For a christmas present (opened it earlyhis
ANy suggestions would be greatly appriciated

PJ

Check the bottom of the extractor.




Is it rough?




Check the breechface.



Is it rough?


Will the sllide close the rest of the way if you push it?

When it jams, all i have to do to fix it is hit the back of the slide slightly and it snaps closed and is good to go

Definitely sounds like an extractor problem. What brand of pistol is it? What loads are causing the problem? Charles the Gunsmith.  

The pistol was assembled by armorers at Quantico before he retired(NOT A MEU SOC 45) so im not sure what the brand is to be honest. It seems to do equally with all the loads. If anyhting though it seems more common with heavier (230gr) loads.
THanks

To make it easier to diagnose the problem:

For now, use only 230 grn ball (FMJ) ammo.

Buy some Wilson mags and use only them.

If you still have failures to feed, remove the firing pin stop, firing pin and spring, and extractor (also the series 80 parts in the slide if it's a series 80).  See if the gun will feed (it's not going to extract, obviously) when you hand cycle ammo from the mag with the above items removed.  If so, it's an extractor issue.

If the pistol will not feed when the extractor is out, it's either a breechface, feed ramp, or perhaps throating issue.  

Let us know what happens.

http://www.sightm1911.com/

This sight is very helpfull . Click on Care+Maintenance, then click on Reliability Secrets. I have 2 1911's and BOTH had the EXACT same problem. Fixed it myself and followed the guide to check everything else on the guns.

ETA:  Sorry I couldnt give a hotlink.

www.sightm1911.com/
Made link hot for you

Thanks for the link. Read over alot, learned alot. I ordered two Wilson Combat Magazines and will be getting them for x-mas. So once i get those and if the problem persists then i will move to the next potential cause.

Thanks for the help and link to that great site

PJ

It sounds like a breechface problem.  But let us know how it goes.  My Open Division pistol had 25,000 rounds through it in the 12 months before joining the Army and about the same for my Limited Division Pistol.  I bring this up 'cause I need my pistols to run like a top for IPSC competition.  When the Open gun was brand new, right from my 'smith, it would jam about every 12-15th round (which in the middle of a course of fire, and still in the first mag it's frustrating as hell).  In the end, it was because the breechface was cut from Caspian wrong and the rounds were wedging into the extractor.

My point is that it can be the weirdest thing that causes malfunctions.

You've got some great info her, so if it keeps acting up, I would suggest sending it to a reputable gunsmith.  George Smith at Evolution Gun Works in Pennsylvania is one of the best and pretty close to you.  Send it to him and he'll get you squared away.

Merry Christmas!!!

SPC Richard A. White, Senior Medic
249th MP Detachment (EACF)
Camp Humphreys, ROK

Just to update on the problem. After i got 2 wilson combat mags, and one chip mckormick 10 rd stainless mags the problem has all but gone away. Instead of every other round jamming it might foul up every 50-60 shots. And im sure this time its because the weapon is stiff and not broken in yet. Thanks for all the pointers.


PJ