1911 feed issues- nose diving rounds

[flyboy3394]

Hi all,

I've had a plethora of issues with my grandfathers old 1970's era Colt Gov. 1911.

Lately, the gun jams at least once every magazine (I had one full mag without a jam last week, miraculously).

I have noticed that the jams are nose dives, so perhaps it is something to do with the feed ramp?
Point is, its been to a gunsmith multiple times, and he always claims it shoots fine. Then I get it back and it jams contantly. Im no pro, but im proficient enough in shooting it to know that I am not causing the jams through improper grip, etc.

I would love to take this thing to a reputable 1911 gunsmith to have it really worked on and fixed. Are there any in the greater bay area? Im in San Jose, but willing to drive.

[Lead Waster]

How many magazines does this happen with? How old are they? Have you tried buying a new (brand name) magazine with fresh springs?

Maybe the gunsmith is using his good magazines, then you take it home and use your old tired magazines?

edit: I missed the part where you mentioned you used multiple magazines, and that one magazine was "luckier" than the rest, so maybe magazine springs?

[redcliff]

There is a good chance that the extractor tension is too tight if your problem is with multiple magazines and using FMJ factory ammo. I can't count how many 1911's I've cured of bad manners by simply tuning the extractor over my 43 years of 1911 ownership. Pistols that previously would feed from only one magazine or magazine type miraculously start working with every decent magazine you throw at them.

A basic guide to extractor tuning: https://www.m1911.org/technic2.htm Note that the fully loaded cartridge must stay in place for light shaking; conversely it MUST RELEASE under more vigorous shaking. Here is a good video on it using slide rotation instead of shaking from a master 1911 smith; my only complaint is that, like most videos, they don't emphasize that it is easy to put too much tension on the extractor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwsV1GE6yXw

Bad ammo, bad magazine, barrel overrhanging the feed ramp, rough breech face, too much extractor tension, rough feed ramp, barrel throated improperly are all possible causes of feeding issues..

[flyboy3394]

How many magazines does this happen with? How old are they? Have you tried buying a new (brand name) magazine with fresh springs?

Maybe the gunsmith is using his good magazines, then you take it home and use your old tired magazines?

edit: I missed the part where you mentioned you used multiple magazines, and that one magazine was "luckier" than the rest, so maybe magazine springs?

All my mags are new (sub 2 years) one Wilson Combat, one Promag.

What I meant by the lucky mag was I managed to shoot through one whole mag without a jam. Once, in a shooting session with around 100 rounds thru the gun.

[Lightstrider]

Promag is garbage for my trp, chip and tripp 10 rounders work well as did the original mags and Remington iirc

[DoNotReply]

Metal Form magazines and tune the extractor.

[ducatiti]

All my mags are new (sub 2 years) one Wilson Combat, one Promag.

What I meant by the lucky mag was I managed to shoot through one whole mag without a jam. Once, in a shooting session with around 100 rounds thru the gun.

I've had recent problems with WC 10 round magazine (both variations) with my new SA Loaded 1911. Springs were too stiff for the gun's liking having the top round very difficult to eject.

Switched to Chip McCormick's and never looked back.

On the other hand, recently purchased a couple of the WC Vickers 8 round and they worked flawlessly.

[mtenenhaus]

lots of good advice above.

In case you're interested here are a series of articles (multi part series) dealing with this problem.

http://rangehot.com/1911-troubleshooting-feed-failures/

and then there is this little article as well.

https://americanhandgunner.com/nosedive-and-feed-angle-in-the-1911-45-acp/

My personal experience has generally led to improved function after changing to a brand new excellent quality magazine...my preference is Tripp

One one pistol a new magazine didn't help and the problem was the feed ramp angle

One pistol an EGW slide stop that elevated the magazine did the job...a bandaid perhaps but it worked.

No doubt a good gunsmith can help you with this. Unfortunately i'm not familiar with that part of the state but you could opt to mail your pistol to a reputable smith if you fail to find one locally. Hope this helps.

[CifaldiPrecision]

Hi all,



I've had a plethora of issues with my grandfathers old 1970's era Colt Gov. 1911.



Lately, the gun jams at least once every magazine (I had one full mag without a jam last week, miraculously).



I have noticed that the jams are nose dives, so perhaps it is something to do with the feed ramp?

Point is, its been to a gunsmith multiple times, and he always claims it shoots fine. Then I get it back and it jams contantly. Im no pro, but im proficient enough in shooting it to know that I am not causing the jams through improper grip, etc.



I would love to take this thing to a reputable 1911 gunsmith to have it really worked on and fixed. Are there any in the greater bay area? Im in San Jose, but willing to drive.

[MosinVirus]

Hi all,

I've had a plethora of issues with my grandfathers old 1970's era Colt Gov. 1911.

Lately, the gun jams at least once every magazine (I had one full mag without a jam last week, miraculously).

I have noticed that the jams are nose dives, so perhaps it is something to do with the feed ramp?
Point is, its been to a gunsmith multiple times, and he always claims it shoots fine. Then I get it back and it jams contantly. Im no pro, but im proficient enough in shooting it to know that I am not causing the jams through improper grip, etc.

I would love to take this thing to a reputable 1911 gunsmith to have it really worked on and fixed. Are there any in the greater bay area? Im in San Jose, but willing to drive.

What do you mean by lately? What changed?
And what is the plethora of issues?

[weaselfire]

So it worked fine, then it didn't. What changed? Fix that and done.

Jeff

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[9mmepiphany]

All my mags are new (sub 2 years) one Wilson Combat, one Promag.

That sounds like most of your problem right there.

I'm surprised you have ever been able to get a whole magazine through the ProMag without a jam.

Any 8-rd Wilson 47D is immediately suspect after more than a year.

You need some good mags to see what the pistol will really do. At the high end, costwise, is the Tripp. At the more affordable end are the excellent Metaform mags

[CifaldiPrecision]

1911 feed issues- nose diving rounds

That sounds like most of your problem right there.



I'm surprised you have ever been able to get a whole magazine through the ProMag without a jam.



Any 8-rd Wilson 47D is immediately suspect after more than a year.



You need some good mags to see what the pistol will really do. At the high end, costwise, is the Tripp. At the more affordable end are the excellent Metaform mags

Guess I better throw my 10-15 year old Wilson mags away. They are all working fine but are beyond their expiration date.

The interesting thing I find is that when a 1911 has everything properly in spec they seem to run perfectly fine with all sorts of brands of mags without issue.


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[CinnamonBear723]

Magazines. Get new and better ones.

[AlHO1966]

Agree with the above comments... I've had nothing but bad luck with Wilson Mags and have heard stories about promag. Extractor tune and some chip McCormicks.