1911 mag?

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xJokerG23x

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Quick question for you guys with alot of experience with the 1911. I have a pre series II Kimber custom classic royal and the other day I was doing some shooting and my gun jammed twice. I was using 8 round Chip McCormick mag with shooting star follower. When it was empty I reloaded it along with another 8 round mag of a different brand and never had anymore trouble. Could this have just been maybe a mag issue, maybe something with the follower? I even loaded up with hollow points in that same mag and fired every round flawlessly. It has polished feed ramp and throated barrel by the way. Thank you for your time and I know that 1911's along with any other semiauto pistol are capable of jamming from time to time.
 
If you do a fair amount of shooting or store your mags loaded you'll be doing yourself a service buying new magazines every year. If the old ones aren't damaged, add a few rebuild kits to your order. Magazines do not get better with age and most production 1911s will have a few brands it simply won't like.
 
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8 round mags are an attempt to provide a "better" mag. As you have seen they can cause problems by trying to cram that extra round in. I would check to see that your extractor is smooth and remove the sharp corners of the slot and make sure the breechface is smooth and flat. Check the inside surface of the mag's feed lips for any burrs. Make sure the mag spring is seated against the follower correctly. It is poosble to have the spring bear too far forward on the follower. (in front of the tab) Personally I have always used 7 rounds in a mag for many years and it doesn't really slow things down enough to warrant that extra round. The magazine was after all designed for 7 rounds.
 
I was doing some shooting and my gun jammed twice.
Click to expand...

The things that can typically lend themselves to feeding problems and other functioning stoppages are the shooter, the ammunition, the cleanliness & maintenance (lubrication), the magazines ... and lastly, the gun itself.

What sort of "jams" did you experience?

How clean and well lubricated was the pistol?

What ammunition was being used at the time?

How long has the same recoil spring been in use? Is it the factory spring, or has an "improved" spring been installed at some point?

How long old is the magazine spring in that one magazine?

Has that one magazine experienced damage, especially to its feed lips? Ever been dropped onto the lips (especially when empty)? Any visible signs of a problem in construction or manufacturing?

How long since that one magazine has been disassembled, cleaned and wiped dry? Reassembled properly?

While magazines are at the very heart of optimal feeding & functioning for a semiauto like the 1911, more often than not it seems that on any given day a significant cause of many problems can be the "shooter influences" (grip technique & support/stability), followed by the type & quality of the ammunition being used.

If repeated feeding issues were observed with that one magazine, but not with any others, then it would seem to narrow it down to something involving that magazine. If nothing appeared damaged or broken as far as the magazine body or follower, it would be easiest to try a new spring (correct for that magazine design, of course, as they do vary a bit).

Sometimes it easiest to simply replace some older magazines, though, when a simple spring or follower replacement won't get them running in the optimal manner desired. Magazines are really just assemblies, you know, and they can suffer wear & tear from a lot of usage, including being dropped (during reloading). Sometimes lips can become dinged, dented, cracked, burred, spread, etc ... and feeding can suffer for it.

Just some thoughts. I can't pretend to know what's happening in your case since I'm not there to examine the gun, magazine & ammunition, or watch you shoot. Sorry.

BTDT with 1911's & magazines of my own, though, as well as observing those in use by folks as off-duty & SWAT weapons.
 
"The magazine was after all designed for 7 rounds."

Amen!!
Order yourself a few Wolf 7 round magazine springs and replace the 8 rd springs. I replaced my 8 rd springs 10 yrs ago and they went from the occasional jam to 100% reliable. Keep your mags clean! I clean mine twice a year or about every 2500 rds. I've used the same 4 magazines for over 11 years and nearly 50,000 rounds through those 4 magazines, multiple types of bullets, and 4 different 1911's.

FWIW
 
The number 1 thing I have learned about the 1911 platform is that you need to treat mags as disposable. Do not get overly attached to this one or that one. It does not matter if you spent $10 or $35 on them.

When they start to malfunction inspect them and replace the spring with Wolffs and if that does not fix them toss them into the trash.
 
Thanks everyone for the advice. The pistol and mags are in excellant condition. It was just when I first shot it the other day that Chip mag did that 2 or 3 times but after reloading the same mag along with my other I had no more problems. All the advice yall put out here was very helpfull and I will check into Wolf springs when the time comes. When buying NEW mags, are the standard G.I. 7 rnd mags the best to go with? I've read that somewhere. Also like some of you said, the 7 rounders perform better than the 8's. My best bet would be to hit up a gun show or order them online I'm sure. Where do yall get your new mags?
 
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