9mm 1911 FTF

When I've had feedling problems and yours sounds similar to a 3 point jam on feeding I narrowed my problem down to not enough crimp. It seemed as long as there was still a feelable lip on the case mouth it would hangup on the roof of the chamber. Think of needing a medium to medium+ crimp over a light crimp.

Just because a round will chamber in one gun is no guarantee that it will in another...especially handloads. Only way that it should always work is if every part of the cartridge meets SAAMI specs especially for the bullet profile & diameter as well as crimp and COAL.

You need to do a plunk test with the barrel and the round to make sure that it will chamber correctly. Plenty of info on the web on how to do that.

One suggestion try some different magazines--9mm Magazines in the 1911 platform have been noted for causing some issues by others. Wilson Combat, in particular, is noted for making good magazines in 9mm and .45 ACP.

If limited to p18 type mags then you may have to adjust the lips as said by 4v50 Gary to fit the specific bullet profiles you intend to use. Multi caliber mags can sometimes be a bit troublesome. Old time gunsmiths used to have to tweak gi mags for the 1911 to work with other bullet profiles besides ball ammo.

You say they 'tuned the extractor'? How is the tension on it now? If too tight it'll for sure hinder feeding and has to be just right for proper functioning.

Failure to eject properly with handloads often means they aren't hot enough....especially if factory ammo will eject OK. If this was the case...then you're needing to either tune the gun to the ammo or the ammo to the gun. It's hard to make a gun that will eat anything because if it'll work with the really light loadings it'll tend to get battered with the heavy stuff. Other way around....if it can handle the really heavy loads it'll very likely not eject the light ones.

I know they aren't feeding...NOW. But before you said you sent it back because it wouldn't eject....right? I'm thinking they fixed one problem but created another by making the extractor too tight. The bottom edge contour is pretty important to feeding also...especially if it's tight. A gentle bevel and rounded edge which lets the rim get up the breech face and under the extractor with as little friction as possible can make feeding easier. The ammo that is feeding OK now might have a slightly smaller rim thickness or diameter which is why it'll feed but the others get stuck.

OAL plays an important part in feeding too being as the nose must contact the ramp and start up it but not get too vertical before the feed lips release the rear or the 'three point jam' happens. The Hydra-Shocks might be the correct length to feed properly so maybe if you compare the ammo that is problematic and especially compare the nose shape and where it contacts the feed ramp you'll see that it's too long or short. Late release of the feed lips could be an issue too being as they were trying to make the little bottle-neck TCM work in it too. Maybe try opening the lips a little on one mag just to see if it helps?

RecoilRob said:

I know they aren't feeding...NOW. But before you said you sent it back because it wouldn't eject....right? I'm thinking they fixed one problem but created another by making the extractor too tight. The bottom edge contour is pretty important to feeding also...especially if it's tight. A gentle bevel and rounded edge which lets the rim get up the breech face and under the extractor with as little friction as possible can make feeding easier. The ammo that is feeding OK now might have a slightly smaller rim thickness or diameter which is why it'll feed but the others get stuck.

OAL plays an important part in feeding too being as the nose must contact the ramp and start up it but not get too vertical before the feed lips release the rear or the 'three point jam' happens. The Hydra-Shocks might be the correct length to feed properly so maybe if you compare the ammo that is problematic and especially compare the nose shape and where it contacts the feed ramp you'll see that it's too long or short. Late release of the feed lips could be an issue too being as they were trying to make the little bottle-neck TCM work in it too. Maybe try opening the lips a little on one mag just to see if it helps?

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Nicely said Recoil Rob.

mljdeckard said:

It's not just my handloads. (And my handloads plunk test just fine.) It's pretty muvh anything but 124 gr premium nickle-plated case loads.

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Does it feed factory FMJ/RN ammunition reliably?

if it binds after having the extractor tuned, it probably was too tight. If its a 1 piece extractor, they act as a brake on the slide, and too much tension means the cases bind on the breach fighting it.

mljdeckard said:

Factory ammo is better, but still frequent jams.

I found a local guy to look at it. I could mess with it myself, but I would probably spend more in ammo with trial and error than I would to just pay someone. I want the dovetail cuts re-milled too.

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Hope they fix it up right. Let us know what the problem was as that is useful information for the future.

The 1911 Forum has a wealth of info on extractor tuning specifics. a quick search using only the word extractor turned up these returns - https://forums.1911forum.com/search.php?searchid=34741161 With a little more refined search you can get even more hits. Key things are deflection, tension, hook to breach face, hook geometry, clocking, .....

How do your handloads fit in the magazine? I've had problems with short OAL's letting them work forward in the mag which causes feeding issues that aren't present when they stay back against the mag like when they're loaded. Consequently I've gone exclusively to a Lyman 147 which loads at max SAAMI length and just barely fit in the mags...but they shoot great and are 100% function with 3.8 WW231 under them for about 950'ish fps which is pretty much fully power. Lighter bullets have to be driven a lot faster to generate enough recoil momentum to operate the action...just seems the heavies work better an an easier pace.

Sounds like the extractor is the issue—as you have discovered. Tuning the extractor hook can go a long way toward smooth feeding and cycling. I would suggest getting a Wilson Combat bulletproof 9mm extractor and studying the shape of the bevels on the hook. You could probably tweak your stock extractor after a little careful study. It’s not that hard.
I have a RIA .22TCM mid size double stack. It fed pretty well out of the box, but I smoothed and tweaked the extractor hook and now it’s flawless. The factory part is MIM as far as I can tell and had some mold lines in the hook that needed to be smoothed out.

A word on extractor tension: cases should slide up onto the breech face fairly easily, but the extractor should hold an empty case in place securely enough that it won’t fall out easily.
Proper hook geometry allows better feeding. Proper extractor tension affects feeding a little bit, but more importantly insures good ejection.

The RIA double stack mags work better if you disassemble them, clean them out and then spray a little Hornady one shot case lube inside. Reassemble, work the spring with loading and unloading and then let it dry thoroughly.

Finally, Fred Craig (TCM inventor) says to case lube your TCM rounds for better feeding and extraction. (Works for factory ammo and reloads). I think the case lube residue helps mag function, too.

I find 9mm rounds feed equally well in the RIA mag and the MecGar mag. The MecGar mag has a much stronger spring so store it fully loaded for a while till the spring takes a set. It will feed smoothly once that is done.

Note: I shoot Federal HST 124gr hollow points and RMR 124gr plated reloads in 9mm mode.