45ACP SWCs Jam 1911

[flip]

Drannor

I am @ work now so I don't have the specs of my reloads handy. Off the the top of my head though 1.250 sounds right. When I get home tonight I will measure my lead bullets. I don't think that I have any plated (west coast not rainer but shoudn't a difference) ones left, but I may find a few of those straglers hanging around.

 

[shu]

Drannor -

My bet is on the mags. And the bullet shape

Couple of yrs ago i bought a Springfield MilSpec (had to, to find what all the 1911 mistique was about).

Also got set of 45acp dies. After testing the water with a small box of 230gr rn, i ordered 1000 west coast 200gr swc.

Those things gave me #$% fits!. Kept pushing the oal back as far as i dared, but could never get less than about 15% jams at the feed ramp.

Bought a couple of Chip McCormick mags (in-line 8). That cut the fail-to-feed rate below 5%. Much better, but still not acceptable.

I'm presently working through 1000 230gr lead rn the local store gets from some supplier in El Paso. No problems (other than leading the barrel).

It do seem the 1911 is made for 230gr rn.

 

[halvey]

Interesting reading. I have a similar setup as you. Kimber Gold Match, 550, and between 4.3 and 4.9 of Bullseye but I use lead SWC's in 185 gr. Basicailly the 185 gr and 200 are similiar. You could try 185's as the nose may be a bit thinner. OAL sounds fine, and I have played with OAL before and I still everything runs fine. As a matter of fact, I've never had a jam in that gun.

I'd try new mags first. Have you tried factory ammo?

Those Gold Match guns are very tight. It may need some polishing, but I'd get a good local 'smith to work on it. They are too nice to screw up!

 

[rbwillnj]

First of all, OAL depends on bullet style. Most casters use an H&G 68 or Lyman 452630 style bullet for 200 grain SWCs. I have shot at least 10,000 rounds of 200 grain lead SWCs from my two Kimber Stainless Gold Matches.

With my first Gold Match, I got a few jambs, but then I polished the ramp, and widened the funnel into the chamber as mentioned in my earlier post. I did the same to my other Kimber before I shot the first round. Since then, not a single malfunction!!

I use an H&G 68 style 200 grain Hard Cast SWC over 4.0 grains of Bullseye with WLP primers. This load consistantly gives me sub 1 inch groups from a ransom rest at 25 yards. My OAL is 1.242" with .02-.025 of the shoulder above the case mouth.

I also do a little casting, and Lyman 452460s with the same load give the same results. They have a slightly different profile from a 68 style, and for these, the OAL is 1.187. I leave the same .02-.025 of the shoulder above the rim.

I also cast H&G 130's which are 185 grain SWCs. They have a shorter nose than a 68 style bullet, and their shoulder is very rounded, so I only leave maybe .01 -.015 of the shoulder above the case mouth. For these, a typical OAL is 1.16. This bullet with 4.3 grains of bullesye gives me 1" groups at 25 yards also.

And OH, I use the standard recoil springs and replace them periodically.