1911Tuner
Moderator Emeritus
As the cartridge glances up on the feed ramp, it glides across the top corner of the barrel ramp...not touching any part of the ramp below that point. Or..at most...barely rubbing it as it moves forward and up. Not ideal, but acceptable as long as it's very light contact.
Relate it to pushing a heavy box up a flight of steps. You want it to glide over the top corners and never let the face of the box hit the face of a step.
As the cartridge glides over the corner of the barrel ramp, and starts to break over to horizontal, it places a downward force on the barrel, which keeps it on the frame bed.
This keeps the angle at a minimum, allowing the cartridge to break over to horizontal with less resistance. The advice to lightly roll and polish the top corner of the barrel ramp is sound...but only a little. Don't overdo it. That's a case head support area.
Once the cartridge breaks and enters the chamber, the slide moves forward and finishes chambering it...and the barrel doesn't move forward and up until the breechface contacts the barrel hood. In some few pistols, the breechface guides effect the barrel engagement timing by contacting the chamber face. These are usually the ones that have an overly short hood.
Proper timing is effected by the breechface and the barrel hood.
The result is a pistol that feeds and goes to battery with authority. There is no hesitation, and there's no "Ka-Chunk" feel or sound as it feeds. Just a satisfying "SCHHHHLACK" as it functions...no matter if it's the top round or the last...or anywhere in between. These are the pistols that seem to eat anything that we throw at'em with equal relish. These are the ones that don't set the bullet deeper in the case even after repeated chamberings. Given proper extractor geometry and tension...these are the ones that are so reliable that they're boring.
Relate it to pushing a heavy box up a flight of steps. You want it to glide over the top corners and never let the face of the box hit the face of a step.
As the cartridge glides over the corner of the barrel ramp, and starts to break over to horizontal, it places a downward force on the barrel, which keeps it on the frame bed.
This keeps the angle at a minimum, allowing the cartridge to break over to horizontal with less resistance. The advice to lightly roll and polish the top corner of the barrel ramp is sound...but only a little. Don't overdo it. That's a case head support area.
Once the cartridge breaks and enters the chamber, the slide moves forward and finishes chambering it...and the barrel doesn't move forward and up until the breechface contacts the barrel hood. In some few pistols, the breechface guides effect the barrel engagement timing by contacting the chamber face. These are usually the ones that have an overly short hood.
Proper timing is effected by the breechface and the barrel hood.
The result is a pistol that feeds and goes to battery with authority. There is no hesitation, and there's no "Ka-Chunk" feel or sound as it feeds. Just a satisfying "SCHHHHLACK" as it functions...no matter if it's the top round or the last...or anywhere in between. These are the pistols that seem to eat anything that we throw at'em with equal relish. These are the ones that don't set the bullet deeper in the case even after repeated chamberings. Given proper extractor geometry and tension...these are the ones that are so reliable that they're boring.
