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Three questions - .45 acp magazines, Failure to feed and case ejections

5K views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  Show Low 
#1 ·
I thought this would be easier than making 3 separate posts about the same outing.

Question #1
- Magazine cleaning
I just noticed that after feeding close to 900 rounds through my 4" barrel 1911 style pistol now, my four .45 acp magazines (one kimber and three Chip McCormick which are built differently) are getting pretty sooty inside, at least towards the top, something I have neglected to notice before. If this is something that might hinder performance such as proper feeding, is there a way to disassemble them to clean the insides or might a dunk in an ultrasonic cleaner with some Hornady "One Shot" sonic clean solution be appropriate? This stuff does wonders for my brass so perhaps a stainless steel magazine?

Question #2 - Failure to feed
Well, after approximately 700 - 800 rounds (ALL factory Winchester 230g round nose and my loaded X-treme 230g RN-FP bullets) fired through my new pistol without one single failure to feed a round, it finally happened today, THREE times! Today I was testing mostly Hornady 185, 200, 230g XTP bullets as well as some more 230g RN-FP bullets from Ranier and X-treme. I was firing sets of five rounds loaded with four different powders and twenty one different powder loads. I was loading five rounds in the magazines and the three failures occurred in the second, third and last rounds loaded so I don't think position in the magazine was instrumental. Tow failures were with the 200g Hornady XTP and one was with an X-treme RN-FP. THe COL of both the 200g and 230 grain were both 1.210.

It would have been nice if all three failures were with the 200g XTP's so I could just say my pistol doesn't like them but one of the 230g bullets (after700-800 rounds also jammed).

To add, by the time the jamming occurred, the gun was pretty dirty with the inside ramp being solid black rather than shiny. Could this be the culprit in itself?

Question #3 - Case ejections.
Is there a direct correlation between the type of powder (burn rate?) or the amount of powder charge used and the distance the ejected case is thrown? I was sitting at a bench so the origin was always the same and I noticed that with some loads, all the brass would land within a few feet of each other while some loads tossed the brass five to seven feet farther away and some barely missed me as it spat the rounds out just a foot or so from me.

And the charges that ejected the brass the farthest, wouldn't they also be the ones to best cycle the pistol and perhaps have an affect on lessening failures to feed?

That's it, I have my learning cap on so would appreciate any and all advice!
 
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#2 ·
Show Low:

#1 Mag cleaning: I use a probe to push the follower down about an inch and them use regular solvent (Hoppes) on a took brush to clean the top inside area of the magazine each time I clean the gun which is after every trip to the range. My mags are decades old and are still clean inside.

#2 Feeding problems often have to do with the shape of the bullet nose. 1911 were designed to feed round nose FMJ bullets. Any other shape MAY be balky going up the ramp and into the chamber. Polishing the ramp to a high shine using a Dremel often times helps with the gun's feeding problem. Don't remove metal but just polish what is there.

#3 Empties should not land at you feet but not end up in the next county either. I would suggest that the ammo that throws the farthest is probably a bit too hot for the recoil spring in the gun. Brownells sells spring kits with various power level spring to accommodate anything from light target loads to +P ammo.

Now for my question to you. Explain exactly how the gun fails to feed. Details are important. Does the new round partially end up in the barrel with the slide partially open, does the new round pop up, does the new round stub on the ramp, does the new round jam against an empty that has failed to exit the gun????? Each of these is a different problem. It is also possible just one magazine is the problem although I think the Kimber and Chip McCormick mags are good ones but they may need adjustment to the lips.

LDBennett
 
#5 ·
......

Now for my question to you. Explain exactly how the gun fails to feed. Details are important. Does the new round partially end up in the barrel with the slide partially open, does the new round pop up, does the new round stub on the ramp, does the new round jam against an empty that has failed to exit the gun????? Each of these is a different problem. It is also possible just one magazine is the problem although I think the Kimber and Chip McCormick mags are good ones but they may need adjustment to the lips.

LDBennett
I took a dummy round and placed it in the pistol and this is a pretty fair representation of what I saw all three times. The empty ejects but the fresh round hits and stops the slide. I'm thinking I may be "cupping" the mag by resting it on the bag..... probably pushing up just right 3 out of 110 rounds!


When I was cleaning the gun I got to thinking of possible causes and I may have hit on something, let me know what you think........


I usually rest my arm on the bag but caught myself resting the gun on the bag a few times.


The top view shows the mag relaxed then pushed up in the lower view.

Here is what happens inside, think this would be enough to cause the miss-feeds?
 
#3 ·
I will attempt to answer your questions. I am sure that someone with a lot more knowledge will come along and answer.

#1 - I am not at home so I can't pick up a 1911 magazine to look at. With that said, if your magazines have a removable floor plate, just take it out and clean with brush and solvent of your choice. Ifd no floor plate and the magazine has holes in it to show the rounds, then push the follower down with something and stick a small screw driver or ice-pick (or whatever) through one of the holes to hold the spring down. That should make the follower loose enough to just fall out if shaken. Slowly pull the item through the hole out and catch the spring and remove it. Then clean the inside of the magazine with a brush and your choice of solvent.

#2 - It sounds like you are going to have to get the feed ramp polished. I have the exact same problem with my 4.25 inch ATI 1911. It will not feed any kind of hollow point bullet. I tried to polish mine with a dremel tool (by looking at you tube videos) but I am afraid that I might screw it up worse than it is.

#3 - Theoretically, YES, the brass should land in one little pile if everything is the same each time. I can't seem to get all of mine to land in the same place!! I have some go three feet to the right, have some go left, have some go over my head, and some go forward. Can't explain it!!
 
#4 ·
gdmoody:

The key to consistent ejection is the correct spring pressure on the 1911 extractor. The extractor has to hang onto the case and hold it tightly against the breech face of the slide so that when the ejector hits the case it takes nearly the same flight path every time.

My son-in-law's extractor had this problem. So I took an empty brass case and near the rim but not on the rim or in the groove I soldered a piece of solid copper electrical wire wrapped around the case body. I then shaped the other end into a hook and closed the hook with soldering . With a trigger pull gauge you can measure the force it takes to pull the case off the slide breech face. According to Jerry Kuhnhausen (Colt Shop Manual) that force should be between 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 pounds for ball ammo. The extractor can be adjusted by a small hammer blow to the extractor placed on a hard surface. The blow should be placed on the extractor in order to increase or decrease the tension as needed when put back into the gun. You effectively bend it. It does not take much of a bend to add or subtract extractor force.

LDBennett
 
#7 ·
Show Low:

I am no expert on 1911's but the book by Jerry Kuhnhausen relates this failure to a magazine release timing error. The new round must be released by the magazine so it can pop up and the rim go under the extractor. If the release is late the slide goes over the top of it and a jam occurs.

His book gives the following advice on how to get an earlier release: The lips are adjusted with pliers to allow the cartridge to be release farther back in the magazine. This is a fine adjustment but before trying it, check the underside of the lips of the magazine to be sure there are no burrs retarding the release. Remove any burrs on the underside of the lips their full length with a stone and with a Dremel polish those areas. Remember if you remove too much metal you can't put it back. Just smooth the inside top of the magazine to remove burrs and nothing more. Try it again at the range. If you encounter the same jams then adjust the lips for a slightly earlier release of the cartridge.

As for your discovery about pushing the magazine up in the frame with the bag, the magazines should be adjusted to allow that. The magazine should never limit the guns feeding.

LDBennett
 
#9 ·
Show Low, I don't have the knowledge to help diagnose your problem but those are the finest photos describing a potential problem I have seen on this forum. I wish we could all take quality photos of our individual problems as they would surely help the experts here give better suggestions. Great job with those photos.
 
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