1911 reliability question...

[Mr. Cuts]

Hello everyone,

I have a Para Ord. 1911 "CCW" model (4.25 in barrel, I guess what would be officers size) in .45ACP

I polished the feed ramp which seems to have helped some of my feeding issues. As well as just finding the rounds my gun liked best. But on my last trip to the range this sunday I had some malfunctions. A couple of rounds went nose up in the magazine and didn't chamber, I think I probobly need some extra power mag springs. But then I also had a couple of rounds not fully chamber, they would get stuck about half way in with the round at about a 30 degree angle to level. I have never had this happen before in aprox. 2000-3000 rounds so I dont think its limp wristing...

anyway, all that to say do you guys think this would be solved by new mag springs? Would it be okay for me to polish the (not sure of the term) breech face?

 

[Kitt]

Mr. Cuts the 4.25" barrel is the Commander, 5" Gov and 3.5" is the Officer's. Get some Wolff mag springs and get a new Wolff recoil spring...springs are cheep...get some spares and give your pistol a good cleaning and you'll be good to go.

 

[1911Tuner]

Burps

Officer's Model barrel is 3.75 inch. Your burps are technically known as Failure to Go To/Return to Battery. Could be magazine related, but most often due to either excessive extractor tension...incorrect extractor fitting/geometry...narrow breechface guide blocks...or a condition commonly referred to as Three-Point Jam...sometimes called "Stem Bind."

If you can induce the stoppage by hand-cycling...tap lightly on the muzzle with a wooden stick. if the gun snaps to bettery, it's a stem bind.

Remove the extractor and hand-cycle to see if anything changes. Use a dial caliper to measure the parallel blocks under the breechface. The distance should be .484-.488 inch. Take the measurement with the extractor removed, and take several to be sure of a consistent result.

Check to make sure the barrel isn't riding the link as it starts up into battery by slipping the slidestop pin through the link and swinging it through its normal arc. If the link holds the pin more than a paper's thickness off the lower lug, that may be causing or contributing to the problem.

Check for a sharp corner at the top of the barrel ramp...right where it becomes chamber floor.

Kitt...Where in NC are ya?

 

[Mr. Cuts]

Thanks, I'll try these things and let you guys know how it goes.....

 

[g56]

The various things to try are different recoil springs, different magazines and varying bullet/ammo to find the best for that pistol.

IMHO Polishing anything inside of a 1911 is best left to a professional gunsmith experienced with 1911's.

 

[MICHAEL T]

I traded my Para for a Colt and all those type problems went a way.. No more Para for me.

 

[Slvr Surfr]

My Smith and Springer feed anything so far! No problems. I have however consistenly used Wilson Combat Mags to ensure 0 magazine issues. So far so good!

Good Luck

 

[Mr. Cuts]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I ordered some wolff mag springs to try so we'll see how those go. I know the springs in my two factory mags and my wilson mag are worn down because I've been carrying them every day for almost a year now..

I'll take your advice and not polish anything else, I get "kitchen table gunsmithing = bad..." I hope I didn't do any damage by polishing the feed ramp

I just hope I can make this gun reliable again... It was a christmas present from my wife and has stood up to everything so far. Only once and a while failing to go into battery on the first hand chambered round. I just had to be sure to be brisk about it. I would apreciate any other tips as well, I have learned a lot in my time spent on THR.

 

[robertbank]

If you are into springs change the mag springs first and see how it shoots. The go to the recoil springs if no improvement. If you change everything at once you will never know what your problem was. The gun should feed anything you got and Para service would be my next stop if the springs don't solve the problem.

Take Care

Bob