1911 still jams! HELP!

[Old Fuff]

how many rounds before they become reliable???

Who knows? This is like asking, "my car doesn't run right. How many mile to I have to push it before it straightens out?"

This "shoot to break it in" business is bull, foisted on unsuspecting buyers by gun makers to explain away their lack of quality control and decent workmanship. Simply putting rounds through a gun won't necessarily correct a problem. It depends on what the problem is, and what's causing it. Rather then waste your money buying ammunition I would send - what is obviously a lemon - back to the maker and make them fix it. That's what a warrantee is for. If these companies had to fix their junk, and pay shipping costs both ways, things might change.

And yes, you have a right to be outraged…

 

[gc70]

the gun is new. no work has been done on it.

how many rounds before they become reliable???

0 - as in zero. A 1911 should shoot reliably out of the box without any "break-in" period. Send the gun back to Springfield and let them make it right.

 

[Walkalong]

Walkalong

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

the gun is new. no work has been done on it.

Send it to Springfield. Call and they will give you a return number and tell you what to do. When you get it back you will see why we love our 1911's. No sweat. They will fix it.

As Old Fluff says, the "break in" period is just pure Bulls***

I do Air Conditioning work among other things and when you get there they will say "It's been running all day but it never cooled down" DUHHHHHHHHH...... It's broken! How long would you run your car like that? :banghead:

Nuff ranting. Don't sweat it. SA will fix it.

 

[BigO01]

It sounds like the same problem I started having with my Full sized Charles Daly after hundreds of rounds . Here is what I did to fix it .

Get some 600 grit wet/dry and the biggest dowel rod that fits down in the ramp while covering as much of it as possible . Wrap the wet/dry around the rod and work it up and down the ramp in the direction in which the round travels as it chambers , spend about 3 minutes doing this , then take it and work it in and out of the barrel/chamber to smooth out any minor rough spots . Check the extractor tension and adjust if necessary directions found here http://www.m1911.org/full_technic.htm . Remove your firing pin stop and the extractor and use a rimfire cleaning brush to clean out the extractor tunnel and use Qtips to dry it out and make sure all the gunk is cleaned out . Take a piece of the wet/dry and lightly polish the breach face for a couple of minutes .

Get a new Wolf 16# recoil spring and put it all back together and take it out and shoot it .

After doing this my gun runs 100% with Ball , my Hornady 200 gr JHP's reloads and about 99% with my 200 gr LSWC reloads .

 

[DC3-CVN-72]

Springfield Armory

I vote to send it back for repair. I love my Springfield Armory .45 CAL. 1911's and have had zero problems with any of them. If I ever do they will fix them for free forever. Can't beat that. Best warrante in the Biz. I almost never buy new guns, but for the price and life-time warrante I make an exception with Springfield Armory.

 

[yooper_sjd]

your problem is called stove piping, your need to smoothen edge of feed ramp where your the backside of your barrel meets with mag. use a half round jewelers file, and a fine half round, or round ceramic stone to smoothen out any burs or rough edges. If you are still getting stove pipes after you do this, you might want to look at getting a different ammo from a different manufaturer, or start reloading your own, and smoothen out the outer lip of the cartridge.

 

[telomerase]

First, don't panic! most 1911 issues are simple to fix yourself.

Absolutely. Just go to the revolver forum, and they'll explain how.

 

[Walkalong]

use a half round jewelers file, and a fine half round, or round ceramic stone to smoothen out any burs or rough edges. If you are still getting stove pipes after you do this, you might want to look at getting a different ammo from a different manufaturer, or start reloading your own, and smoothen out the outer lip of the cartridge.

Lost his mind. Its your money and your gun. Don't try to "smoothin" it up and "smoothin" up your ammo is a new one on me. Send it to Springfield and lay your worries to rest.

Yea, you might fix it, and you might make a several hundred dollar boat anchor that our young friend won't buy from you. "smoothin" :banghead:

 

[soul_rapier]

smooth that sharp spot out with sand paper so that way you cant take to much off and yes it can be done without a gunsmith i done it .

 

[birdv]

number your mags

 

[mike_in_md]

Have you made sure that the gun is lubed really well? New 1911 pistols that have tight clearances really like to be wet. I use Rem Oil, which doesn't stay put long...so right before I shoot (and every 100 rounds or so) I lube the places on the pistol shown on the web site below.

http://www.bullseyepistol.com/oiling.htm

 

[Walkalong]

Of course it can be done without a gunsmith "I done it to". I think you are missing the point. It is a brand new high dollar quality gun that needs to go to the professionals. SA. :banghead:

 

[combatantr2]

From ArmedPolak: I can't stand the fact that a gun this expensive jams on me!!! My H&K and Beretta never had this problem.


Exactly and true. This is a problem now for the 1911s in general. Most of the time a low price 1911 works better than a high price 1911, thats why I own 3 NORCS

 

[MCgunner]

I spent money out of the box to get my AMT and my Auto Ordinance to run. Even then, hard ball and a certain 200 grain SWC I hand load were about it. I found 'em very iffy with any thing with a hole in the point, but ball worked fine, after I had the feed ramp polished/ported. They were both very sensitive to ammo OAL. Take it to a gunsmith is what I'd do, or sell it and buy something that works. Might try some other brand of ammo first. And, for sure, it could be a magazine problem. A smith can get it to work with ball, though, if he's any good at all. Just part of the 1911 experience. Been there, done that with two of 'em. I never had one that was high end, though.

 

[WarMachine]

Your Springfield has lifetime warranty. Pack that thing up and send it in to back to SA. It shouldn't have any issue major issues feeding ball ammo from ANY name-brand manufacturer; of course your gun may favor one brand when it comes to accuracy. I have two SA 1911's (chambered in both 9mm and .45) and I have yet to experience any problems from Remington, Winchester, Federal, CCI, Sellier and a number of others.

Some guns may get better after several hundred rounds, but I won't be using my money to do so. The company you bought it from should break them in before they ship them out. Put that warranty to some use.

People sending guns into 'smiths, hacking them up themselves, and firing box after box to break in a gun, is not sending any kind of message to the companies, as they assume that most those sold without a warranty complaint are working fine. However, having hundreds upon hundreds of people sending pistols back for repair will encourage them to improve their quality control.

Reliability issues for the 1911 platform are not inherent in the design, but it's these companies that have gotten lax which are tarnishing the name. They could learn a thing or two from the armorers who make the MEU(SOC) pistols for the military.

 

[gudel]

I can't stand the fact that a gun this expensive jams on me!!! My H&K and Beretta never had this problem

Sell that jamomatic POS 1911. Good thing you did not use that for defense when you really needed it, otherwise I'd be reading about you in obituary section!

There's no need to keep jamomatics around, only to add frustrations, and possible death.

 

[the pistolero]

There's no need to keep jamomatics around

...unless, of course, they're not "jamomatics"...in the meantime, those of us with WORKING 1911s will just sit back and bite our tongues, ever more weary of being berated with "your the exception to the rule!" Least that's what I'll be doin', anyway...

 

[rbernie]

The bullet gets stuck on the end of the ramp/lip where the chamber begins. I noticed the edge is sharp, unlike say, my KAHR MK9 which has a very smooth transition between the ramp/lip and the chamber.

The chamber 'throat' should not be sharp. This is wrong. More importantly, the chamber's throat should sit forward of the frame's 'feed ramp' by a solid 1/32" or more. There should be a definite, visible gap between them. If the barrel overhangs the ramp, you will ALWAYS have feed issues. They will not go away. It will not break in. It's simply not put together correctly, and is not assembled from in-spec parts.

Do not file, sand, buff, or so much as breath on it with any kind of tool, abrasive, or polish. Send it back.

 

[MCgunner]

Reliability issues for the 1911 platform are not inherent in the design,

I really don't think that statement is quite true, not of the original design with more modern ammo. Of course, the gun is designed to feed ball and in that respect, you are absolutely right. But, it's more ammo finicky, I think, because of the two piece feed ramp design and the fact that the bullet comes up out of the magazine from a steep angle compared to more modern designs which feed straighter into the chamber and require less ramp in the first place. It's one of the reasons I gave up on 1911s. But, if ball is your thing, any 1911 should be reliable with it if it's set up right. I'm sure they can be made to feed hollow points of some designs, but I never trust that a 1911 will feed a hollow point. I have to be proven the fact. The ones I had wouldn't. OTOH, I haven't found a round my Ruger WOULDN'T feed 100 percent.

Yeah, I agree with the statement that you need to try to send it back to the factory if it's covered by a warranty. If it's warrantied, they should make it right. I wouldn't wanna dump a POS like that off on someone, would bother my conscience. I've sold such a gun to a dealer once, didn't bother me too bad, but I sometimes wonder about the poor sap that winds up with it. If you can get it at least functioning with ball 100 percent, then I'd dump it. If not, well, you might just have to live with a guilty conscience.

 

[antediluvianist]

Get a horse, and fire ball ammo through your 1911 while in a full gallop. There, you are using it like it was designed to be used. For non-mounted non-ball-ammo use, ah, get a more reliable semi-auto design, of which there are many.

 

[Whirlwind06]

My low priced low end RIA Officers model shoots hollow points all day. I guess no other hand gun manufacturers ships any lemons?

 

[JERRY]

if you want a reliable 1911 without buying a base gun and spending $1,000.00 more for add-ons, i have three words....

Rock Island Armory.

 

[mrelijahgardner]

I've had a problem with the 8 round magazines doing this.
Mine just does not like them. No good reason just doesn't.
The 7 round magazines work fine.

 

[Redhat]

Sell that jamomatic POS 1911. Good thing you did not use that for defense when you really needed it, otherwise I'd be reading about you in obituary section!

Funny thing...

ON the site specifically devoted to YOUR wonder gun, those owners have problems too!

Everyone turns out lemons occasionally. I like hk's especially the P7, but they are far from perfect.

 

[51Cards]

Ahhh, I've poured time, ammo, money and bits of my soul into 1911-land. Result? I now have a moderately functional mini and a reasonably dependable SA GI. Love em both, the Defender makes a nice curio, backup, and ultralight frame for a .22 conversion. I got my "beast" to finally behave (mostly), to find that, rather than wonder when it will fail me again, I'd rather shoot things that have me wondering if they'll ever fail. I'll still tinker with it.

Meanwhile, I am off to Walther/HK-Land, where the ugly black things are waiting to play with my Sig and XD ... and do not need horses to function!

I've had cars that I loved, but wouldn't start sometimes. This is sort of like that (for me) --- except my car not starting was never likely to kill me.

I wonder --- are there any "statistics" of reported malfs re weapon design/model?