45ACP 1911 problems

[BigMacMI]

OK, got PM from OP.

An assortment of 200/230 gr RN/SWC bullets being sent to OP as "Pay It Forward" to test ATI pistol and factory magazines.

Received today, will report results after I am able to get to a range (after working up some dummy rounds)

 

[LiveLife]

Great.

You don't need to go to the range to function check for "working" OAL.

You can check feeding and chambering by loading the dummy rounds from the magazine and releasing the slide without riding it (Hand cycling as you posted). This is method I use to determine the "working" OAL after determining the "max" OAL using the barrel.

Start with the max OAL allowed by the barrel and feed/chamber from the magazine. Sometimes, the max OAL is the working OAL. If not, incrementally decrease the OAL by .005" until you have reliable feeding/chambering. This is your working OAL.

 

[BigMacMI]

I did find my max OAL won’t clear the chamber when trying to cyclenit out. That was interesting. . Ball ammo is smooth as silk. SWC will chamber with a decent sing in the nose. But I imagine this is normal. If I slow ride the slide home the wadcutrer will hang on the ramp to barrel transition. Found this when determining what was banging the nose.

Loaded some 1.250 up that I know are cycling by hand. This was combination of oft recommended length. Known working length and the ‘sliver’ (0.030) of driving band extruding from case recommended by many SWC folks.

If I went much shorter than 1.230 I ended with the round doing crazy straight up jumps at times.

(Pics were of dummy rounds. I see a booger hook awful close to the bang switch in there, which is bad to see even w dummy rounds!!)

 

[Dudedog]

Some 1911 .45 mags are more SWC friendly than others.
I normally shoot 230 RNs in .45 so I don' remember off the top of my head the SWC friendly ones. Checkmate maybe????
(getting old and senile is a drag)

 

[Walkalong]

After looking at the various failures I would do one thing first, trash the mag.

Pic #1 could be a gun issue, I would love to see a close up pic of the "ramp"/"barrel junction. That will catch bullets like those if not right. Open and lock back the slide, push back against the muzzle to move the barrel back and down and take a good well lighted pic of where they meet. I bought a used Kimber with that issue once. Managed to re-contour the barrel "throat" and fixed it. People screw this up on 1911s doing a home "ramp and polish" job.

 

[LiveLife]

Ball ammo is smooth as silk. SWC will chamber with a decent [ding] in the nose. But I imagine this is normal.

Good to hear.

Yes, bumping of SWC nose with resulting "ding" is normal.

FYI for those interested, following bullets were sent to OP for testing:
- 230 gr RN X-Treme copper plated
- 200 gr RN RMR copper plated
- 200 gr SWC MBC IDP #1
- 200 gr SWC MBC Bullseye #1 GL (Hi-Tek coated, Grooveless)

If I slow ride the slide home the wadcutrer will hang on the ramp to barrel transition.

Yes, function test for feeding/chambering from the magazine should be done without riding the slide as SWC nose bumping on the feed ramp and mag follower/spring pushing up to align the round with the chamber is done with orchestrated motion.

I hold the pistol firm and pull the slide back then release to duplicate the motion of pistol cycling. If I can hand cycle the rounds, they usually work when fired at the range.

Loaded some 1.250 up that I know are cycling by hand.

Great ... So ATI 1911 is feeding SWC bullets with factory magazines.

Look forward to the range report.

And as others posted, quality magazines will help with feeding issue. While I have used Chip McCormick Power Mag and Wilson Combat 47D 8 round mags with good results, there are others members report good experience with such as Check-Mate.

 

[Walkalong]

I want to see a pic of the area the round is caught on as described in my post. Looks like it could be a gun issue.

This looks like a mag issue, but could be what happens when pic 1 turns loose.

 

[243winxb]

The round did not come up fast enough out of the magazine for the slide to pick it up.
Or the side did not go back far enough. Happens with live rounds.

Your 1911 is made to GI specs. This means 230 hard ball/FMJ full power loads. What factory ammo did you shoot, that worked before??

See photo of my target guns feed ram and barrel.

 

[243winxb]

OP's ATI 1911 GI hard ball gun. Light target loads will need a different recoil spring.

 

[Blue68f100]

The barrel ramp should be back around 1/32". Yours look more like 1/8" from the photo. Being set back further adds a step it has to jump. Too close can have problems too.

 

[BigMacMI]

I will try to respond to the above posts with photos after I am off of dad duty today... The catch on the feed ramp was when i intentionally slow cycled the slide, just so I could understand the operation and see where the SWC were getting the little bump on the nose. When cycled normally (pull back/let go), all ball and SWC rounds went into battery without issue (once set to correct length). With 1-8 rounds in magazine, all were well. Next step is to range test

 

[LiveLife]

The barrel ramp should be back around 1/32". Yours look more like 1/8" from the photo.

When the slide is pulled back and barrel is unlocked from the lugs, barrel can move back and forth.

Try it with your pistol.

When cycled normally (pull back/let go), all ball and SWC rounds went into battery without issue

I love happy endings.

 

[Dudedog]

When cycled normally (pull back/let go), all ball and SWC rounds went into battery without issue

 

[Blue68f100]

When the slide is pulled back and barrel is unlocked from the lugs, barrel can move back and forth.

Try it with your pistol.


I love happy endings.

I have. And fitted several gunsmith fit barrels in BE guns.
If you remove the slide and install the slide stop into the barrel link. When the barrel is rotated to the full rear, (unlocked) you should have around 1/32". This is pretty much the std for those building 1911's. With this gap they normally will feed anything. Without seeing the gun it's hard to tell if the barrel was fitted correctly.

 

[BigMacMI]

Probably will leave it at this cause is getting beyond the reloading scope of this sub forum. But this is pun installed in forward position. As long as everything cycles now. I think I have asked enough of this $250 gun. Hahaha.

 

[Walkalong]

I have. And fitted several gunsmith fit barrels in BE guns.
If you remove the slide and install the slide stop into the barrel link. When the barrel is rotated to the full rear, (unlocked) you should have around 1/32". This is pretty much the std for those building 1911's. With this gap they normally will feed anything. Without seeing the gun it's hard to tell if the barrel was fitted correctly.

This is what I wanted a good pic for, and also to see what the front edge of the throat on the barrel looked like, it can be catching rounds.

 

[Walkalong]

Looks like you have the barrel rotated forward instead of back, and looks like the barrel doesn't sit flush. Rotate it back and get a good pic.

 

[Master Blaster]

Try a different magazine.
Try a wolf magazine spring in your current magazine.
Chip McCormicK power mags are good mags to try.

 

[243winxb]

beyond the scope of this sub forum

 

[LiveLife]

As long as everything cycles now. I think I have asked enough of this $250 gun. Hahaha.

That's awesome.

We have entertained quite a few threads in the autoloader pistol category where 1911s won't reliably feed and chamber SWC bullets and these 1911s costed upwards of $1000+.

 

[BigMacMI]

SWC ran flawless at 1.250, RN 200 and 230 were also without problem. I guess I just stay away from the Berry's target HP. This gun won't be doing any duty as SD gun, so I don't see needing to run factory HP through it at any point really either. It's a steel plinking range gun

Thank you all for your help! And BDS for the PIF bullets to try

 

[LiveLife]

Woohoo!

Always glad to help out fellow THR members with PIF bullets to troubleshoot feeding/chambering issues.

Great to hear ATI 1911 fed 200 gr SWC reloads reliably with factory magazines (Which you were hoping for anyways).

I love happy endings.