Problem with my 45 loads jamming in Kimber Team MatchII

[dsm]

I am running MBC Bullseye #1 200 SWC, coal 1.225, .003" of crimp, 5 gr 231, mixed range brass and a cci 300 primer.

What is happening is I get one jam in about 15-20 shots. The Kimber is several years old and has about 500 rounds through it. I am wondering if this is a spring issue rather than a loading issue? Maybe the mixed range brass can be problematic?

 

[RidgwayCO]

We need a little more information than just "jamming." Is it:

1) failing to completely chamber a round?
2) failing to fire the case in the chamber?
3) failing to extract the fired case?
4) stovepiping (a partial ejection that looks like a stovepipe)?
5) failing to feed a fresh case after firing the previous one?
6) the dreaded "double feed" (a case in the chamber with another round wedging it in)?

All of these malfunctions indicate different problems and will help the people here diagnose what's happening.

 

[918v]

1.225 is a little too short. Seat them to 1.255" for a better feed ange.

 

[dsm]

It fails to feed a fresh round after firing one. I can take that same round, load it back into the clip and it will feed fine.

I did have them loaded at .010 longer but still jammed. I seated them deeper to try and fix my problem.

 

[cavman]

my MBC Bullseye #1 200gr is set at 1.260" OAL on my Rock River 1911

 

[LiveLife]

I shoot with another reloader who has several Kimbers. All of them will feed/chamber and cycle reliably with my reloads of same 200 gr SWC (IDP #1) 5.0 gr of W231/HP38 loaded to 1.25"-1.26" OAL with taper crimp set at .472".

If they are not reliably feeding/chamber/cycling, I would double check the taper crimp and/or increase the OAL first.

1. Adjust the taper crimp at the case neck to .472" and function test (load one in the magazine and manually release the slide) to see if the rounds reliably feed/chambers. If they function test reliably, your problem was not enough taper crimp.

2. If #1 doesn't resolve your issue, load some rounds longer (start at 1.25" then 1.26") and function test (load one in the magazine and manually release the slide) to see if the rounds reliably feed/chambers. If they function test reliably, then your problem was too short of OAL and/or not enough powder charge for your recoil spring rate.

3. Next you would have to range test them to see if not enough powder charge is causing the slide to not fully cycle. You could load some at 5.3 and 5.5 gr. If you do not have any feeding/cycling issues at the range with the 5.0 gr loads, then your problem was taper crimp/OAL. If you have feeding/cycling issues at the range with 5.0 gr loads but not with 5.3/5.5 gr loads, then your problem was not enough powder charge.

 

[Walkalong]

As posted, load them longer. More like 1.260 to 1.265

 

[Waldog]

I have a new Kimber that had the exact same problem. Mine was actually worse, it would jam, actually fail to fully feed, 50% of the time. All my loads feed fine in my other 45's and all were checked in a case gage. I sent my pistol back to Kimber. The work invoice claimed they polished the ramp and chamber and did some extractor work. My chamber and ramp were like mirrors when I bought the gun. However, the extractor was smoothed up and polished. Since then it has been 100% reliable, EXCEPT with Berry's plated 200 SWC. They have a very short point and don't feed reliably. I get 1 fail-to-feed every 30 rounds or so. Every thing else feeds fine. I don't like Berry's bullets anyhow. After talking with other 1911 GURUS, I'll bet your extractor is the source of your problems. BTW, my 200SWC load is also almost exactly the same as yours except my 231 charge is a tad heavier. My crimp is also .472.

 

[dsm]

I just loaded 16 rounds with a longer oal to test and 16 rounds with 5.5 gr 231.

 

[dsm]

The longer oal rounds seemed to chamber fine.

 

[rfwobbly]

You got to get that shoulder out in front of the case mouth, like...

And try a new Metalform mag...

http://www.cdnninvestments.com/colt.html

 

[ricehombre]

My Kimber likes the SWC 200 seated at 1.26 except for the short nose lswb's with the longer shank. They have to be 1.19.

 

[gregj]

My Kimber Gold Match II had a sharp point on the left side of the throated barrel that was sometimes catching my reloads. A little work with a jewerls file and some polishing fixed it right up. Might be worth checking on yours.

 

[chrt396]

Crimp

The same thing happened with my Kimber CDP Pro. It turned out that the taper crimp was not enough. I disassemble my 1911 and took the barrel out and used as a test dummy. I crimp til' they slide in freely! I also am very careful when I expand the case. I turn the expander die down just a little bit at a time until the bullet barely seats and sits on it's own. I then seat all the rounds first...then I go back and crimp. Many seat and crimp in the same step. I do it separately. I seem to have zero issues following these new guidelines.

The type of bullet makes a difference as many 1911 are extremely stubborn and just prefer RN bullets.

 

[Walkalong]

You should not have to over crimp to get a round to fit the chamber. Millions of lightly crimped 200 Gr SWC's have been fired in 1911's.