done.

Pictures show gun situation at failure.

Guess I will have to call instead of using email.

 

[Texas1941]

You have listed several different brands of ammunition, but what about bullet types? Does the ftf occur with ball and hollow points? If the problem happens only with ball, there may be an issue with the feed ramp profile.

Feeding with a 1911 type pistol is a pretty violent event. The cartridge bounces around quite a bit and has more than one contact points before it is fully chambered. Guns made in the last twenty-twenty five years or so tend to be set up to favor hollow point ammunition. This includes feed ramp and chamber demensions as well as magazine configuration. Many of the magazine makers list specific bullet profiles that work best with their product. I've never seen one that reccommended ball.

I'm not a big fan of extra power springs in 1911's, but sometimes a 17# spring will give the extra push to get the job done. If you have to go higher than that to get reliable feeding then there is something wrong.

Also, if more than 200 rds is neccessary to break in a 1911 from any maker, I would think there was a probelm.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[sar4937]

Does the slide move freely on the rails without the recoil spring in place?

 

[shovelwrench]

From your pic it looks as thought the case is not under the extractor yet?

If this is correct, and I think that is an external extractor, then there is your issue......(extractor tension)

Try putting a couple drops of oil in the extractor slot,(especially the rear) and work the extractor in and out with a pencil or something.

It could be weak mag springs, but that is unlikely with that type of jamb, assuming the case is not under the extractor yet. If lubing up the extractor and working it in and out does'nt get it running then I think a trip to S&W is in order...

Big +1 to plenty of lube on a new gun....

 

[somecomeget]

I have seen this before, I ended up scraping the gat but what it boiled down to is the feed ramp in the frame has to be perfect, you need to have the pistol gunsmithed, they will then perfect the angle and feed and shape of the feed ramp, you could try a different frame.. this is the worst kind of issue on a 1911 if you ask me. What not to do, is change barrel or grind on the barrel... GUNSMITH

 

[moxie]

Clean and lube the gun. Clean the mags, especially under the feed lips and the follower itself. If that doesn't work send it back as noted above.

 

[markd]

Is that 1911 a 108284? I just got one. I have about 100 rounds through it and have not that issue. I will be very interested in knowing what you find out what the problem is.

 

[NE450No2]

I use an 18 1/2lb spring in a 45 ACP Government Model and a 20lb spring in a 45 ACP Commander.

 

[shovelwrench]

I use an 18 1/2lb spring in a 45 ACP Government Model and a 20lb spring in a 45 ACP Commander.

16lb in a gv'ment ,model.......a commander (4")4.25") should be slightly higher.

 

[Brian48]

I've had this issue happen 2-3 times in about 600-800 rds with my 108284. This is what it looked like (using a dummy rd for the demo).

Didn't matter what mag it was or what lube I used, but it did only happened with WWB FMJ. All other ammo seems to work fine. Haven't seen it happen again since. Of course, I haven't been using WWB ammo either.