1911 Double-feed

[Weerd Beard]

Been having this problem for a little bit. My 1911 has been jamming when I attempt to chamber a round by hitting the slide stop. If I pull back the slide from the locked position it goes better, but still rough. If I rack the slide the full lenth no problems. And durring firing no problems at all.

I ejected the first round just to see what it looked like, and there was a long scratch down the side of it. Possibly from the extractor?

I plan on taking it to a gunsmith sometime soon, but it would be nice to have some theorys to toss around before I'm in the shop.


Thanks

-Weer'd Beard

 

[jhrosier]

Most problems with 1911s feeding are caused by magazine problems.
Swap in a best quality mag, such as Wilson or Shooting Star to see if the problem is solved. Next try changing the ammo. 230gr milspec ball ammo should work perfectly. Other bullet profiles might not feed well in every 1911. Short bullets with flat noses are particularly troublesome.
The recoil and magazine springs need to be matched. An extra power recoil spring might require heavier mag springs to raise a cartridge fast enough.

 

[squarooticus]

The recoil and magazine springs need to be matched. An extra power recoil spring might require heavier mag springs to raise a cartridge fast enough.

Do you know if Powrball-style JHP's solve the problems caused by standard JHP in some 1911's?

Kyle

 

[FPrice]

Beard,

I don't know if this is your problem or not but it might give you some ideas.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=229073

 

[jhrosier]

Do you know if Powrball-style JHP's solve the problems caused by standard JHP in some 1911's?

Kyle

Jeff Quinn seems to like them.
http://www.gunblast.com/PowRBall.htm
I have no experience with this load but the principle is well established in rifle cartridges.
I prefer heavy and solid bullets rather than the lighter HPs and firmly believe that a properly tuned 1911 will feed any bullet shape reliably.
Changing bullet styles to achieve reliability is a temporary shortcut.
1911s are machines that must be tuned, lubed, and maintained for reliable function.

 

[adweisbe]

Are you sure your talking about a double feed?

In a double feed, the round in the chamber fires, the fired case fails to extract from the chamber, the slide travels back, then forward to strip the top round off the magazine, and the bullet nose runs up against the fired case. This is not the same as a failure to eject. If this is what is happening, IMO it is an extractor problem or possibly some dimensional or finish problem with the chamber causing the case to swell up and stick. The extractor is supposed to mechanically and physically pull the case from the chamber; I don't see what "limp-wristing" has to do with it.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showpost.php?p=2756387&postcount=16

What your describing doesn't sound like a double feed and the extractor can't scratch the side of the cartridge, it's physically impossible for it to reach that far away from the breech face.

If feeding ammunition is rough and not butter smooth like it should be you could have a bad feed ramp angle, the throat could be meeting the feed ramp wrong, the chamber could be undersize etc.

 

[Weerd Beard]

Sorry about that, I isn't a double feed, it's just failure to properly feed the first round. I'm using 230 Gr. FMJ ammo, but it's a S&W 1911, and I've never heard about them getting finiky with ammo anyway. Also if it was ammo issues, it should be having issues durring firing too (or at least all the 1911s who only liked ball seemed to like to jam on cycling)

The mags are brand new (I'm kinda excited about figuring this out, as the mags that I chalked off as "Junk" may be perfectly good )

It probably isn't the extractor anyway, as when the gun binds up the extractor is nowhere near the round.

Still somthing is carving a groove into that first case...but no others.

Thanks for all the help. The High road seems to be down, so I'll have to check those links later.

Arrrr

-Weer'd Beard

 

[FPrice]

Still somthing is carving a groove into that first case...but no others.

Load up the magazine then, before you insert it into the pistol, use a magic marker to draw a thin line lengthwise down the cartridge on the very top. Then go through your loading drill and eject the first cartridge. The line should give you a reference point as to where the scratch is happening. This might help you determine what is making the scratch.

 

[jhrosier]

You might check here also:
http://forum.m1911.org/index.php?

 

[Weerd Beard]

Load up the magazine then, before you insert it into the pistol, use a magic marker to draw a thin line lengthwise down the cartridge on the very top. Then go through your loading drill and eject the first cartridge. The line should give you a reference point as to where the scratch is happening. This might help you determine what is making the scratch.

Good idea

I'll have to try this.

Arrr

-Weer'd Beard

 

[jhrosier]

... I'm using 230 Gr. FMJ ammo, but it's a S&W 1911, and I've never heard about them getting finiky with ammo anyway. ...

Arrrr

-Weer'd Beard

Weer'd,
I read something, somewhere, about S&W having problems with mags from one of their suppliers. Sorry, I don't remember the details. They were replacing mags, no charge for owners having problems. Might be worth a call to S&W customer service.

 

[adweisbe]

Hi,
Sounds like the slide is failing to strip the round from the mag. The underside of the slide at the bottom corner of the breech face hits the top round in the magazine and is supposed to shove it forward while the magazine pushes it up under the extractor rim. %99 sure this is a magazine issue, but it could be that the magazine is sitting to high or too low in the frame because either the notch is cutout wrong or there is an issue with the mag release. You can easily inspect the mag release without disassembling the rest of the frame. The simplest thing of course is to find out how many types of magazines you have tried. Are the magazines clean? The round may be under too much spring pressure preventing it from readily sliding forward, especially the first round which has max pressure. If there is dirt in a single stack (even a little) the spring has less room to compress. In a double stack mag there tends to be an allowance for dirt but there is none in a 1911 mag.

A malformed follower could be presenting the round such that it can't move or the follower is getting stuck in the mag and not providing upward pressure.

http://www.kerensky.net/pics/series2/

 

[bazfoo]

Weer'd,

How long have you had it? It took my SW1911 well over 1K rounds before it felt broken in. I too had the same problem, but since have changed my ways. Supposedly it's "better" to release the slide by jerking it back and letting it slide forwards. (They say the slide stop will wear out ... yeah, I know, probably after a looooong time) Anyway, I now close the slide "Israeli" style

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/ayoob031207.html

search for "Israeli"

In any case, my casings were scratched on what seemed to be the bottom, ramp side. The slide now closes either way without any problems.