Why do some pistols not feed certain brands of ammo?

[Soap]

Alright THR's collective expertise...I've been shooting autos for quite some time and I've never been able to figure out why some of my autopistols are unreliable with certain brands of ammunition. I'm talking about identical bullet shapes and weights. The most recent example was just last week. I was shooting my Colt 1911 which has fed everything so far. I stoked it with some PMC 230gr. ball and it choked on every round. Is this problem due to the shape of the rim, since I know some manufacturers use different rim shapes (see an S&B vs. WinnyWhiteBox). Or perhaps the OAL of the round is longer or shorter than others? Any other explainations?

 

[cerberus]

I don't know about

All of the guns in question. But I do know that in the group of Compact and Ultra Compact 1911s many don't like flat or blunt type Ammo. They seem to like Ball or Semi pointed Ammo. Now this is IMHO.

 

[HankB]

Well, not to be funny, but

1. Some pistols are junk.
2. Some ammo is junk.

Beyond this, sometimes a pistol is set up for something specific, to the point that it doesn't work as well with other types of ammo. For example, at one time the "in" thing to have a 1911 set up to make "major" power factor for IPSC shooting in .38 Super. A gun set up this way would probably show less than perfect reliability with a lightly-loaded .38 Auto round.

Likewise, bullseye shooters who had a .45 set up for hardball might have difficulty with the so called "midrange" target ammo, which puts out a 185-200 grain bullet at a leisurely 700 ft/sec or so.

As for your specific problem, be advised, PMC ammo does not have a particularly sterling reputation for quality. If your Colt 1911 has worked fine with everything else so far, it may be a case of #2, above.

 

[1911Tuner]

Choked

Daniel my Brother! (Anybody who can name the song is OLD!)

PMC is at close to maximum spec on the OAL for hardball...Most of it
runs to about 1.265 inch. If you'll check the case of a jammed round just below the mouth, I betcha you'll see a crescent-shaped mark...the telltale
sign of excessive stem bind...or a 3-Point Jam.

If that's there...check to see if the barrel is riding the link around the front of the lower lug, just before vertical lockup. Look also at the chamber throat, right at the top. If the corner is sharp, you can scrape it lightly with the tip of a pocketknife to break that corner, and polish it with some 600-grit wet or dry paper on your fingertip. Easy! All you want to do is break the corner at about 45 degrees.

If the barrel is riding the link...let it be known. There's a cure.

Later on!

Tuner

 

[Standing Wolf]

Semi-automatic pistols have lots of parts moving at high speed, then stopping abruptly. Things have to happen in exact sequence at exact times, and it sometimes doesn't take much to hash things up.