My 1911-380 issues, troubleshooting, progress

Good grief, just buy a Beretta 84 or 85! Problems solved.

My friend has one and she appeared to have no issues with it when when we were out shooting, so I'd say there definitely is hope for the OP, but then she had no need to eject an unfired, chambered round. She is the typical non-expert gun owner that could have an issue if the chambered round fails to eject and re-chambers instead of jamming. Most accidents are a sequence of more than one "unlikely" events and someone missing a clue along the way that could have prevented it.

My point stands, if its a design defect that affects the entire line its a lot more serious than if its a lapse in QA/QC for a "limited" number of pistols.

lordfarquaad said:

I could, but my heart wouldn't be in it. Just don't find them attractive

Aside from that, I loved the .380 with a 4.25 inch barrel in a carry gun for velocity's sake. I'm thinking the 84 or 85 are a lot shorter, yes?

Edit: Okay, they are 3.8", so actually pretty close. My bad.

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When I read the OP, my initial thought was "man, he should have bought a Beretta 84", but I didn't want to go OT. My Israeli surplus 84F, purchased for $275, has been faultless through about 1000 rounds of anything I could feed it, from UMC ball to Underwood +P XTP.

lordfarquaad said:

Aside from that, I loved the .380 with a 4.25 inch barrel in a carry gun for velocity's sake. I'm thinking the 84 or 85 are a lot shorter, yes?

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They are similar. Beretta is a much classier gun. Heavier, too. But its recoil is snappier despite the greater weight. Browning is easier to shoot, especially one-handed.

Picture is set chamber-to-chamber, so you can see the barrel length difference.

My experience with the Browning 1911-380 is similar to yours. Initially the gun functioned well but after 4-5 magazine cycles, the gun began to fail to chamber the 7th round out of the magazine. I consulted the Browning Owners forum to find similar problems reported. Rather than tweak the mag lips and possibly voiding the warranty I sent the gun and magazines in after receiving a mailing label from Browning. I bought a couple of generic "380" magazine springs from Wolff that worked fine in the Browning magazines but didn't possess the odd bend that actuated the slide stop of the Browning springs. Should the "new" Browning magazines continue to give trouble, I'll go after the Wolff springs with a torch and try some modifications.
My gun now feeds Hornady HXPs, Gold Dots, Missouri coated RNs and unnamed gun show 88-100gr bullets without issues.

This is the jist of my experience with Browning customer service as of Nov 2016 as is posted on the Browning Owner's forum:

Browning service call

Called Browning service regarding consistent 7th round stovepiping with both my new Browning magazines. I ended up sending my 1911-380 along with the magazines to Arnold, MO on Browning’s two day UPS paid label on Oct 5th. Timeline is thus:

Acknowledged receipt: 11 Oct

Assigned gunsmith: 18 Oct

Repaired: 27 Oct

Ready for shipment: 31 Oct

Packaged and ready for shipment: 1 Nov

Received by me: 4 Nov

Shipping statement indicates a new “barrel assembly” and 4 “magazine kits” were issued for this repair. The two magazines returned to me (not 4, dang it) appear to be unused/new. The barrel appears to be almost new/unused as there are no rub marks at the chamber or behind the muzzle like my ~500 round used bbl had. Also, the chamber mouth was relieved as if for semi-wadcutters and the underside edge of the barrel hood has a proper chamfer which the previous bbl did not exhibit at all. There is some evidence of hand polishing the chamber mouth; I don’t know if this is normal production or not. If I had known the barrel would have been considered for replacement I’d have taken a few “before”pictures.

The gun came back to me pretty clean and properly greased/oiled; better than I do after a trip to the range but still some smoke around the breech that showed they actually fired at least a couple of rounds in testing.

The two magazine lips measure .325” and .327” as best I can measure with my digital calipers, about the same as the magazines I sent back to Browning with the gun. Upon magazine disassembly though, the returned springs are 6.12” over all in the relaxed state and .035” wire dia. Compared to 5.68” relaxed length and .034/.033” wire dia. (The wire diameter measurement is not very repeatable with the caliper and micrometer I have at home, so the wires, new and old may both be the same diameter.)

Two trips to the gun club and about 120 rounds down range:

No 7th round bobble or any other failures other than a failure to chamber a round completely late in the 2nd session. This was on the 4th round from the magazine and 60-70 rounds into the session. Is this due to a mis-shapen round, dirty chamber or weak recoil spring?

When the trigger was pulled, the hammer fell and finished chambering the round but it received a light strike, off center of the primer and failed to fire.

If the slide is more than about 1/16” out of battery, the disconnector won’t allow the sear to release so the hammer can’t fall and the firing pin stop interferes with the hammer hitting the firing pin anyway. If out of battery less than 1/16th” the barrel lugs are still engaged so I think this is normal with the JMB design.

Subsequent rounds fed without incident. The magazine springs however have taken a set and now measure only 6.00” length in the disassembled, relaxed state; the mag lips remain at .325-327” width. Some of my practice 380 brass is less than pristine; I probably shouldn’t be using these to prove function of the gun.

In any case, much improved reliability. I’ll continue to monitor the magazine spring length and if no other problems occur in the next 100-200 rounds or so I’ll consider the gun adequately reliable.

"Tribulation worketh patience."

Soft magazine spring temper? Check the OAL of the unused mag springs compared to the used ones.

I've been keeping my mags full (8 rnds) since then just to see if that abuses them over the long term. So far, I'm not seeing any degradation in performance but the replacement springs again measure 5.68"+/-.

I'll take them out soon and report back.

My Browning 1911 380 did have a few stove pipes early on but after a few hundred rounds has been flawless. I have eight magazines and all function perfectly.

As for the pistol it is the softest shooting 380 I have ever shot and is by far the most accurate of all my 380 pistols. I wish it would fit in my pocket.

For the price you have to pay for one of these 380's they should run flawlessly. I was thinking about getting one of the Compact 380 offerings but I think I'll pass.

MutinousDoug said:

Soft magazine spring temper? Check the OAL of the unused mag springs compared to the used ones.

I've been keeping my mags full (8 rnds) since then just to see if that abuses them over the long term. So far, I'm not seeing any degradation in performance but the replacement springs again measure 5.68"+/-.

I'll take them out soon and report back.

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Took the 1911-380 out to the club today and put 55 rounds down range via the two magazines I got back from Browning. I fired them loaded with 8 rounds and one in the chamber to start.
No issues.

The Beretta 86 has a 4.37" barrel, and you can get them used for around $700.00 Not nearly as soft shooting as the Browning since it is a blow-back design.

Beretta 84, CZ83, Colt Government Model (my favorite)... just in case the new one doesn't work and the OP gets a refund. The Colt is what the Browning is apparently supposed to be, but it actually works.

I've been following your thread due to my interest in the Browning, this is disappointing to hear, but at least you found some ammo it likes I guess. For what its worth, I don't think any of my pistols will eject a casing with the mag removed, maybe there's a technique to it I don't understand.

Well I'm an idiot, I thought you were hand cycling the slide rather than firing to test, ignore me.

Sorry to hear about your problems with the "Browning." I was intrigued by the .22, but the poly frame on the .380 was a deal breaker. Besides, I already have this:
I guess I'll stick with what works.