why does my gun jam

[kimbercustomtle2]

i would appreciate any help sorry to join and poast right away. i have kimber custom tle 2 1911 pistol that since i bought it has jammed.you load the clip pull back the slide and usually the first round needs a little extra push on the back of slide to chamber but after that it usually works for the whole clip . with the occasional jam mid clip i love the gun it shoots well when not jamming. yes it is claen and lubricated. any ideas?

 

[gb6491]

Welcome to the forums.
To your pistol:
Have you tried different magazines in it? (bad mags are the source of many feed problems)
How does the feed ramp look? (smooth and free of tooling marks)
Extractor tension? (maybe too much: check out this article.
Regards,
Greg

 

[Black Knight]

It could also be the ammo. Some semi-autos have a rough time with hollow points where FMJ ammo will work fine. The problem with semi-autos is that there are 1001 things that can make them do or not do certain things. Find out what is causing it is can be simple or complicated. I had a problem with a SIG SP2340 that caused all sorts of jams on an Instructor qualification course. When I sent it back to SIG it turned out to be a deffective extractor.

 

[Loomis]

If it only jams on the first round out of the mag, then it's a problem with the magazine spring.

It's too stiff.

Here's a way to test it. From now on, load all your mags up one short of a full load. In otherwords, if the mag holds 14, only put 13 in it. If it quits jamming when you do this, your mag spring is too stiff.

This is a common problem. You can either wait for the spring to weaken a little over years of use, or you can quit loading your clip all the way full. Or you can buy new mags and take your chances again.

 

[jim147]

Are you having a jam on the first round or failure to return to battery? If you can push on the slide it sounds like you may be riding the slide. Pull back and let go. I have only had two Kimber mags. Both had to be worked on to get proper function out of them. They worked about the same as gun show specials.

 

[machinisttx]

Try some Wilson mags.

 

[possum]

sorry to join and poast right away

that is what you are supposed to do when you join! btw welcome to thr.

i say try new magazines first, and you don't have to go crazy expensiv either get some chip mc cormick power mags, or some kimpro tac mags and give that a try.

what kinda ammo does this happen with? that might be your issue too. try different brands of ammo. for example my 1911 eats everything 100% except wolf ammo, out of 650rds it has 5 'malfunctions exactly like you described, through trial and error i found that it wasn't the mags and it wasn't umc, wwb and other ammo but the wolf.

 

[Master Blaster]

What happens when it jams in the middle of a magazine?

Does it fail to eject the empty?
Does it eject the empty but fail to chamber another round?
Does the round go halfway in?

What ammo are you using?

We need some more specific details.

 

[rcmodel]

Try oiling the slide rails sloppy wet and see if that helps.

Excess friction somewhere can cause your problem.

rcmodel

 

[Darthbauer]

I say ammo. Are you feeding it FMJ round or flat nose or HP's? Most of my friends 1911's dont like flat nose fmj or HP.

 

[kimbercustomtle2]

thanks so much for all the replies
here is my mass response
i have tryed several mags gb6491. including wilson combat mackinisttk. all do the same thing.
have used 230gn fmj round point only since new various brands all do the same blackknight. smooth feed ramp as far as i can tell. will try the 1 rnd short trick loomis . ammo goes half way in jim147.
its always well lubed including the slide and cleaned after every use and it is failing to go into battery

 

[kcshooter]

Could be many things, including an overly tight chamber or extractor.

If you aren't familiar with 1911's, send it back. They'll fix it.

 

[rbernie]

Kimber Series II pistols are known for failures to 'return to battery' (RTB), especially on the first round. The problem is most often a firing pin safety plunger that has a sharp edge, and won't depress properly. The symptom of a baulky firing pin plunger is that the slide will stop about 1/8"-1/4" out of battery and needs a push on the back with your thumb to 'seat' it fully forward and go fully into battery.

You can try to 'break it in'; in this case, shooting the pistol usually makes the problem better. You can also pull the slide off and ensure that the firing pin safety plunger moves freely.

Kimber will fix this problem, but you'll have to ship them your pistol and wait for a bit to get it back.

 

[kurts_armory]

i was having the same problem with a taurus pistol. i got my dremmel out with some polishing compound and made the ramp smooth and mirror like. that solved solved the problem

 

[35 Whelen]

The solution is simple:

First, drop the clip out of the pistol.
Next, get a Colt Series 70 (before all the silly safety things like firing pin plunger thingys.) and insert the magazine.
Now, you're back in business!

Seriously, to me a 1911 copy ought to feed with any magazine. I've owned my Colt Series 70 for nigh on 27 years and I've fired it with every conceiveable load from 185 gr. SWC's to 255 gr. SWC's to 300 gr. RNFP's with magazines varying from el cheapo aftermarkets to original Colt magazines.
For awhile, I did have some feeding problems, and took the recommendation of a buddy and replaced the slide/recoil spring. Viola'!!! I've never had a single feeding problem since.
I've found that if you slowly cycle the action and watch what's going on, you can sometimes see what's causing the problem.
Good luck!
35W

 

[sskimber]

I have a TLE II as well, I have experienced a similar issue, the slide not going all the way forward when a new Mag is inserted. I determined it was do to my loading technique. I had the little bumper extensions on the mags, and would push them as far into the gun as i could. instead is the mag "hanging" in the gun by the top of the little notch in the mag, it was jammed all the way to the bottom of the little notch. this increased the spring pressure and the gun did not like it. I did also change the recoil spring as well. I have not had an issue since.

 

[bezzy]

gun problems

hello everybody i have a little 25 handgun and it jams almost every shot it doesnt eject the empty i dont know alot about guns as was just looking for some advise or if i would be better off just throwing the gun at the target

 

[rcmodel]

It would certainly help to diagnose the problem if you had told us what brand of gun you are talking about.

There are some .25's that didn't work 100% when they were new, and they don't get any better with age & wear.

I might have also been better for you to start a new thread about your gun then to hijack this one about Kimber 1911 .45's.

rc

 

[NCsmitty]

Welcome to THR, bezzy.

I suggest that you look at the extractor to see if it's broken, bent, worn or what. Is the pistol a low priced brand? Just wondering if it's worth having it checked by a gunsmith or someone knowledgeable? Have you tried watching the mechanism as you safely and slowly rack the slide with ammo?
It could be something as simple as a good cleaning.



NCsmitty

 

[navyretired 1]

I've had three different Kimber 1911 types including a TLE ll and all three have jammed with monotonous regularity. As a result I've sold all three after telling the new owners about the returns for service and the failure of Kimber to fix the problems and offered to send back for them again.
I also have a friend that is sticking it out and trying to put enough rounds through his to "break-it-in" which is what I've been told is my problems. Also my handloads were blamed even though I fired 1000's of them without problems in all my other GMs (9).
I've tried most mags and I stuck on Colts mags and also Pachmayer which I don't think are marketed anymore as I can't find them.

 

[wilkersk]

I have a Kimber Stainless II that I bought from someone who decided he didn't like his Kimber "Jam-o-matics" as he called them. One of the better gun purchases I've made.

Find someone in your area who is a 1911 guru. They are found at local gun clubs, expecially those with active USPSA/IPSC or Bullseye divisions.

You just might find an inexpensive fix for your Kimber's problem, and find a new sport to boot!

 

[joed]

I think Kimbers are fantastic guns. Mine would jam almost every clip for the first 600 rounds. The previous owner put a shock buffer in it, once I got rid of that it has never jammed again.

 

[navyretired 1]

I didn't want to work on the Kimbers myself because for that kind of money I expect the same performance I get fro my other Colts and my own custom built guns. One of the Kimbers had 3 trips back to company and 400 rounds at almost 1 round at a time. I personally don't know anyone who has had a Kimber that would run out of the box. That particular Kimber had milling marks on ramp that looked like ridges. Jam-o-matics is a good name.