Posted: 5/18/2008 8:45:37 PM EDT
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Gentlemen, thank you for taking the time to read this: I bought ( new ) a High Standard 1911 a year or so ago. The magazine that came with it was so cheap that it got tossed into the trash at the gun range. I bought a few wilson mags and I still had a problem with rounds not completely loading into the chamber. I took the gun to a gunsmith and he did a " feed ramp tune up." Unfortunately this has not fixed the problem. I thought that it had, but after several rounds it started it again. It will extract the spent round, but will fail to completely load another. the rounds are cheap range rounds. nothing special... Any suggestions???? Thanks for your thoughts and time. Respectfully, Scott Nashville TN ETA: wrong ammo. I used Winchester |
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Here's the "usual" on failures to feed: Bad magazine, or a mag your gun just doesn't work with. Bad ammo. Not all guns "like" all ammo. Try something else/better. Weak recoil spring. Rare for a newer factory gun. BE CAREFUL. Guns are designed and "balanced" for a specific spring weight. Installing a heavier spring can damage the gun. Remember, the heavier spring makes the slide slam shut much harder, and this can cause damage. Mis-adjusted extractor. This is fairly common on less expensive 1911's. Improper tension or shape of the extractor can prevent the case from sliding up the breech face. Rough breech face. Causes the case head to "stick" or drag on the breech face. Improperly shaped feed ramp on the BARREL. A sharp edge where the ramp breaks into the chamber can cause a case to hang up. WARNING. Grinding away on the ramp/chamber can RUIN a barrel and cause blown out case head. My advice: Try better ammo and a different magazine. If that doesn't work, see a better pistolsmith. Worse thing you can do: Start altering the gun and springs hoping to hit on something that makes the gun work. Usually this causes irreparable damage. |
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Thanks for your reply, very informative. Ive noticed that the rounds that get hung up have a " snag" , or a " blemish" on the rim where the extractor would pull the round out. So everytime a round gets hung up, it leaves a mark in the same area. I wish I had a camera to show you what im talking about. maybe that would point a finger at the problem. This gun was cheap. Its a 450.00 High Standard. Its my first 1911. My next 1911 will be much much nicer. I just wanted an entry level 1911 to play with. All ive ever shot previously is Sig 229, 220's. I must say that I love the feel of the 1911. It fits my hand perfectly. Now If I could just get this feed problem fixed. I think that I will take your advice and go to another pistol smith. Or call the same pistol smith first and ask his advice. He may have another idea. Again, thanks for your knowledge and time. Scott Nashville TN |
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I wonder what poundage my current recoil spring is? Are all 1911's supposed to be at 20lbs? or is that considered an upgrade? I will give that a try. And I will have the extractor looked at again too. Again, this is a "cheap" 1911, but I want to be able to enjoy shooting it without it jamming up every other shot too. It will eject fine, but the slide wont close completely. Thanks again for your reply. Scott Nashville, TN |
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please don't go putting a 20 lb recoil spring into your pistol. You'll only wind up battering the hell out of your gun. The 1911 Govt model was designed to run with a 16 lb spring. Check your breech face for burrs or rough machining. You'll see brass scuffs if this is the case. If you have this problem, glue a piece of 800 grit wet/dry sandpaper to a popsicle stick and polish it out. BY HAND. Check your extractor for the proper tension and bevels. It sounds difficult, but here's a great set of instructions blindhogg.com/gunsmith/extractor.html Last but not least--and I'm gonna get flamed for this--Wilson has been known to ship mags with weak springs. If the spring can't overcome the extractor's tension, you will have FTRB malfunctions. A Wolff + 5% spring is cheap and easy to install. Good luck |
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Coltguy, thanks for the information. I took my gun to a gunsmith and he messed around with it for a few. He didnt like the mods a previous gunsmith did. He loaded a magazine up and went downstairs to test it. he says my gun has zero problems with it. My problems are my ammo. He recommended that I shoot Fiocchi or pmc or something other than what i was shooting. ( he tested with fiocchi ) I wanted to go to the range this past sunday to do furthur testing on the ammo. Ive got several boxes of fiocchi and pmc to test. How many rounds without failure befor I can give an all clear? |
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how many rounds before 'all clear'? that's entirely subjective--how many rounds will it take until you're not worried about it anymore? If your gun was failing regularly--1 in 50 (or worse) you'll have a pretty good idea if it's fixed within a box of ammo. If it was only failing once/300 rds fired--well, you have some shooting to do. question: what brand ammo were you shooting that supposedly caused the failures? The reason I ask is because all of my 1911s will shoot/feed anything I stuff in the mags. Ball, hollowpoint, quality-US manufactured, cheap russian steel cased, and my reloads all feed/extract with equal ease. That's how a properly tuned 1911 SHOULD run. (I'm still betting that your extractor tension is just a hair too tight and that you'll run into this malfunction again.....I hope I'm wrong, but.....) |