1911Tuner: got a question for ya.

[Pythonman]

My SA G.I. wont feed the Remington 230 GR JHPs reliably, a few get through but then I start getting regular failures to go into battery. Still fires the factory 230gr jacketed ball ammo from every manufacturer I've tried (WOlf, Rem, CCI, and Winchester) 100% but I still have some problems with lead reloads feeding. Is it acceptable that this apparently throated SA will only feed ball ammo? I'm next going to try reloading some 230gr jacketed round nose and see if that works out.

My last batch of reloads used 7gr AA#5 with 200gr swc and 230gr lrn. I'm using my new Rockchucker Supreme with a Lee Carbide die set and a .45 Factory Crimp Die for last stage crimping. Bullet seating is 1.260 for the 230GR and 1.237 for the SWCs which are feeding much better.
As far as I can tell, I'm just getting too much lead fouling and bullet lube build up on the feed ramp shooting the lead which is causing way to much friction to allow perfect shot to shot feed reliability. You ever hear of these kinds of problems with lead bullets in a 1911? Maybe I should chuck the Lee dies and get something different? Let me know what you think. THanks!

 

[1911Tuner]

Feeding Woes

Howdy Pythonman. No..It's not acceptable.

Check to see if there's a sharp edge at the top of the barrel throat. Check
also to see if the bottom of the barrel throat is slightly forward of the top
of the feed ramp in the frame when the barrel is linked down and pushed
down and back as far as it will go. There should be a gaop of about a 32nd of an inch (.032) It can be a little more, but not less.

Although a properly set-up 1911 is pretty forgiving on cartridge overall length, that could also be part of the problem. Generally speaking, it's
better to go a bit short than a bit too long, depending on the bullet profile.

Extractor tension can be a player too, as can the width of the breechface.
.480 minimum, and .484-.488 is better. Check the breechface for roughness, especially around the firing pin hole.

Check to see if the barrel is riding the link badly at the front radius of
the lower lug. push the slidestop pin through to link and see if the
pin is being held away from the radius more than the thickness of a sheet of typing paper. Ideally, it should rub lightly, but most ride it around the
corner a little.

Standin' by...

Tuner

 

[Majic]

How are you getting bullet lube on the feedramp? Are the bullets seated deep enough to cover the lube grooves? Have the excess lubed been cleaned of the cartridges after being reloaded?
You are using a cast bullet of sufficent hardness right? A swaged bullet or a real soft cast bullet will give a lot of pistols feeding fits with the punishment the nose has to endure.

 

[Jim Watson]

Tuner is right, as usual.

Also, how far out of battery is the slide coming to a stop? Nearly closed?

There are a lot of barrels out there with undersize chambers. The factory tries to get one more shift's production with worn tools, the aftermarket maker wants to advertise machine rest groups from a "match chamber.' I had a SA with out of round chamber, they hit the barrel so hard with the caliber stamp die that it indented the chamber. All will be helped by a pass with a sharp new reamer and re-radius cutting the edge.

Will your ammo drop FREELY all the way into a clean chamber?
If not, the chamber is undersize and should be reamed.

(I am assuming your Lee CFC die is leaving loaded rounds correctly post-sized and crimped. Check with Remington GS, too.)

 

[Pythonman]

My bullets are all commercial hardcast and seated well past the bullet lube groove. So there's no lube on the outside of my reloads. Also, after the pass through the Lee Factory Crimp die I'll check the cartridges every so often in a Dillon .45ACP guage checker which if they fit flush, and they always do, they should chamber correctly. Usually when I have a failure to go into battery fully, the slide is about 3/16" to 1/4" from being closed all the way. Interestingly, today for the first time I had a number of failures to go into battery that were much closer than that and which I was able to fix by lightly pressing the back of the slide closed the rest of the way so the trigger would engage. I'll check how the rounds drop through the cleaned chamber and check the points that Tuner mentioned tomorrow after work and report my findings then. Thanks. This 1911 may have to go.

 

[stans]

The OAL of your rounds sounds to be right on the money. The chamber could be on the tight side. I had similar failures to feed with lead bullets in a BarSto barrel. When the barrel was perfectly clean, it would usually feed fine, but after a couple dozen rounds, the chamber would have a thin film of residue and rounds wanted to jam. A chamber finishing reamer opened the chamber ever so slightly and eliminated the problems.

 

[GSB]

This is a bit off topic, but I didn't want to start a whole thread for it. Does anyone know if there's a thread around here somewhere (or elsewhere) with a good point-by-point list of what one should inspect when buying a new 1911? Seems every time I look at 1911forum.com or theHighRoad, there's another twist to shopping for a good 1911 and I was wondering if anyone had compiled a good list of things to look for (just encountered an entire discussion on "barrel spring" over on 1911forum, for instance. Not something I ever thought about, and an interesting debate).

 

[middy]

Pythonman. The Springer GI recoil springs are known for being under-strength. That failure to return to battery might be fixed by a 16# Wolff recoil spring.

 

[Wichaka]

I've picked up 2 SA's within the last month..........a Mil-Spec & a Loaded. Both give the same problem you have. Mine will feed everything under the sun, except my reloads. They will feed them for about the first 60-70, then build up in the chamber will not allow them to fully chamber. Its not a 3-point jam, its a combo of 3 things.........

1) My Colt will feed my reloads all day long. Looking inside the SA chambers, I've seen some tool marks left over. I took out the tool marks, no problems now..........

2) Build up of firing byproduct build up...........see above.

3) Make sure your bullet seating isn't shaving lead. Any lead hanging over the edge helps the problem. Make sure your bullets are fitting inside the case mouth before seating.

I also polished the ramp, throat, and broke the edge at the top of the barrel throat (like Tuner suggested) a bit more than what was there.

 

[Pythonman]

Thanx for all the help on this one guys. In the end I solved all the problems this gun has been giving me by trading it off for a new Glock 30. Always did want a compact 11 shot 45, tomorrow I'll have it. This policeman whom I was sharing a range booth with Friday let me shoot his Glock 21 and I ended up trading him two of my boxes of hollowpoints for one box of his Wolf 230gr ball ammo so I'd at least be able to shoot my SA. I'll post back soon and give a range report with the Glock later this week. Thanks again for all the help, but ulitmatley I guess it's like I have stated more or less before, I'm no gunsmith and I wont tinker with one much further than cleaning it good and feeding it good ammo. I probably could afford a nicer Kimber or Wilson 1911 and be assured better reliablity but, if I was going to go that high I'd rather spend the cash on, what else?? Another Python!!