polishing feed rail?

[jkgts1]

A friend of mine has a baby eagle that gets jammed often, it looks like it is getting caught on one of the corners of the feed rail. Would it be safe to use some polishing compound and polish it a bit?

Thanks

[StukaJr]

Won't comment on polishing as I haven't done anything like that myself just as of yet...

But the few feeding problems I've had were actually related to magazines - magazine springs were weak and the round would get jammed into the bottom of the feeding ramp's lip and pre-set it rather badly... I have CZ pistols only (which are similar to Baby Eagles) and dirty/undersprung magazines have been the usual culprits in rounds being chambered incorrectly... Basically, the spring was not pushing the round into battery soon enough and the slide would ram it forward, slamming it too low into the feeding port...

If your round hits the "wrong" part of the feeding ramp, then simply polishing it probably won't help - a significant modification of the feeding ramp is needed if it's inherent design issue... Are you feeding it ball or hollow points when it happens? Has it been doing always or have the problem just begun at a given time?

[jkgts1]

Thanks for the reply, I'll tell him to check his magazine spring first.

[jkgts1]

Okay, he said that his gun has been doing this since he first bought it. The mag spring still seems like it is fairly strong. He only has about 400 rounds through it. Any other advice?

Thanks

[awheelman357]

i have a baby eagle i love it what kind of ammo is he running through it? does it jam with every round? what kind of jam?

[wildcard]

Yeah.. I'd first try different kinds of ammo.. especially hollow point vs. FMJ.

And also make sure that these are full powered loads so you know that the slide is moving all the may back and giving enough time for the next round to reach the top of the mag.

At 400 rds.. that gun should be reasonably broken in. Polishing the ramps won't do much unless you phyically change the angle/ shape of it.. in which case i'd suggest a gunsmith.

[AJAX22]

often times the magazine can be adjusted to change the angle at which the rounds are fed.

opening the feed lips a tiny bit towards the front can help, Its amazing what a little adjustment to the mags can do.

and +1 on getting a gunsmith to do it if you don't know what you're doing. Its even easier to screw it up.

[StukaJr]

Also, if you have multiple magazines for that gun - make sure that it's not only one magazine that is jamming. When the jams occur, empty out the mag and put it down/mark it with tape on the bottom plate - shoot through the other magazine.

I once had a gun that "kept on jamming" - putting away the troublesome magazine made the gun run flawless...

But yeah, "polishing the ramp" improves the previously flawless feeding - it does not fix feeding problems.

[Glock22Fan]

There's another thread somewhere recently that pointed out how frequently (very!) and easily people with polishing compound and a Dremel wreck their guns to the point that new feed ramps (or barrels) must be purchased. So, be careful.

[MedSpec65]

About a month ago I started lightly polishing the feed ramp and the slide contact points on my Baby Eagle .40 with a crocus cloth. (Jeweler's rouge imbedded in denim). FTF or FTE's had been extremely rare with this extremely accurate boat anchor, but now they are almost non-existant. Warning: Never run Wolf steel-case ammo through your Baby Eagle. Extractor breaks.

[sammy]

I have a Kimber that would jam quite often. I spent an evening in front of the TV polishing the breach face and feed ramp with a popsickle stick and polishing paste. Removes no metal and the parts glow like a mirror with just 45 minutes working each part. Does not take much pressure, use the same pressure you would use on the remote control. Works great!