Hey  I'm new to 1911s,  I'm a SIG fanboy and never had any issues with P series pistols,  but I bought a SIG 1911 saturday and am having nothing but issues.    What do I need to do to make it run right.   I'm getting Failure to Feed  on JHPs (Ranger, Hydrashok, WWB JHP),   with my reloads  230 gr Plated HP 1.20" COAL 5.4gr HP38 tamper crimped to .468"  (runs in everything else),  and WWB hardball.    Mostly it is in the 1st two rounds of a mag and sometimes mid mag.    I've got the two factory Checkmates and two 8rd Mecgars, ( EMT, Metalform, and CMPM are on the way to try)  there doesn't seem to be any pattern of FTF emerging.    the  first 250-300 rounds it was around 10% of the time,  then it smoothed out to about 3 or 4%  until  the 550-600 round mark and it went back up.   I'm hoping it was because it was dirty.   I shot  a lot of hardball to break it in and while it was dirty I was using Ranger and Hydrashok.  

From research so far I've gathered SIG 1911s have very tight chambers.  What can I do to overcome this?    Heavier spring?  Full length guide rod?   When the gun jams up the round it pitched up and it appears to be catching on the top of the chamber.   Is is actually catching there?  or is it bouncing off of the feed ramp?  also  5 or 6 times out of the 700 rounds I shot so far the extractor wouldn't engage the cartridge rim.   Ill  try to post some pictures of the FTF if you guys need it.  

What do you guys do to make your 1911s run?

ETA  I  don't want to send it back to the factory.    I'm a SIG armourer and am competent at working on guns I just don't know what stops up 1911s to fix it

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Update:     A buddy of mine was a closet 1911 guy advised it was most likely the firing pin hole being too sharp.   Sure enough after marking the top of the round with a sharpie when it would hang up, there would be a little semi circle indent in the rim from the firing pin hole.    I used a carbide bit and chamferred it a smidge.  Now it runs like a raped ape and fed an additional 250 rounds without a malf!

I would personally sent it to Sig and have them sort it out (I know that sucks, and I don't like doing it either)

I'm no expert, or gunsmith, but I THINK mags, extractor tension, and throating and polishing chambers seem to be the most common places to look when troubleshooting a 1911. (jacked up feedramps can cause this type of stuff too, I guess)

(the only time I had feeding issues with a 1911, the thoating/polishing, barrel/chamber is what sorted it out)(I didn't do it Colt did)

There will be guys along that know more than I.

Any stock 1911 that chokes on WWB 230 ball needs to go back to the factory. I realize the desire to just fix it yourself can be substantial but there could be a number of things coming together to make it unreliable.

Thank you.   I just don't want to send it in.  You drop a grand on a weapon and it should work.  Does anyone here have experience with SIG CS?   Do they pay for shipping? The FFL transfer?   I'll ask over in the SIG forum about the CS I'm sure the guys over there will have dealt with them.    I've only dealt with them on the LEO side and all it takes is a phone call.

I would send it in. 1911's are much more complex to trouble shoot than modern designs (I've been around 1911's for 30+ years and have a couple right now I can't figure out!) and the sig external extractor throws another variable in the mix. FYI shipping to and from sig does NOT have to go through a dealer and sig should provide a shipping label take the gun back and fix it. I hate to say it but the older and more experienced I get I am finding the modern platforms easier to deal with than 1911's . My experience has been the more mods you do ( wether that be a gunsmith or manufacturer ) away from the basic jmb design the more problems we seem to have

Is your 1911 one of the Scorpion duracoated ones? I had a full size Scorpion and i had the same problems when i first started shooting it. It seems like the duracoat made the slide to frame tolerances real tight and the slightesit of fouling would make it jam. After 50-100 rounds it wouldnt even fully go into battery and would stop about an 1/8 of an inch short but with my thumb i could push it into battery. I found that if i removed the slide and added some CPL that it would run fine. I got to where i would run it fairly wet and didnt seem to have many problems after that.

I did send mine in to Sig for them to work on it and they did pay for shipping both ways. If i remember correclty, they emailed me a shippng label and i sent it back to them in the case it came in. They had it for 7-10 days before shipping it back to me. They do require someone over 18 be there to sign for the package.

Yes it is a Scorpion.    I "run" my guns wet.   The only time it would stop 1/8"  is the times the extractor wouldn't engage the cartridge rim.    I'll try and post pics

i dont think the extractor was causing mine to not fully go into battery but maybe it was.  

Mine was the full size model and i was using it for me EDC until one day when i took it off at the end of the day to find the plunger tube had backed out allowing the thumb safety plunger to slip out and over the thumb safety. And since it was carried cocked and locked, the thumb safety plunger over riding the thumb safety meant i couldnt take it off safe. Not good for a gun i was relying on as my EDC. Anyways, i sent it back to Sig for that reason and while there i asked them to look it over due to the failure to go into battery issues and one other issue that i cant remember (stovepiping maybe). They fixed the plunger tube but really did nothing else to it. I wound up selling it as i didnt have alot of confidence in it at that point.

I'm not trying to "scare" you about yours, just relaying what i went through with mine and giving you things to watch out for that shoud NOT happen on a $1000 pistol.

excactly its $1000 pistol and runs like crap I'm furious

At this point, i would contact Sig Cust Service and let them know the problems you are having with it. They will have you retun it and they'll look it over and hopefully they can find something wrong with it that can be fixed. it may also need to have alot of rounds run through it to "wear down" the coating on the rails so the tolerances will loosen up some. I know mine was very tight and had absolutely 0 play in it.

Check the slide stop and see how much copper is built up on it.  If there is allot give it a light filing or replace with another one.  Mine did same thing and the slide stop was the cuprit. FMJ rounds were hitting it when feeding.  FYI my Kimber had same issue.  Both running fine now.

None, just checked

Update in OP

Interesting... Learn something new everyday.

Thanks for posting that info.

Cool.  Glad you got it to run.  SIG does make some nice 1911's.  Just surprising that some get sent out with these very easy fixes.

Thanks for the update.
Good tidbit.

Sweet!

Glad it was an easy fix.