FTFs in Remington 1911...typical break-in or sign of trouble?

[gc70]

Though right now I'm just using a spray-on gun oil...do I need to use some sort of grease or thicker lubricant as well?

There is no magic product; 1911s just have a lot more frame-to-slide contact area that needs lubrication than the average polymer gun.

 

[Mitlov]

After a thorough cleaning (copious amounts of Remington light gun oil, patches, and scrubbing all the interior surfaces clean), I took it back to the range last weekend. Shot a hundred rounds through it; mix of Blazer aluminum, Winchester White Box, and some sort of cheap Remington ammo (forget what variety, but it was 230 FMJ, just like the other two). Zero malfunctions. This is with the stock Remington mags; I hadn't gotten around to ordering a Wilson Combat mag and may not unless the issues return.

 

[moxie]

There you go, again. Just keep it clean and lubed. The only time you had a problem was when you first had it, before you cleaned and lubed it. Q.E.D.

 

[BSA1]

Your gun is only as good as it's magazines. Do yourself a favor and buy some good quality magazines.

 

[agtman]

* * * The gun is dirty from the 200 rounds and could use a cleaning. I've shot a mixture of Winchester White Box, Remington, Fiocchi, and one box of Blazer (either steel or aluminum cased, but not brass).
All have been 230 grain FMJ. The FTFs were with Fiocchi and Remington.
I'm going to give it another cleaning. But should I be worried, or is this just typical during break-in?
If the latter, how many rounds should I go before I consider break-in over?

Wouldn't know. But I wouldn't break the bank trying.

1911s are finicky group generally and a lot of the recent johnny-come-lately variants are junk.
Check out Hilton Yam's recent & somewhat controversial piece on the 1911's reliability (many links to it on-line), in which he states, essentially, that he's thrown in the towel on dealing with them.

All the ammo you name and many others I've shot through my S&W 4566 without cleaning, and it's never had one failure to feed, extract, eject, jam-in-the-ham, or other malf so common to the 1911-design. It's been 100% reliable.

I don't often carry a .45acp pistol, but when I do, it's my S&W 4566.



Just sayin' ...

EDITED TO ADD LINK: Yam's piece is here:

http://modernserviceweapons.com/?p=6631

Here's Yam's concluding take-away on 1911s:

There has been an industry wide move away from the 1911 in serious training circles. At the last three classes I attended, none of the students were shooting 1911s. While I have attended more than my share of classes with a 1911 and finished without issue, I have seen plenty of shooters struggling with poorly set up guns. Those shooters would probably have had a more enjoyable time if they had brought a less troublesome pistol. When most shooters with modern pistols went to the line with 2-3 magazines of 15+ rounds, it could get really tiresome juggling 4-6 8rd magazines just to keep up with the drills.

It is easy to get caught up in the mystique and history of the 1911, but the design is over 100 years old, and we have learned a few things about designing and manufacturing since then. If you enjoy the craftsmanship of a finely built 1911 or you enjoy tinkering on your own, by all means continue to enjoy them. However, if training, shooting, and performance is your primary goal and you lack the resources, time, patience, or knowledge to keep after a 1911, then be realistic and choose something more modern. These days I spend much less time at the workbench fixing my training guns or having to wonder if the latest build or mod will work. I no longer need the 1911 as a crutch, and can now just concentrate on the performance.

 

[1911Tuner]

Failure to feed or failure to return to battery?

A failure to feed means that the round never gets into the chamber. If it starts into the chamber...even just...it's a failure to go to battery.

In any feed or RTB issue, the magazine is always the first suspect. Always. For failures to go to battery in which the slide can be pushed or bumped into battery...the extractor is the next place to look. While excessive tension can be a contributor, it's rarely the sole cause unless it's really heavy. Deflection of the extractor...how much of the tensioning wall is showing through the guide block that it passes through...is the usual culprit.

The picture below shows an extractor that has about twice as much deflection as it should have. This one caused some problems. When it was corrected, the gun ran like a Timex watch.