I have a 1911 feeding problem (imagine that!) In researching the problem, I've found experts who are SURE or "pretty sure" that the problem is:
-The ramps' geometry
-The ramps' smoothness
-The magazine
-Not enough lubrication
-Magazine sits too low
-Dirt
-Light rounds or limp wrist
-Link length (say that 5 times fast)
-Nosediving
-The mainspring
-The bullet(s)
-Cartridge length
-The extractor (???)
Reminds me of the old days:
"My car's not running right"
"You have a vacuum leak"
"But I think it might be the distributer, can you look at it?"
"Sorry buddy, this is a vacuum-leak-causes-all-ills shop. If you want it to be a distributer problem, you have to go see my cousin down the road; he thinks everything is a distributer problem....
Here's the question. Finally. The prejuidiced diagnosis. How does one avoid it? When you have a complex problem, is there any way to tell whether a well-meaning authoritative expert's diagnosis is one which should be regarded seriously? So far, the only path I can see is to try the least harmful prescriptions before the ones with potential to do harm, and if it's a tie, do the cheaper one first.
OK, if you're still reading this, I guess you want to know what the problem is. Thompson 10mm conversion slide/barrel kit on a Thompson 1911 receiver. Maybe a hundred rounds through it. Often jams with the bullet rammed onto the frame ramp, or it might start up the ramp and get high enough to jam on the barrel ramp. Case is not touching the ramps. If the bullet has jammed on the barrel ramp, slapping the magazine or bumping the slide will probably send her into battery. If jammed on the frame's ramp, then not.
Carbon steel. JHPs or FMJ truncated cones. Heavy main spring. Only tried two mags so far - no change. Very lightly polished ramp without changing geometry (I think). No appreciable change. Shortened cartridge length. Very little change if any. Happens more in the top half of mag stack than the bottom half, and never in the last 2 or 3 rounds. Checked for full cycle - tears polyurethane buffers up pretty bad in 50 rounds, so I'm pretty sure it's cycling fully.
Bought an elevated mag release catch and 2 mags from Tripp, which might fix the problem, but that's a hundred bucks, and I won't know if that was well-spent for at least a week....
But the real question remains: whether there's a way to judge the credibility of the experts. Anyone?
-The ramps' geometry
-The ramps' smoothness
-The magazine
-Not enough lubrication
-Magazine sits too low
-Dirt
-Light rounds or limp wrist
-Link length (say that 5 times fast)
-Nosediving
-The mainspring
-The bullet(s)
-Cartridge length
-The extractor (???)
Reminds me of the old days:
"My car's not running right"
"You have a vacuum leak"
"But I think it might be the distributer, can you look at it?"
"Sorry buddy, this is a vacuum-leak-causes-all-ills shop. If you want it to be a distributer problem, you have to go see my cousin down the road; he thinks everything is a distributer problem....
Here's the question. Finally. The prejuidiced diagnosis. How does one avoid it? When you have a complex problem, is there any way to tell whether a well-meaning authoritative expert's diagnosis is one which should be regarded seriously? So far, the only path I can see is to try the least harmful prescriptions before the ones with potential to do harm, and if it's a tie, do the cheaper one first.
OK, if you're still reading this, I guess you want to know what the problem is. Thompson 10mm conversion slide/barrel kit on a Thompson 1911 receiver. Maybe a hundred rounds through it. Often jams with the bullet rammed onto the frame ramp, or it might start up the ramp and get high enough to jam on the barrel ramp. Case is not touching the ramps. If the bullet has jammed on the barrel ramp, slapping the magazine or bumping the slide will probably send her into battery. If jammed on the frame's ramp, then not.
Carbon steel. JHPs or FMJ truncated cones. Heavy main spring. Only tried two mags so far - no change. Very lightly polished ramp without changing geometry (I think). No appreciable change. Shortened cartridge length. Very little change if any. Happens more in the top half of mag stack than the bottom half, and never in the last 2 or 3 rounds. Checked for full cycle - tears polyurethane buffers up pretty bad in 50 rounds, so I'm pretty sure it's cycling fully.
Bought an elevated mag release catch and 2 mags from Tripp, which might fix the problem, but that's a hundred bucks, and I won't know if that was well-spent for at least a week....
But the real question remains: whether there's a way to judge the credibility of the experts. Anyone?
