Odd Witness feeding problem

[Moparmike]

I was firing my 10mm Witness with some 200gr Blazer TMJ to see how it does and everything, and had 2 or 3 fail to feeds out of a box of 50. The cartridge had moved about 3/8 of an inch foward to the feeding ramp, but did not chamber. The slide was almost fully back, but not quite. I had to pull the slide back to full stop, release the mag, push the bullet to full seating in the mag, and then reinsert the mag and release the slide. No probs after that little drill.


Could limp-wristing cause this, or is it a magazine or ammo problem?

BTW, 200gr TMJ knocks the holy living dog poop out of a 55gal drum! Fascinating to see the holes knocked in that.

 

[1911Tuner]

Odd Burp

Howdy Mike,

A couple of possibilities come to mind...Either a magazine issue (Weak
spring or follower angle) or the cartridge overall length was a little too
long or short on the few rounds that gave the problem. Rule of thumb
is that...top round from slidelock and last round is most often the magazine.
Anywhere else in the magazine is either the ammo or the gun...Since
yours is intermittent and at random, it probably rules out a gun problem. I vote ammo if it's in the middle rounds...magazine if it's on one end or the other.

I'm not familiar with the Witness, so this is a WAG and a blind shot in the dark. I am familiar with punchin' holes in 55-gallon drums though. A
neigbor of mine and I used to sit on a hill and shoot at'em across a small
valley over on the other hill with a Ruger Super Blackhawk...distance about 400 yards...from a Creedmore position. A good way to burn up 2 or 3 hundred rounds on a Sunday afternoon, and it was surprising how many holes were in that drum when we'd hike over for a look. Good times and
nice memories.

Luck!

Tuner

 

[cratz2]

Well, if it was brass-cased ammo, I'd be likely to blame the gun or the feedlips or the mag spring... But those aluminum cases aren't very slippery.

I've put many rounds of Blazers through different guns and have had relatively few problems... but enough problems to not judge a gun on how well it feeds Blazers.

 

[Moparmike]

Thanks for the replys. Anyone else have an idea? Could this be me limpwristing, or is it the mag/gun/ammo?

 

[Grayrider]

Almost all of the Witnesses I have had needed serious feed ramp polishing out of the box. Both my 10mm Witnesses did. After that they ran fine. Take a look at your feed ramp and see how slick it is. A test for that would be to lube the ramp good before shooting. That should wear off pretty quick, so if the problem is gone at first then comes back you will know. My smith is of the opinion that they tend to need throating as well. I need to get my remaining Witness (.38 Super) over to him and have him attend to it, as it gets finicky on rounds 15-18 in each mag.

GR

 

[forquidder]

feed problems

The witness has a short (1/16th of an inch) squared off portion at the very bottom of the feed ramp. Mine had problems with jamming hollowpoints and semiwaddcutters into the squared off area. New extra power mag springs helped the problem by getting the round above that point before the slide returned but it didn't completely eliminate the problem. I eventually took a dremel tool and recountoured and polished the feed ramp all the way to the bottom to fix the problem.

 

[armoredman]

I had my Witness throated and polished when I bought it umpteen years ago, and it doesn't hang up on anything, but it does NOT like Blazer.

 

[ILLINI]

Your problem is most likely magazine or feedramp related. That said, mine likes lots of lubrication. Unless it is highly lubed, mine will jam. Polish the feed ramp and try to run some oil down the slide groves. I bet that your problem disappears...Illini