RIA 1911 feeding issue

[SonOfRoost]

I now have a Rock Island Armory .45 ACP GI 1911... Every time I take it to the range, it has a feeding problem. Even when the rounds feed into the chamber, they are smashed back into the shell, and look unsafe to me. On top of this, it regularly gets stuck halfway into chambering the round, which is a pretty serious jam if you ask me... Finally, every once in awhile the hammer doesn't cock all the way back after firing. I'm tempted to think that a new ramped barrel would fix most, if not all, of these issues. If anyone has a solution, I would be much obliged.

 

[FoMoGo]

Contact Ivan at RIA and ask him.
RIA stands behind their product.


Jim

 

[WC145]

Contact Ivan at RIA and ask him.
RIA stands behind their product.


Jim

Why is it the defective gun's owner never think of calling the factory first?

FoMoGo is right, RIA has great customer service, they'll make it right for you.
And, no, it doesn't need a ramped barrel.

 

[dogmush]

How many magazine's do you have/have you tried?

 

[surjimmy]

I would try that first^^^^^^^^^^^^^. My new RI Tactical did not get through the first mag without it jamming. Put a Wilson mag in, and it eats everything I feed it.

 

[Smaug]

Why is it the defective gun's owner never think of calling the factory first?

Because it is hassle. Their answer is usually: "Send it back to us and we'll fix it." I look for simpler, quicker, and cheaper solutions first too. Sending it back to the factory is the last resort for me. If it's too much trouble, you don't need to reply.

SonOfRoost: How about some details on the situation? Is the ammo new, or reloaded? If the rounds are smashed back into the case, it usually means not enough crimp, or that the rounds have been chambered quite a bit. (which is a no-no)

FWIW, when my Para 1911 was new, I had similar problems. The gun still had factory grease, and had zero break-in. Also, my reloads were inexplicably a bit wide. I need to either get a factory crimp die, or crimp in a separate operation from bullet seating.

So my advice is to:

a) break it down and clean it first. The thin grease in it from the factory can slow down the slide enough to cause problems, even before it gets dirty and attracts residue.

b) shoot at least 100 rounds of factory ball ammo through it. I know, guns shouldn't need to be broken in to be reliable, but some (usually the tighter tolerance ones) do.

c) If those don't do it, try a different mag. People were quick to blame the factory mags in my case, but they turned out to be fine; just as good as the Chip McCormick mags I bought. Probably just as reliable as the expensive Wilsons that folks like too.

 

[WC145]

Because it is hassle. Their answer is usually: "Send it back to us and we'll fix it." I look for simpler, quicker, and cheaper solutions first too. Sending it back to the factory is the last resort for me. If it's too much trouble, you don't need to reply.

Lighten up, Francis. My obvious point is that a call to the factory gives you advice based on their experience with their product and/or the option of sending it in to be fixed (often at their expense), unlike the advice of interweb "experts". In the case of RIA they're very good about both.

 

[rbernie]

My RIAs and Citadel pistols all suffered (as shipped) from a tendency to get three-point jams, whereby the round being fed into the chamber fails to 'turn the corner' coming up from the magazine, and the nose of the bullet jams straight into the barrel hood while the case jams on the feed ramp and the slide's breech face. There are two cures, and I usually do both.

The first is to take a scraper (nothing powered!) and scrape the edge off the lower lip of the barrel chamber where it transitions from the chamber into the ramp section of the barrel. The goal here is to take off any sharp edges, not to do any significant re-contouring. There is usually no chamfer to this transition in the RIA barrels, and it's the predominant reason for the jam. I use a small jewelers round file and use it as a scraper; this means NOT pushing in-and-out in a filing motion but just using it to follow the edge around the bottom half of the chamber mouth, sorta like paring an apple. If you're not comfortable doing this - you should probably send the pistol back to RIA and let their warranty department deal with it.

The second fix is to ditch the craptastic ACT magazines that RIA/Citadel shipped with the pistol and find some gen-yoo-wine USGI tapered lip 7rd magazines (or at least the Colt/Checkmate hybrid tapered lip magazines). The tapered lip magazines, as spec'ed by JMB, allow the base/rim of the round being fed to rise up slightly as it moves forward along the lips, and in doing so reduces the angle that the cartridge must traverse as it bumps up into the chamber.

 

[SonOfRoost]

Alright, thanks everyone, I'll try it all before I buy a new barrel, and I have fed about 200 rounds through it, all new baller ammo. And Smaug is right, it is usually an immense hassle to call any kind of customer service line, which is why I did not call. However, it sounds like their customer service is good, so I will call them first. Thank you everyone.

 

[SonOfRoost]

what is the number for RIA customer service?

 

[dewalt-2]

I hope you know what you're up against fitting a new barrel. There's considerable work involved even in the best "drop in" barrels. You're way better off trying the tuning tips first.

 

[rbernie]

The pistol doesn't need a new barrel. It needs the stock barrel properly finished, which wasn't done at the factory because they have to skimp on assembly steps to make a price point.

 

[gym]

Have you performed a proper fluff and buff on it? sometimes that's all it takes. Strip her down and polish all the parts with fine polishing compound. I use a German polish called MAAS, you can pick it up on ebay. or google it. It is for all metals. I just wipe it on all the moving parts, it will remove scratches without cutting. The more you rub the more it polishes, it has worked on dozens of projects from brass hinges that were black, to slides that were gritty and didn't function all the time. I used it on my seacamp first about 15 years ago. That gun would not run no matter which mag I tried or ammo. After a few wpes I tried it, and it was 50% better, a few times more and it never had another problem. Just do a little at a time. I did the slide on my Ke-tek 6 months ago and it kept looking better and better so I took it down to a stainless finish with just the polish and a cloth. No wheel, no nothing, it looks like a little kimber now. But it smoothed out the slide on several of my guns to where they are like butter. You have to go slow. Right where the gent above said, also the feed ramp where it meets the follower and the top of the barrell, all that is done on the expensive guns by a gunsmith. You need to do just a little work on it to have it run as smoothe as silk. This applies as long as there is not a bent or malfunctioning part that needs to be replaced. I would do it for you if you were local, I enjoy getting things to work in unison.

 

[orionengnr]

I had a Charles Daly briefly about 5 years ago. Also made by Armscor, same as RIA. Mine could not feed three rounds in succession. I tried calling, emailing, etc, and had no response.

Some time later, Armscor had an "ah-hah!" moment, realized that their CS was costing them sales, and became somewhat more responsive in the CS department and (allegedly) somewhat better in initial quality.

Too little, too late for me--I had already grown frustrated and sold mine with full disclosure at a significant loss. I hope your story has a happier ending than mine, and I hope Armscor has learned something about quality and CS.

 

[0to60]

Why is it the defective gun's owner never think of calling the factory first?

Because sometimes you can save yourself a lot of hassle by hearing tips from experts. Plus, even if it doesn't solve your problem, you can still learn a lot from people's suggestions. This is fairly common to all forums that deal with mechanical things.

 

[SonOfRoost]

I called up Armscor, and they offered to fix the problem if I send it in... I have a shoot this saturday, and intend to try many of the suggestions there, and if that doesn't fix all of my issues, I will send it to Armscor with their limited lifetime warranty. (I haven't modified it at all, so it should be fine)

 

[SonOfRoost]

Looks like the issue was the magazines. I'm going to buy a new one very soon.