1911 jam-fest, bad ammo?

[Goathead75]

I used my 1911 for the first time in a pin match this afternoon and everything went fine until I used it. I cleared the table with my .22, switched to my .45, one shot fine, second shot fine then failure to feed. Stopped, cleared it, slide felt fine. Reloaded, restarted and shot. Round went off, ejected and stopped with the next round half in the chamber. Cleared again and the slide felt like it hung up, racked it again and was fine. Switched ammo from Remington JHP to Lawman FMJ and it ran fine the rest of the day.

I had just cleaned my pistol last night and everything felt smooth. Oiled as per instructions. Broke down the pistol again tonight and it looks like there could have been some gasses escaping from the chamber and dumping powder right onto the rails. I'm going to hit the range this week to put some more rounds through it to see if I get this same type of pattern, but does this look familiar? I'm thinking the Remington wasn't seating properly or something along those lines. I think I'm done with Remington ammo...similar ftf with their .22 ammo.

 

[RenoGuy]

You didn't mention what make 1911 this is, however, my S&W E Series isn't real crazy about JHP ammo of any kind, but eats up FMJ no problem.

Could be the HP's

 

[Goathead75]

You didn't mention what make 1911 this is, however, my S&W E Series isn't real crazy about JHP ammo of any kind, but eats up FMJ no problem.

Could be the HP's

Sorry, it's a 108284. I was thinking possibly the JHP too initially the way the first hung up near the ramp, however the second jam seemed to be the slide hanging up and not the round almost as if the slide wasn't free to move...like crud in the rail. When I broke it down and saw the soot around the ramp on the rails...I started to wonder if it was more dirty ammo or a problem with the case rather than the JHP itself.

 

[arjay]

I would try another brand of hp.All of my 1911s feed hp and swc without a glitch.I think it's the remingtons.

 

[lhump1961]

I would try another brand of hp.All of my 1911s feed hp and swc without a glitch.I think it's the remingtons.

I would be inclined to agree. I have two S&W 1911's and both run flawlessly with FMJ or HP.

If it is a new gun then maybe a couple hundred break-in rounds will smooth it out. Let us know how it goes.

 

[Goathead75]

Yeah I only have about 150 rounds through it, so still breaking in I'm sure. I'll put another hundred through and then try again maybe. Any suggestion on break in ammo?

 

[max]

I just got a new Ruger 1911 and the first several hundred rounds I had to really lube the heck out of it. I used Rig on the rails and that helped a great deal.

 

[JJEH]

My Springfield also jammed several times with FC FMJ 230gr. My dealer polished the ramp and now it's fine...

 

[310Pilot]

You absolutely have to break in a 1911, can take 200-500 rounds. I recommend standard old 230 grain ball .45ACP for break-in, normally feeds flawlessly, and helps smooth out the feed ramp. You MUST keep the slide and rails WET with oil, especially during break-in. It sounds to me like there was insufficient lube on the rails and slide, based on the failure to go into battery. In addition, 1911s weren't really designed for hollow point ammo, just ball ammo, even though a lot of the modern guns are produced with ramps and chambers that will, usually, feed them reliably (or can be made to). BTW, you didn't mention what weight JHP bullet you were shooting - the 230 grain JHPs usually (but not always) feed pretty reliably, but the much shorter (bullet length) 185 grain JHPs are frequently problematic in most 1911s. From your photo, the feed ramp looks a bit rough, too, which could definitely cause feeding problems, may be worth looking into.

 

[Fishslayer]

It seems that most (not all) 1911 feeding issues are magazine issues.

Regards.

Bob

Could also be the extractor.

Extractor Tuning Tips

The picture in OP looks quite a bit drier than I like my 1911.

 

[JJEH]

You MUST keep the slide and rails WET with oil, especially during break-in.

+1 on that

 

[Goathead75]

Excellent info guys, I appreciate it. I was being conservative with the oil, only four drops as shown in the manual. I'll change that up.

The ammo was 230gr JHP. I'll keep it lubed and feed it some regular FMJ for a few hundred more rounds. Gee, guess that means I'll have to shoot it more.

 

[hogrider05]

I run grease on the slide/rails and a dab on the barrel hood. Everything else gets a fair amount of oil.

 

[Electraclyde]

Clean & LUBE till oil runs off the rails, shoot 100 rounds of 230gr ball ammo. Repeat 4 more times, then try several brands and weights of JHP ammo. Your gun will let you know which one it likes best.
This has worked very well for me on 10 (so far) 1911's of various brands.

 

[ViperGeek]

Try breaking it in and also try a Wilson magazine.

This is very good advice. When I first got my SW1911 Pro, I picked up two more Check-Mate mags that were identical to the ones S&W ships. All four mags were able to feed just about anything into the chamber except Speer Gold Dot JHPs. By manually ejecting each round from the mag with my thumb, I realized that the ramp from the rim to the casing was much shorter and steeper than all the other cartridges my SW1911 liked. In my limited experience, it's not the shape of the projectile that causes FTF's as much as this rim-to-casing ramp.

Enter a trial run of a Wilson Combat ETM magazine and now the SW1911 eats anything it's fed! There seems to be just a little more "breathing room" in the 8-round Wilson mags that solves any and most/all feed issues. Even loading the mag into the mag well is significantly easier.

So, in summary, everything everyone else has suggested is great advice:

• Break it in for ~500 rounds with FMJs (Magtech is my favorite)
• Keep it lubricated
• Consider Wilson ETM 500 magazines
• Fall in love with your SW1911

- Dave
_____________________________________________________________
In a world of compromise, some people don't. We carry Smith & Wesson.

 

[Goathead75]

Just coming back to update here. After putting another 100 or so rounds through I'm thinking it was a combination of dirty ammo and running the gun a bit on the dry side. After my match today, I broke the pistol down and inspected the slide rails and they were in good shape. I was sure to lube the rails very well and she ran like a charm. Thanks for all the input fellas!

 

[goldenlight]

Try breaking it in and also try a Wilson magazine.

It seems that most (not all) 1911 feeding issues are magazine issues.

Regards.

Bob

This is one of the reasons why I only use 7 round magazines. My Colt never worked well with ANY of the 8 round magazines. Never.

I've had excellent service from the Mec-Gar 7 round 1911 magazines.

Some 1911's are much more fussy about magazines than others are. Mine is one of the fussy ones. But with a good 7 round magazines, my 1911 will feed JHP's and cast lead semiwadcutters all day long.

Oh yes: several hundred rounds for breaking in is pretty common for a lot of semiautos, including almost all 1911's.

Any decent FMJ/ball ammunition should work.

Also: I've found that a light grease, rather than oil, works better on my 1911, especially on the rails and barrel bushing, though you might get a better 'break in' using a light coating of oil, initially.

I use a light silicone grease, but the smith that tuned up my 1911 said lubriplate, or light white lithium grease, is good for most 1911's. My Colt is an older all stainless steel model, so good lubrication is fairly important.

Good luck.

 

[Arik]

Interesting! Ive been looking at getting the S&W E1911, Colt rail gun or Springfield TRP. And Smith isnt sounding too good atm. A modern 1911 should be able to feed anything.

My only 1911 now is a Norinco 1911A1. True copy of the original. Only upgrade i had done was a Wilson ambi safety since im a lefty. The gun has been running dry as a bone for over a year, it has been covered in coal dust, been in the rain and in dry dust conditions. I feed it only the finest of Wolf and Blazer ammo on a regular basis. Tje mags i use are the original Norinco mag, Wilson 8 rounders, and one other brand i forget. Not one problem. Nothing except it shoots a little high and i gotta remind myself to aim a hair lower. So far it has been reliable with all HP ammo that ive put through it. Hornedy, Federal, Remington, Gold Dots,...

I might clean it this weekend cause its beginning to look very pitiful

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

 

[Goathead75]

Just an update, I've put another 250 rounds of FMJ, switched over to grease on the slide and it's running perfect now. Taking the jhp and also lead swc without an issue.

 

[federali]

I'm running the two supplied magazines through my S&W 1911 as well as a Chip McCormack 10-rounder. All run flawlessly. A bit of crocus cloth may be used to put a shine on the feed ramp for improved feeding. I also use a light gun grease on the rails and gun oil on the barrel and return spring.