Posted: 8/22/2013 7:15:41 AM EDT
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I took my USP Tactical out to the range recently and had FTF issues. Ammo was predominantly 230 gr PPU ball ammo from Walmart. Almost every mag I would get at least one FTF about the middle of the mag. It did this with 3 different mags. I thought it was an ammo issue so I tried to replicate it with some Winchester white box and it happened again once in a 50 rd box.
Pistol is 6 years old and has about 2K+ rounds through it. I replaced the mag springs a few years ago. What do y'all think (ammo, mags, springs, extractor)? This has me concerned since this is my HD gun. Pics below of what the jam looks like. 
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Quoted:
Forgive me for asking, but how clean is the gun? Has the extractor been lightly cleaned with a toothbrush? I'd say it had 100-200 rounds on it since the last cleaning. I just thoroughly cleaned it again and ordered some Wolff +10% springs. If the springs are the problem I'm kind of disappointed. I have replaced the mag springs once already since I bought it and it hasn't had that many rounds through it. |
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Were the mags seated fully & properly? Maybe some debris or something they're getting hung up on that's very minor that you wouldn't notice unless you really looked close?
What's your recoil spring assembly look like? Still in good shape? Also, have you had the light on it for a long time? Maybe some weird weight issue. Just more things to look at. |
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Mag springs are more of an issue than people may think. I've seen the spring installed upside down in the mag cause FTF issues. People take them apart to clean them and accidentally put them in upside down. Big issues.
You won't believe how much of an improvement new mag springs can be - especially if you keep your mags loaded all the time. I recently rebuilt 2 of my original factory 10 round mags for my USP .45 that's 14 years old and wow what a difference. I'm going to rebuild all 6. I also replaced my mag release spring, and upgraded my firing pin and firing pin block and springs to the new style. The extractor may need to be removed and cleaned as well. If you've never removed the roll pin in the slide and removed the extractor to clean behind it prepare for a surprise. There will be a lot of nasty junk in there that at some point can cause issues with extraction. |
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Quoted:
Forgive me for asking, but how clean is the gun? Has the extractor been lightly cleaned with a toothbrush? A bit off topic - For what it's worth, I'm in the middle of an experiment with my 5 year old .45 Tactical. Since mine is not my EDC, I decided to see how many rounds I could put through it without failure. The current count as of yesterday is 1,250  It's pretty gacked up , but not a single failure of any kind and it's still a tack driver.
ETA: I did change the barrel O ring at 300 rounds since it was already long overdue. |
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That looks like a mag spring issue to me. The spring is not pushing the follower and bullets up fast enough and the slide is feeding the bullet when it's not properly aligned. I've had it happen before, a spring change fixes it.
You may also consider replacing the recoil spring. If it is weak the gun will cycle too fast and the mag won't be able to keep up. |