what am I doing to cause a 1911 9mm to not go fully into battery on slidelock reloads...

John Travis said:
Not really.

Watching this for a few days, I've noticed that everybody seems to be seeing Zebras. When you hear hoofbeats, think of horses...not Zebras.

So, the gun usually goes to battery and sometimes it doesn't...so it seems that it's well set up or it would fail much more often and it would fail randomly and not at the one point that you're most likely to get a failure to go to battery...and it doesn't do it every time. That suggests a variable.

There is only one variable not eliminated.

The ammunition.

Take the barrel to a gunsmith and have him drop a finishing reamer into the chamber. Unless I miss my bet, he'll get chips from the forward third, where chambers tend to get tight when a reamer shrinks after two or three resharpenings. Chamber reamers are expensive. Manufacturers resharpen them several times before tossing them. This is very likely whence the bug nests.
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Yep - I had to do this to one of the 3 Springfield Loaded 9s I have. You can rent chamber reamers pretty cheaply. Try using your barrel as a case gauge on 100 or 200 rounds and see if any don't drop in (your current/working ammo, and what you were shooting when you had the problem, if it was different - and it could have just been a different lot). It's quick and free to test, and you'll know if there is a potential problem there and can choose to fix it or not now.
 
fieldgrade said:
@John Travis Thanks for those suggestions and for weighing in.

All,
I ran the gun in three range sessions since the match where it gave me trouble a week ago, as well as the Buccaneer match yesterday and the gun has run like a sewing machine. In fact, I put up as good or better a score with this pistol yesterday as any match I’ve shot in three years. Three range sessions in the week previous probaly helped that.

I think I’m going to leave it alone and chalk this up as something that could probably be finely tuned, but probably not something I’ll do for a pistol at this price point. Like a friend of mine said, “1911 in 9mm? I think that’s called, personality.” I’ve had four others that cost more and gave me as much, or more trouble.

I probably have twice as many rounds through this gun now since it did this a week ago, so maybe some bugs got ironed out.

Anyway, if it starts this crap again at a match I’ll go back to my Range Officer in .45 to shoot CDP,
or *gasp*, finally wade into the carry-optic striker-fire quicksand.
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did you switch back to the stock mag lock ?
 
I should also add that I think the stoppage was happening on the feed ramp before the round ever made it into the chamber. I now clean the ramp before a match, add a swab of oil, and no problems. Would I carry this gun? No. Will I run it in matches? Absolutely.
 
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fieldgrade said:
I should also add that I think the stoppage was happening on the feed ramp before the round ever made it into the chamber.
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That's a completely different malfunction, and it changes everything written here.

That's a failure to feed...not a failure to go to battery. If it gets into the chamber, even a little ways...it's a failure to go to/return to battery. If it doesn't, it's a failure to feed.

This is why details when describing a malfunction are so important. Saves time and bandwidth.

Diagnosis: The feed ramp angle is a little too steep. Combined with the too-short-for-the-gun cartridge OAL, that'll happen. You may be able to alleviate it with stronger magazine springs...or not.
 
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John Travis said:
The magazine can't get any higher in the frame than the toe will allow. An out of spec catch can position it too low, but not too high.
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I had one that was hard to seat and caused drag on the slide. Install mag slowly hand cycle (no ammo) the slide and it would stop a 3/8 inch before going into battery remove mag and cycle it the same way and it would go all the way into battery filed the mag catch until the gun cycled 100% (slowly hand cycling no amm0) with empty mag installed the gun now functions 100% (Ria 9mm)
 
John Travis said:
That's a completely different malfunction, and it changes everything written here.

That's a failure to feed...not a failure to go to battery. If it gets into the chamber, even a little ways...it's a failure to go to/return to battery. If it doesn't, it's a failure to feed.

This is why details when describing a malfunction are so important. Saves time and bandwidth.

Diagnosis: The feed ramp angle is a little too steep. Combined with the too-short-for-the-gun cartridge OAL, that'll happen. You may be able to alleviate it with stronger magazine springs...or not.
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Upthread I posted that this only occurred while running on the clock in the middle of a stage. I have not been able to get the gun to repeat this misbehavior since then, I believe I posted that also. I did try to run some conical bullets at the range and they would not feed and jammed on the feedramp, so I made a guess (above) as that being what happened during the match last Saturday with round nose. I could be wrong, and I just don’t stop in the middle of a timed stage to see what I think is going on. I slam it into battery with the heel of my hand and keep going. I posted the best observations I had based on the brief observations I could make on the clock.

Hasn’t done it once since that match in maybe 600 rounds. I’m going to consider this case closed for now.
 
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vaskeet said:
I had one that was hard to seat and caused drag on the slide.
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The magazine was out of spec. That can happen, but when the toe of the magazine makes contact with the bottom/front of the magwell, the magazine can't get any higher.

If the gun itself is out of spec, all magazines would do the same thing.

If you have 10 magazines that behave and one that doesn't, it only follows logic that the problem is with the magazine.
vaskeet said:
filed the mag catch until the gun cycled 100%
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Probably shoulda filed on the magazine...or just tossed it.
 
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it
John Travis said:
The magazine was out of spec. That can happen, but when the toe of the magazine makes contact with the bottom/front of the magwell, the magazine can't get any higher.

If the gun itself is out of spec, all magazines would do the same thing.

If you have 10 magazines that behave and one that doesn't, it only follows logic that the problem is with the magazine.



Probably shoulda filed on the magazine...or just tossed it.
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did it with all 8 mags that I have 3 different brands (metalform, act and mecgar)
 
dmarbell said:
I don't believe you can download to 9 rounds in IDPA ESP with a 9mm 1911 if the mags hold 10 rounds. You have to load to division capacity, which is 10 rounds, unless you use magazines with capacities of fewer than 10 rounds.
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What, are you some kind of an accountant?;)
 
Cochise said:
What, are you some kind of an accountant?;)
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Maybe not, but if he's shooting in a sanctioned match, he MIGHT find it appropriate to follow the rules so that he can avoid disqualification. (He's paraphrasing the rule book. It's a clearly stated rule for ESP.)
 
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John Travis said:
I met with Millie yesterday at PHA and looked at her gun. The issue is that the integral feed ramp angle is too steep.

Specs are important.
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I hear specs are especially important in a 9mm 1911! LoL.
It was so nice to meet you and have you look at my dirty 1911. I appreciate you taking the time to drive over and meet me.

I was advised this very day to clean that thing, but it's shooting well at the moment, and I don't want there to be any disturbance in the Force!

I'll probably contact RIA and ask Jenny if I can get a new barrel. Then we can see what happens. Maybe my issues will be over!
 
Millie said:
I hear specs are especially important in a 9mm 1911! LoL.
It was so nice to meet you and have you look at my dirty 1911. I appreciate you taking the time to drive over and meet me.

I was advised this very day to clean that thing, but it's shooting well at the moment, and I don't want there to be any disturbance in the Force!

I'll probably contact RIA and ask Jenny if I can get a new barrel. Then we can see what happens. Maybe my issues will be over!
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so does your gun have a Ramped barrel
 
vaskeet said:
so does your gun have a Ramped barrel
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I have no idea what that means. I was told the ramp is part of the barrel, and switching it out may help. That's all I know.
 
Millie said:
I have no idea what that means. I was told the ramp is part of the barrel, and switching it out may help. That's all I know.
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most 1911s have a throated barrel the ramp is part of the frame and the barrel has a small area (throat) that is machined to match up with the ramp in the frame some 1911 have a ramped barrel (like more modern designs) where the ramp is part of the barrel
 
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vaskeet said:
most 1911s have a throated barrel the ramp is part of the frame and the barrel has a small area (throat) that is machined to match up with the ramp in the frame some 1911 have a ramped barrel (like more modern designs) where the ramp is part of the barrel
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Aha. Well, apparently mine is part of the barrel. See, I learn something new here every day.
 
If I read the posts right, John T said the integral ramp was off. I believe that is the ramp on the frame, not the barrel.
I could be wrong, though. I believe Millie has the standard barrel, not a ramped barrel. So, if I am right, her frame
ramp is off, not the barrel ramp. I'm sure John T will clear this up.
 
larryh1108 said:
If I read the posts right, John T said the integral ramp was off. I believe that is the ramp on the frame, not the barrel.
I could be wrong, though. I believe Millie has the standard barrel, not a ramped barrel. So, if I am right, her frame
ramp is off, not the barrel ramp. I'm sure John T will clear this up.
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Now I'm confused again.....lol.
 
larryh1108 said:
If I read the posts right, John T said the integral ramp was off. I believe that is the ramp on the frame, not the barrel.
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The barrel with an integral ramp has the feed ramp as part the barrel...like a Glock The frame has to be specially machined for it, which essentially removes the standard feed ramp. The design was pioneered with the Browning High Power and first appeared in the 1911 when the gamers started running doublestack .38 Supers and making major by loading them with 150 grain bullets at around 50,000+ psi and blowing cases out with the standard divorced barrel and frame ramps. The integral ramp offers full head support with high pressure cartridges, but is really unnecessary below about 40,000 assuming good headspace.
 
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John Travis said:
The barrel with an integral ramp has the feed ramp as part the barrel...like a Glock The frame has to be specially machined for it, which essentially removes the standard feed ramp. The design was pioneered with the Browning High Power and first appeared in the 1911 when the gamers started running doublestack .38 Supers and making major by loading them with 150 grain bullets at around 50,000+ psi and blowing cases out with the standard divorced barrel and frame ramps. The integral ramp offers full head support with high pressure cartridges, but is really unnecessary below about 40,000 assuming good headspace.
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I think we should include this answer on a recording and in writing on the next "Voyager" -type mission. Any aliens with bad intentions toward us will give up after reading about how complicated our species is.
 
Jeppo said:
Everything you need to know about barrels is covered in this video.

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Well, that was instructive and enjoyable! lol.

(I also learned something about hot/cold rifle barrels yesterday at B. Oaks. And heard and felt the loudest one ever! "Felt" as in: it made my knees vibrate when it fired! That was a new one on me.)
 
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