lordfarquaad
Member
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2016
- Messages
- 47
So here's the short version of my situation, which I'm posting mostly to gather the experiences of others to see what my outlook for a resolution might be. My first post here...
Chapter 1:
Bought the full-size black label, blued with G10 grips from Zanders (I'm an FFL). Was cleaned, went to the range, and seemed to have a couple issues with mags and/or the gun itself. Mainly a FTF on the 6 or 7th round, which would result in either a nose up jam, or the LIVE 7th round being ejected along with the spent 6th round, or both.
I tested with both factory mags and one spare I purchased in order to troubleshoot. I tested with 4 kinds of ammo, from Browning to S&B to Freedom Munitions to some crappy Perfecta. All same results, regardless of mag and ammo.
On top of that, I realized that when inserted forcefully with the slide open, the first round would fly right out the top----every time. And I wasn't even pounding it home.
Solution to this phase of the story was that I sent it back to Browning. After a few weeks, they called and said they had made the call to replace the entire gun.
Chapter 2:
They sent me a fresh firearm, returned my three mags, and gave me a new firearm with two new mags.
Went back to the range and the issue with the first round flying out the top on mag insertion was indeed fixed. Never happened again. However, all other issues persisted, with the most common one being that when ejecting the 6th round, the 7th would fly out with it. Occasionally, though, the 7th round would still do a nose up jam.
At this point, I was able to acquire another full size 1911-380--the one with the stainless slide and nice wood grips. Seemed to be a bit better, but still showed the same issues---ejecting live rounds and having nose-up jams.
At this point I called Browning to discuss before sending anything in. The guy agreed it sounded like a mag issue, so I sent him 4 of my now 7 magazines (I saved three to troubleshoot) and they will replace once they get a shipment in, within 30 days. Apparently they are on backorder?
Chapter 3:
At this point is seems clear that my current issues are mag related. Could be wrong, but with 2 firearms (3, counting the one they replaced) it seems to make sense. Why all 7 mags would have it doesn't speak well for Browning, however.
I've read that a possible solution is to close the feed lips. With 2 of the 3 magazines I retained, I did just that, very carefully, and in increments, all the way down below the lowest recommendations I've seen.
This did seem to fix all nose-up jams. That hasn't happened in a long time. But the firearm is now very effective at ejecting the 7th round live along with the spent 6th.
Conclusion:
At this point I've spent far more time---and waaaay to much on ammo---than I probably should have spent trying to get a new firearm working. I'm going to sit tight and wait until the 4 replacement mags come back from Browning. If my replacement firearm still has the issue with the new mags, I'll probably send it all to Browning for another round of troubleshooting. I'm just not up to it anymore.
My question to others:
When Browning sends me the 4 "new" magazines, will they look any different from the originals? Does anyone here know what they've changed? I assume that this will actually be a tweaked design, since there is no way all 7 of the mags I acquired just happened to be out of spec in the same way.
At any rate, I'll be sorely disappointed if they just send me 4 magazines that are identical in design to the first ones.
Any other thoughts on all of this would be appreciated. I'd love to hear from someone who had the same issues and whose story has a happy and satisfied ending... Or someone who has one of these firearms that ran great out of the gate, with various ammo types, and is very satisfied after a lot of rounds.
PS:
Does anyone have experience with the "Browning Owners" forum? I posted this info there, verbatim, in the 1911-380 forum, and was banned a half hour later with a nice, all-caps explanation saying "TOTAL DISREGARD FOR FORUM RULES...BANNED." A bit overzealous, but oh well.
Chapter 1:
Bought the full-size black label, blued with G10 grips from Zanders (I'm an FFL). Was cleaned, went to the range, and seemed to have a couple issues with mags and/or the gun itself. Mainly a FTF on the 6 or 7th round, which would result in either a nose up jam, or the LIVE 7th round being ejected along with the spent 6th round, or both.
I tested with both factory mags and one spare I purchased in order to troubleshoot. I tested with 4 kinds of ammo, from Browning to S&B to Freedom Munitions to some crappy Perfecta. All same results, regardless of mag and ammo.
On top of that, I realized that when inserted forcefully with the slide open, the first round would fly right out the top----every time. And I wasn't even pounding it home.
Solution to this phase of the story was that I sent it back to Browning. After a few weeks, they called and said they had made the call to replace the entire gun.
Chapter 2:
They sent me a fresh firearm, returned my three mags, and gave me a new firearm with two new mags.
Went back to the range and the issue with the first round flying out the top on mag insertion was indeed fixed. Never happened again. However, all other issues persisted, with the most common one being that when ejecting the 6th round, the 7th would fly out with it. Occasionally, though, the 7th round would still do a nose up jam.
At this point, I was able to acquire another full size 1911-380--the one with the stainless slide and nice wood grips. Seemed to be a bit better, but still showed the same issues---ejecting live rounds and having nose-up jams.
At this point I called Browning to discuss before sending anything in. The guy agreed it sounded like a mag issue, so I sent him 4 of my now 7 magazines (I saved three to troubleshoot) and they will replace once they get a shipment in, within 30 days. Apparently they are on backorder?
Chapter 3:
At this point is seems clear that my current issues are mag related. Could be wrong, but with 2 firearms (3, counting the one they replaced) it seems to make sense. Why all 7 mags would have it doesn't speak well for Browning, however.
I've read that a possible solution is to close the feed lips. With 2 of the 3 magazines I retained, I did just that, very carefully, and in increments, all the way down below the lowest recommendations I've seen.
This did seem to fix all nose-up jams. That hasn't happened in a long time. But the firearm is now very effective at ejecting the 7th round live along with the spent 6th.
Conclusion:
At this point I've spent far more time---and waaaay to much on ammo---than I probably should have spent trying to get a new firearm working. I'm going to sit tight and wait until the 4 replacement mags come back from Browning. If my replacement firearm still has the issue with the new mags, I'll probably send it all to Browning for another round of troubleshooting. I'm just not up to it anymore.
My question to others:
When Browning sends me the 4 "new" magazines, will they look any different from the originals? Does anyone here know what they've changed? I assume that this will actually be a tweaked design, since there is no way all 7 of the mags I acquired just happened to be out of spec in the same way.
At any rate, I'll be sorely disappointed if they just send me 4 magazines that are identical in design to the first ones.
Any other thoughts on all of this would be appreciated. I'd love to hear from someone who had the same issues and whose story has a happy and satisfied ending... Or someone who has one of these firearms that ran great out of the gate, with various ammo types, and is very satisfied after a lot of rounds.
PS:
Does anyone have experience with the "Browning Owners" forum? I posted this info there, verbatim, in the 1911-380 forum, and was banned a half hour later with a nice, all-caps explanation saying "TOTAL DISREGARD FOR FORUM RULES...BANNED." A bit overzealous, but oh well.