Posted: 2/24/2008 5:29:02 PM EDT
| I have a new Kimber TLE/RL II and every couple of mags it has a round hang up going into the chamber and the slide wont close. I have 500 rounds through the gun and it still does this. Do I just need to shoot it more to break it in? Ammo is WWB and CCI blazer brass. Mags are Kimber Mecgar and Wilson Combat. I had someone tell me to dremel just a hair off of the feed ramp area of the barrel too but wanted some second opinions on this. Thanks for any help. |
|
Kimber recommends 500 rounds to "break-in" their pistols so looks like you got that covered. Have you tried shooting exclusively with the Wilson's or the Kimber's to see if one or the other may be causing the FTF? Excerpt from Hilton Yam (10-8 Consulting) - "Lastly, 1911 magazines need to be considered an expendable asset, much like the GI aluminum M16 mag. I expect an average service cycle of 12-24 months, and I will not hesitate to replace them the moment one fails to feed or drop free. Don't get married to a set of mags, use them up and move on." http://www.10-8performance.com/id17.html |
Glad you didn't listen to that idiot. It's sounds to me like a classic case of a too tight chamber, which is something Kimber is known for. Either contact Kimber or have a local smith check the chamber for you. |
ABSOLUTELY! Do NOT go dremeling randomly. |
|
Take a look at the hangup and see if the round isn't slipping past the extractor - like there is too much tension on the extractor. If the round is slipped past the extractor, and the pistol isn't going into battery all the way, see what kind of pressure it takes to nudge it forward. If it is minimal, it is just working in and is still a bit tight. If it takes a little added force to move it the last part into battery, the chamber is a little tight. I don't believe the chamber would be to blame here, either extractor tension or tight barrel fit. Bob |
| Minor update: Ive got 800 rounds through it now and still the same problems. When it hangs up I cannot push the slide ahead by hand. I think I would need a hammer to make it move forward. I tried some American Eagle ammo and had better luck but still a couple failures to feed in 100 rounds. With the WWB today I couldnt even make it through a mag. Can there really be that much difference in ammo types. |
Can you take the barrel out and drop the round into the chamber, or will it not go in at all? |
Have you checked the extractor tension? |
| The rounds will drop into the barrel just fine. Im not sure how to check the extractor. When a round hangs up it appears to be held by the extractor. I tried using a small screwdriver and pushing the extractor out while pushing on the back of the slide and it still wont go into battery. It seems like I need to pull the slide back slightly then push it ahead to get it to go most of the time. |
Can anyone tell me what the locator pad is? Also, is the firing pin stop suppossed to be sloppy loose? Thanks for putting up with me. Im learning a lot with this thing and its kinda fun. |
The locator pad is the shiny area south of the extractor groove in this photo:  The firing pin stop should ideally be a close fit and not allow the extractor to rotate in place. The photos below show an undesirable degree of extractor rotation:   |
Mine is that bad if not worse. But would that cause it not to go into battery? Should I try a new firing pin stop? |
|
APD, extractor clocking is WAY overblown. GI guns, most Kimbers, alot of springfields have " Clocking". MOST of the Factory 1911's Ive owned or finger banged had it. ALL of the guns were uneffected. I have yet to see an original GI gun without clocking. In reality, it is undesirable because people just dont like it and assume that it shouldnt happen at all. At this point, I would call Kimber and have them check the gun. You may have any number of issues, the breech face could be machined off angle instead of the 89 degrees it should be, if the breech face is machined a few degrees extreme + or - it would cause the round to bind on the extractor. You could have a bur or a rough spot in the top of the chamber that only catches the rounds when fed from the magazine where the tip of the projectile would put direct friction on that area, as opposed to being dropped past the rough spot straight into the chamber by hand. I think a trip back to the factory is your best bet. YMMV, HTH. |