PT1911 Did I break something or..?

Fired another 100 rds today for a total of ~275 with no ftf or fte. At the end of the session I wanted to try a mag of my new carry ammo. Fired white box hp no prob last trip. Winchester PDX1? Nickel plated 230gr bonded hollow point.

I wasnt paying attention and dropped the slide on an empty chamber immediately before this. Cursed myself and loaded the HP.

Insert mag. Tap. Rack, slide doesnt close all the way. Can't drop mag or move slide. Only when I tap the mag again does the slide close and it chambers the round fine.

Took all the rounds out and put them in a diff mag (A+ mec gars) to eliminate the mags as the problem. Same exact results. Mag is seated fully but when racked the slide doesn't chamber the rd and gets locked up. Only tapping the already fully seated mag gets the round to chamber.

Fired the 8 rds off with no prob.

Will post pic of where the slide stops when racking slide.

Unfortunately I didn't have any more fmj to test.

 

There is also a chance this was the regular white box HP. I didn't really check or remember

I'm just concerned that my dropping the slide on an empty chamber damaged something.

Will strip and clean when I get home tonight. Is there anything specific I should look for? Will also try loading fmj.

 

polish the feed ramp

The bullet looks to be hanging up on the feed ramp.you can polish it up if you can. That will help.

 

Its polished from the factory and didn't have this problem last range trip w 3 different types of ammo

 

Are you releasing the slide or riding it when you rack it?

 

I don't think you broke anything but I would look closely at the magazine catch's lug for any signs of chipping. It sound as if the position of the magazine (height) has changed.

 

Clean release of the slide

 

It definitely looks like the bullet is getting hung up on the feed ramp. It needs more polishing. What other hollow points have you been using that worked?

When the round comes out if the mag, it nose dives into the feed ramp. The PDX1's are pretty flat nosed, and not round like FMJ's, so they get stuck.

 

Pretty sure thats just the WWB HP. PDX1s have nickle coated cases.

Check the OAL (Over all length) next time. you may have set the bullet back resulting in a shorter one allowing for less room for error.

 

Looks nickel to me, but I'm on my phone. WWB HP's aren't as wide at the nose like that shows.

 

I'll check for sure when I get home as to which type it was. Its either wwb or the pdx1 flatter nose. The wwb HP and mostly fmj fed perfect last trip so I think it was the pdx. Will try chambering different rounds before and after cleaning then I'll post an update

Also I switched the order of the rounds to eliminate one particular problematic one. Didn't matter. Fired them off w no probs.. once the initial one was coaxed into chambering

 

From the pics, the ramp looks to be sufficiently overpolished. I suspect the magazine follower angle. Yes, it can happen on two different mags. Could be due to weak springs.

Does it happen with all your mags or do you only have two mags?

 

Mags are like new. Have had them 2 weeks(have had the gun a month).. three mecgars. First trip was 175 rds without a hiccup. The springs are fine. Still feel new, stiff

Only had the 8 rds on me. Tried first mag, didn't chamber til I tapped it. Tried it w the 2nd mag w the same results then fired them off, which was no prob.. again, once I coaxed the slide to close on the first round by tapping on the fully seated mag. I do have a third mecgar and Taurus mag. Only had the gun about a month. Will be picking up more mags soon.

 

It was the wwb. Which sucks bad because a bad brand of ammo is a much easier fix. This wwb hp fired 8 rds through 3 mags no issues at the end of last trip. last trip. Taking it all down in a few min. Will try to chamber a mag full of fmj first

Edit: won't chamber wwb fmj now either. Slide stuck and when I hit the mag release this time the mag at least fell out this time and the slide fell, chambering the round

Either way if it happened because of the one time I drop the slide empty it messes something up. Will tear it down to the problem and assess whether or not I'm capable of fixing it. I don't want to send it back to Taurus and wait weeks or more if I can diy it.

All my guns are projects and I enjoy it. But I will need YouTube help and some luck as I haven't even done a complete strip of a 1911 yet

 

That's your problem. Mecgar makes some fine magazines for most any pistol, but their 1911 magazines aren't worth a whole lot, in my book.

1911's will nosedive rounds if the magazine doesn't present them at the correct angle and height, which really isn't hard to do but many magazines simply don't bother to try. Some of the worst offenders are the Mecgars. Get some Colt/Checkmate hybrids and don't look back. I've also had decent luck with the Chip McCormick PowerMag, despite them having a non-tapered feed lip.

Polishing the feedramp will not help, and if the gun is the lightweight version is probably not a good idea at all. More 1911's are ruined by 'polish the feed ramp!' advice than any other single mod.

By the way - you did not break the gun dropping the slide on an empty chamber. If you did, you would be getting hammer follow - not feed issues.

 

OK, everyone repeat after me - feed ramps DO NOT need to be polished. Never have - never will. Ask any knowledgeable smith. It's like waxing your car when the clutch is worn out. It might make you feel better but it will not solve the problem. Leave the ramp alone.

 

I've had good luck with Wilson Combat ETM 8 rounders. May help rbernie is right about the Mecgar mags sucking.

 

Try the Taurus mag and see what happens.

I have had no luck at all with mecgars in any 1911 I have had. Genuine Colt have been the best performers, and I have had a lot of cheap copies that worked well as long as the follower had the magic "pip".

You might find this thread helpful

And I haven't polished a feed ramp in 30 years.

 

I don't know what's wrong with your pistol but I sincerely doubt that dropping the slide on an empty chamber once (or even several times) would have caused any damage. Though doing so is never a good idea, any well-made 1911 pistol should not be damaged by the occasional dropping of the slide on an empty chamber.
Good luck in determining the real cause of your malfunctions.

 

Wow @ the level of knowledge in past threads and I appreciate the help from all of you too.

So first I tried 8 rds fmj from the Taurus mag. Chambered when racked. Put the first rd further down in the mag and tried again. No go.

Then loaded every mag with 7 hollow points a couple times and it was smooth as glass every time for each mag.

1) Why did this problem present itself after almost 300 rds and in all mags not just one at a time? Really makes me think something changed w the gun.

2) Am I losing out on anything or creating problems getting/ keeping 8 round mags always downloaded to 7 rounds?

 

You need a different follower. Mecgar mags are ok, but if you're going to be carrying this, get a Wilson combat mag.

 

I'm guessing the Taurus has a different follower than the Mecgars. As to 8 vs 7, after having nothing but problems with he first 2 8 rounders I bought, I've never used anything but 7 round mags.

 

No - the springs in the mag are crap and have already given up the ghost.....

 

Im not trying to make excuses for the mags but they feel just the same. Stiff and plenty of tension. The 8th round is def under pressure. I just can't see all the mags failing at the same time.

Especially since I used the Taurus mag only once and all of a sudden it shows the same problem during testing

I will definitely be going w better mags but now the questions are if only certain ones work w a certain gun, what capacity and brand to go with..

Also don't want to be looking past an actual problem. Got a pizza and a 6pack of beer. Simple strip and clean coming up. Will post what I find, if anything

 

OK, that is a good point, so lets chase something else. From the pix posted it is impossible to tell if the side is hung up on the back top of the mag or on the rim of the round.

If it is the mag, then we need to figure out why the mag is riding too high.

If it is the round, there are several different possibilities.

The slide stop could be pushing the nose down. Check the bottom of the slide stop for copper smears.

Can you determine just what the slide is hung up on? Or post pics that show more of the breech face and rim? Try to get one showing the rim and the extractor as well.

Oh, if you want to see a wealth of knowledge, just go the the gunsmithing section, read the 1911 stickies at the top, and then search for 1911Tuner's posts on anything regarding a 1911.