ported .45

[CaptainA]

ok, so my reloaded .45 (230gr LRN, 5.6gr Unique) shoots great in both my colt 1911a1 and my springfield armory 1911a1, but then my(fathers) custom para-ordinance cant shoot them for sh*t. my suspicion is that the porting on the custom is not allowing them to fully cycle. the issues the para has are the inability to fully chamber a round after one has been fired, and sometimes the spent brass will even get stuck. again these same loads work fine in my other 2 1911's but not in the custom. i think its the porting but if this sounds familiar to anyone please let me know.

 

[CaptainA]

nobody?

 

[Snapping Twig]

Do a search at: www.m1911.org and see what you can find there. They have a wealth of information on all varieties of 1911's.

 

[Sheldon]

A ported pistol loses some of the gasses that would otherwise go to cycling the slide, so I can see that having an effect on your reliability. That in itself shouldn't effect the accuracy though. That pistol may just not like that bullet or powder combination. I'm guessing if you up the powder charge some your cycling issue will go away. Is it possible you guys were so distracted by the realiability/jam issue that it was affecting how you were shooting the pistol??

 

[CaptainA]

"A ported pistol loses some of the gasses that would otherwise go to cycling the slide, so I can see that having an effect on your reliability. That in itself shouldn't effect the accuracy though. That pistol may just not like that bullet or powder combination. I'm guessing if you up the powder charge some your cycling issue will go away. Is it possible you guys were so distracted by the realiability/jam issue that it was affecting how you were shooting the pistol??"

it could be user error. i will try to up the load a bit & see if it cycles. thanks for the advice.

"Do a search at: www.m1911.org and see what you can find there. They have a wealth of information on all varieties of 1911's."

thanks, i'll check it out.

 

[Steve C]

5.6grs of Unique behind a 230gr Lead bullet should have enough recoil momentum to cycle just about any .45. 6.0grs with a jacketed bullet runs over 800 fps and lead goes faster so 5.6 should be about the same as factory. I'd look to the gun for something that's slowing the slide speed.

The assumption is that your fathers pistol runs fine with factory jacketed but is that true?

One of the issues with shooting lead in a comped pistol is lead build up in the slots of the compensator.

 

[1911NM]

Just a thought, but aren't 1911's recoil actuated, not gas. With a relatively fast powder, the pressure should spike before the compensator, so I would go along with the other poster's in looking for another reason the Para won't cycle.

 

[CaptainA]

what else could cause a problem like this? (the round not fully cycled into battery) magazine maybe? im pretty sure my rounds are good aside from charge. this really has me befuddled.

i'm almost ready to give up on his pistol and just use the two that arent so picky. I wont give up without a final effort though.

I planned and prepared a ladder test for tomorrow involving the same setup in rounds with the charge going from 5.3 to 6.2 increasing incrementaly in 1/10 of a grain. are these loads 6.0+ too hot for the pistols?

thanks again

 

[Steve C]

Try the same load (5.6grs) using 230gr FMJ and see if they feed and eject. If not look for mag problems (switch with another mag that works in your gun), tight chamber (Lee FC die can help here if you are not already using it), give the chamber a good cleaning, and if that doesn't work try swapping recoil springs or go to a lighter spring (one of the Wolf calibration packs would be a good one to use).