7th round 45 feed problems

[r8rcrzy]

Here's my situation...
I shoot a Springfield 1911-A1 and have never had a problem with factory ammo. I recently decided to start reloading with 230gr LRN from Oregon Trail with 5gr of Bullseye as this seems to be very popular in other threads. I am using Lee factory dies and have been reloading for a while now. I am delighted with the improved accuracy but the issue I am having is my slide locking back after the 6th round. It appears to be locking back as if I had only 6 rounds in the magazine. I only use factory mags and the problem is not specific to any one magazine. I have tried setting my OAL at various places from 1.250 up to 1.275. Between 1.265 and 1.270 seem to be best but it is still happening on every other mag.
When the slide does not lock back as mentioned above, it will strip the 7th round but the slide will not travel forward completely. It acts like the bullet does not fit. I drop each round into the barrel when reloading to check the fit as I am new to 45ACP. I can reload these "problematic 7th rounds" into a mag and they fire fine. I hope someone can help!! BTW I am new to THR and I love this site...always good info.

 

[*Klutch*]

I think your OAL is long, I load mine to 1.225-1.230 OAL and no issues

 

[Gary Wells]

Is a shok-buff installed?
Sounds possible that the load is just not kicking the slide back far enough to lock the slide back.
Gun being unloaded, the slide should not lock back without a magazine in it. With a magazine in the gun, you should be capable of locking back the slide by hand.
If that all works out, then look at the load or the spring.
Might try adding a few tenths of a grain to your load and see if that changes anything.
Another possibility could be a weak magazine spring.

 

[cfullgraf]

Sometimes, with an extended slide release, the extra weight of the slide release will engage the slide lock under recoil. While your 1911-A1 should not have an extended slide release, assuming it faithfully represents an 1911-A1, a similar action might be causing the problem.

1.275" COL is a bit long. 1.250"-1.260" should be the target although I don't think that would cause your problem.

You could change your load a little to change the recoil of the pistol or look at increasing the dimple a little in the slide stop for the plunger pin to more positively hold the slide release in place. Use caution here as too much force required to move the plunger and the slide will not lock back after the last round.

Fortunately, slide releases are pretty cheap to replace if it gets screwed up.

One other thought, if the gun has been shot a fair amount, maybe some dirt has built up in the plunger tube and has prevented the spring from doing its job.

 

[rcmodel]

I think the bullet ogive is hitting the slide stop where it projects into the mag well.

Take the slide off and put a full mag in the gun and take a gander inside.

If that proves to be the case, you should be able to ID the offending excess slide stop projection by looking at it, and by lead smears on the slide stop where the bullets are hitting it.

You can remove a little of it with a fine file and polish it.

Seating OAL is 1.266" - 1.271" on 230 FMJ-RN GI ammo.
But if the OT lead bullet has a rounder ogive, it will bump the slide stop unless you cut it back so it doesn't.

Seating shorter is not going to help much, as the rounds slide forward in the mag from recoil, and it will still bump the stop up if there is too much of it sticking through the frame.

rc

 

[r8rcrzy]

Thanks!!!

thanks for the responses! After reading and checking these out I think rc may have nailed my problem. I did notice after firing more test rounds that a shorter OAL only made things worse and it did appear that recoil may be forcing these shorter rounds forward in the magazine and the slide stop is hitting the ogive of these bullets! I think I will try to take a little off the slide stop and even switch to a bullet with an ogive that is not as round. Thanks again and I will post back with results.

 

[1911Tuner]

it did appear that recoil may be forcing these shorter rounds forward in the magazine

It absolutely does that, as per Newton 1B: Inertia.

Objects at rest tend to remain at rest. When the gun moves backward, the rounds in the magazine stand still.

 

[r8rcrzy]

hey 1911 Tuner!

I have heard great things about you and value your response! love the signature quote!