1911 people.... Is this normal??

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Jordan85

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How do I determine what magazines my 1911 will like?

So I take my first 1911 to the range oday (STI Spartan), and the last shot on both of my first two magazines failed to chamber. After that it got better, but there were still three other failures to chamber. Two of the failures were in the middle of the clip, not the last shot.

I know that there is certain break-in period for all guns, and that 1911s can also be choosy w/ their ammo, but I was just shooting regular Wally World WWB. And out of only 100 shots, 5 failures to chamber seems excessive to me, even during a break-in period.

So my question to you 1911 people is: is this a normal problem w/ many 1911s, that will likely work itself out soon, or is this something not normal that I should get checked out? I am not going to carry this gun, so ABSOLUTE reliability (though I feel is reasonable to expect to a certain extent) is not a must.

I know I could probably take a dremel to it and help it somehow, but I don't feel like I should have to.

So should I put a couple hundred more rounds through it before I get concerned? Or does this seem excessive, even w/in the break-in period?


EDIT: I am adding to this post since people are suggesting I may be having an issue w/ my magazines.

Assuming the problem has to do w/ my magazines, how would I go about determining the magazines most likely to agree w/ my gun?

I have gathered that the wilsons can be considered 'reliable' in the sense that they will consistently feed the ammo, but may not be the best choice due to the nature of their feed.

Is it (hopefully) just that the mag right now is complete junk and almost anything is going to be better? Or is it really going to be a search to find something that works properly?

I am leaning toward the colt hybrids right now... Is there any reason these wouldn't be a good choice?

Does anybody know anything about checkmate magazines?
 
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It's your first 1911-what have you shot before? Is it possible that you are losing concentration and relaxing your grip just slightly?

Sam
 
Considering the number of other guns I've had that ran perfectly or near perfectly out of the box, I would not say that is normal, but it seems to be typical of modern interpretations of 1911s. :rolleyes:

Most of the failures happening on the last shot suggest a magazine problem. What magazine(s) are you using? Most reviews I've read of this gun say the supplied magazine (singular) is not a very good one. (Why they don't supply a good magazine - or two - for an extra Jackson is puzzling to me, but that is another topic.) Wilson Combat 47Ds are usually reliable feeders. It may also respond well to being "run wet," i.e., more generous lubrication of the slide rails and barrel.

Don't take the Dremel to anything just yet. ;) If it does not straighten up and fly right with good magazines after about 200 rounds, that is STI's problem.
 
Take the Dremel out in the driveway and hit it with a 32-ounce hammer a few times...then come back to your pistol.

You can go buy a new Dremel for less than the cost of 2-way shipping and insurance to get the gun to a smith in order to fix what you screw up with it.
 
t's your first 1911-what have you shot before? Is it possible that you are losing concentration and relaxing your grip just slightly?
Click to expand...

No, I don't think that is the problem. How I have an m&p and an XD, that I am alright w/, so I don't think that is it. Plus, would that cause it to fail to chamber?? I've heard of that causing the slide not to lock back or eject the shell, but the spent shot was ejected fully. Just the new round wasn't chambered properly.

The magazine is a novak. I always thought novak made good equipment? What about metalform mags? I see there is a group buy coming up on those....
 
Number your magazines with a sharpie so you can tell them apart, then keep detailed statistics on which magazine was in the gun when you had a problem. If it is consistently one or two mags, then chuck them and keep the ones that work.

Chip McCormick makes great mags too.
 
It does sound like a mag issue.

I've never actually used the stock mag that came with my Spartan, I'm not even sure where it is anymore. I use Wilson 8 round magazines exclusively.
 
....the last shot on both of my first two magazines failed to chamber.
Click to expand...
When you say "failed to chamber" do you mean that the round hung up and got jammed or do you mean that the round remained in the magazine thus did not chamber?

If it is the later, the magazine could simply have a rough spot in the tube or the cartridge is moving forward in the magazine and its nosing against the mag tube and that's not allowing the last round to proceed fully to the top quick enough to be stripped off by the slide. Usually disassembling the magazine, cleaning and light lube or a little emery cloth to sand down a rough spot will fix this.

If the round jammed during feeding then how it jammed can help in trouble shooting the problem. Did it stove pipe, jam its nose into the top of the barrel hood or did it hang up on the feed ramp? Was the hang up on the bullet or on the case?

Try a different magazine, either a Colt or a good GI mil surplus 7 rounder as they are some of the most reliable.
 
Yeah, I was wondering if you were saying it failed to go fully into battery? Did smacking the slide with the palm of your hand make it chamber?
 
it's the magazine
Wilson's or McCormick's are the way to go

The weak point of any semi-auto is the magazines.
That's why you buy a lot, function check all of them
and the ones that don't work, you just toss.
It's not even worth keeping them around, because you never want it in your gun.
some just don't function with some guns, some don't function out of the box. True with any semi-auto.

Buy a bunch, test 'em all, toss the bad ones.
 
Did you even clean and lubricate it with quality lube like BreakFree before firing it ?

Since all you said was "JAM" it could be anything including a slightly oversized follower that isn't traveling up and down smoothly .

I suggest this in this order .

Field strip the gun and clean all of the Preservatives the factory may put on it because they have no idea how long it may sit on a dealers shelves . Shoot it lightly with some breakfree and reassemble .

Field strip the magazine and check the inside of the body and outer edges of the follower for any burrs that could prevent it from operating smoothly , and sand any you find with 400 then 600 grit wet/Dry then lightly lube the magazine including the spring and reassemble it .

See if this fixes the problem if not Talk to tuner on how to recognize different stoppages on a 1911 and correctly describe them and go from there .
 
Yes, I cleaned it w/ Rem Oil and lubricated all contact points very well. I couldn't believe how much stuff i cleaned out of it b4 even shooting it, as it is a new gun. But I cleaned it well, lubed it well. I will try field stripping the mag, but from everything I've read, I might as well buy another mag right now as the the 'novak' provided is junk. The best option for me locally I think is a Wilson 47D. Is there any reason this wouldn't be a good choice to proceed w/? If it doesn't feed w/ this wouldn't it be reasonable to assume that it isn't a magazine issue?
 
ok. Well I'll buy one of those and see how it goes. What can I look for in the current mag for problems? I stripped the mag, and then realized I had no idea what I was hoping to see or accomplish.
 
McCormick's all the way, i love my 10rd power mags so much i have 5 of them so far and at 600 rounds with out a single failure, they work pretty darn good.
 
I got a SW1911 last September. It's a base model, full size in
Stainless Steel, fixed sights. It came with two mags, and I have
heard on a forum thread they are by ACT. I also bought 5 of the
WIlson Combat ETM mags. After a couple of range sessions I finally
used one of the ACT mags. I had the same problem the last round
was left in the magazine. It happened twice and I don't use the
ACT mag any longer. It had a weird follower in that the length of it
was partial, no support in the front.

Other than that I only had one or two FTF with some old Rem. 185 gr. JHPs

Get some WIlson mags. 47D or ETM. imho
 
Well - you've figured it out - it is a mag problem. Usual suspects are spring or no dimple on the follower. Get and try one of the new "Tuner Approved" mags from Checkmate. You'll be fix'd up. If not, I'll buy it from you - fair enough?

b-
 
Even if it's the magazine, it reflects badly on STI that they sold it with crummy mags. This kind of nonsense is what gives manufacturers and 1911s a bad name.
 
berkbw said;
"Get and try one of the new "Tuner Approved" mags from Checkmate."

I just got back from shooting my Kimber Team match II, it had suddenly started stove piping the last round. I bought two Checkmate mags, 8 round with "hybrid" lips and the dimple, no failures. I'm happy! That dimple is important! The failure was caused by the last round jumping ahead of the extractor as the slide closed, now it doesn't do that.
 
I am glad that you had such a good experience. Mags are quite often the root of problems. Tuner's checkmate mags seem to cure a lot of them. Enjoy, eh?

b-
 
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