1911 feed ramp...go to the gunsmith?

dukefan70 · Oct 20, 2012

Llama IXB circa 1985. Fed FMJ fine from mag that came w/ it, but not HPs. Also would NOT feed FMJ from a 10 rd. Chip McCormack Power Plus mag. Polished the feed ramp down to 1500 grain auto sandpaper, now both mags feed FMJ flawlessly, but not HPs. I've done a little reading on 1911s and HPs, and it seems I have two options left.
1. Try the latest and greatest HP ammo (what I have now isn't ancient, but it ain't Hornady Critical Defense either).
2. If that fails, have it reprofiled by a smith or dont use it for SD and stick with ball.

Am I missing anythin?

appraiser · Oct 20, 2012

two words

GREG DERR

usp45ct · Oct 20, 2012

Heed Goockoholic's advise.

Retired-LEO · Oct 20, 2012

What part of Massachusetts?

If south Greg Derr is great...

If north BEC is great...

dukefan70 · Oct 21, 2012

Glockaholic said:
two words

GREG DERR

I know he does great work, but anybody have any idea how much that would cost me? Theres a pretty tight limit to how much I'd put into a Llama.

Trouble · Oct 22, 2012

I wouldn't even knock 230 grain ball as a self defense round. To be honest, before I went and invested money in the Llama, i'd probably sell it and upgrade to something new.

dukefan70 · Oct 22, 2012

Trouble said:
I wouldn't even knock 230 grain ball as a self defense round. To be honest, before I went and invested money in the Llama, i'd probably sell it and upgrade to something new.

I don't doubt 230 ball's capabilities (it was good enough for GI Joe for 70 odd years), but I can't seem to find satisfactory info on it's penetration or overpenetration. I wasn't really planning on carrying it much if at all, I just like to know what a gun can and can't do. I don't know bout sellin it. I bought it as a good deal on a 1911 cuz frankly the prices on the good ones put me off real quick. I'd hafta really find the right .45 with the right price to replace it. Wouldn't necessarily hafta be a 1911.

usp45ct · Oct 22, 2012

northframingham said:
What part of Massachusetts?

If south Greg Derr is great...

If north BEC is great...

Travel the distance and see Greg. He can fix, at an incredibly reasonable price, what others cannot. Get it done right the first time. I drove out to see Greg from WMass after two other smiths took a shot at fixing a 1911 problem. Greg pulled the slide back and said no problem, I need to do x and it will be $60. It has worked great since.

ptanks56 · Oct 22, 2012

Seems you have checked everything but the mags themselves. The feed lips vary all over the place and even within the same brand. Find friends that have a variety of mags and try them all out. May not be the ramp at all.

Supermoto · Oct 22, 2012

ptanks56 said:
Seems you have checked everything but the mags themselves. The feed lips vary all over the place and even within the same brand. Find friends that have a variety of mags and try them all out. May not be the ramp at all.

Yep, I would try mags that you know will feed JHP reliably. There is no reason a properly built 1911 will not feed JHP or even empty cases

dukefan70 · Oct 23, 2012

Supermoto said:
Yep, I would try mags that you know will feed JHP reliably. There is no reason a properly built 1911 will not feed JHP or even empty cases

I've tried the mag that came with it, a Chip McCormack Power Plus 10 rounder, 3 old blued Colt mags (which feed ball in my gun just fine), and my father's Commander mag (which admittedly I've never actually shot anything out of in my gun). Same thing on every one. The top round goes straight into the feed ramp and sticks.

jakeroub · Oct 23, 2012

You should check the extractor- if the tension is too tight it can impinge the feeding. See this link:

http://blog.wilsoncombat.com/uncategorized/checking-the-extractor-tension-on-your-1911/

dukefan70 · Oct 23, 2012

jakeroub said:
You should check the extractor- if the tension is too tight it can impinge the feeding. See this link:

http://blog.wilsoncombat.com/uncategorized/checking-the-extractor-tension-on-your-1911/

I read the article and watched the vid. I haven't followed the article step by step, but I can tell you from a quick test like he did in the video, if anything the extractor is too loose not too tight. I think I've had maybe one failure to eject while firing this gun. I'm not gonna get into posting pics, but if you guys could see this thing, it ain't a precision instrument. I still think the feed ramp would need reprofiling to feed HPs.

jakeroub · Oct 24, 2012

I would be really hesitant to change the feed ramp. At most do a light polish. Once it is changed there is no going back- the feed ramp is a part of the frame!

I think the feed ramp is very rarely the cause of feed problems, unless it's already been monkied with.

You should do some reading at www.m1911.org. Check out the Ginsmithing Forum.

dukefan70 · Oct 26, 2012

jakeroub said:
I would be really hesitant to change the feed ramp. At most do a light polish. Once it is changed there is no going back- the feed ramp is a part of the frame!

I think the feed ramp is very rarely the cause of feed problems, unless it's already been monkied with.

You should do some reading at www.m1911.org. Check out the Ginsmithing Forum.

Thanks I will. Maybe I'll hafta borrow a digital camera and try to get a pic of this thing up. You know it very well may have been messed with before. I thought "Hey its a Spanish manufacture with a poor finish," but maybe there's more to it. But the feed ramp probably wasn't a work of art to begin with...it's not really beveled, if you know what I mean.

1911 feed ramp...go to the gunsmith?

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