Indentation on Brass, Normal or Not?

[Garv]

Dodged some flying .45 brass from the lane next to me yesterday.
While cleaning up to leave I saw these indentations on several rounds.

Is this a problem or just hitting the gun on the way out?
I have not seen this on my brass.

IMG_2366.jpg

[SkyHawk]

Looks like it is hitting something on the gun on the way out.

[ojisan]

Those dents are from the case hitting the rear of the ejection port on the way out.
This means the ejection is a little sluggish with this load or recoil spring rate (slide is not coming back fast enough for the ejector to give the case a strong swat to get it out of the breech area quick enough).

The bevel at the rear of a 1911 slide ejection port is to make a little more room and a flatter surface for the ejecting case to hit so this does not happen.

Those cases can be reused as long as there is not a sharp crease at the bottom of the dent.
If creased, it's best to throw those cases away.

[Garv]

Thanks guys!

[pacrat]

Is this a problem or just hitting the gun on the way out?

As others already said "hitting slide port" during ejection. Called a "port ding". Those hit the rear of the port. The port dings that hit the mouth of the case and leave a triangular dent. Have hit the bottom of the port.

For me, in my guns, it is a problem, because it can contribute to stovepipes.
Early 1911s did not have the bevel at rear of port. They also had a port that was 1/10" higher at the bottom edge than newer models.

These two modifications started with early 1911 custom shops like Swenson, Chapman, and Pachmayr. And later became a standardized improvement by manufacturers.


JM2c

[ojisan]

As others already said "hitting slide port" during ejection. Called a "port ding". Those hit the rear of the port. The port dings that hit the mouth of the case and leave a triangular dent. Have hit the bottom of the port.

For me, in my guns, it is a problem, because it can contribute to stovepipes.
Early 1911s did not have the bevel at rear of port. They also had a port that was 1/10" higher at the bottom edge than newer models.

These two modifications started with early 1911 custom shops like Swenson, Chapman, and Pachmayr. And later became a standardized improvement by manufacturers.


JM2c

It's interesting how small the ejection port is on the original 1911s.
It is exactly sized to allow clean ejection with 850FPS 230G ball loads.
The need for a bigger ejection port came about with lower velocity target loads and later on the high velocity hollow point ammo.

Original:


Modern example; port lowered, widened, beveled at rear:


(Note the dark area at the front of the barrel hood. The inside of the port has been beveled as well, in the opposite direction compared the rear bevel, to allow for positive bullet nose clearance when ejecting a loaded round).

[pacrat]

Yep, and not shown in that "modern pic" is that many/most/pretty much all. Properly "ported" 1911s also have a bevel/chamfer along the inside of the bottom edge of port. This is to give an "upward/outward deflection" to any cases that do happen to hit the bottom edge of port.