1911 feed issues

[grousemaster]

I'm guessing the extractor needs adjusting.

^this^

I bought a new Sig C3 in december and had the same issue, I did all the cleaning of the weapon & the mags, plus I bought some Wilson Combat mags for it, still no difference. After about 500rnds I called Sig, and they had me ship in back to the factory. The gunsmith adjusted the extractor, polished the feed ramp, and rereamed the chamber. Now it works perfectly..

I could fix that gun in 30 minutes.

People, 1911's are shipped out rough unless they are over 2K. You should ALWAYS (unless it is an alloy frame) polish the **** out of the feed ramp, and throat/polish the chamber slightly. ALSO, you need to polish the rail in the center of the slide (take slide off, flip over, look toward back, there is a square rail in the center that should be polished). Finally, the breach face should be checked to be smooth, and the inside of the slide just around the locking lug slits (in front of the ejector port) should be smooth, no nasty machine marks.

Finally, make sure you have new mags with powerful springs (i like wolff +5%).

If the extractor is SUPER effing tight it can cause problems, but simply taking the slide and pushing a round up the breach face will allow you to see this.

Use the correct grease on that bad boy and it will feed anything and outperform a GLOCK.

If the gun doesn't work from the factory it's broken IMO and needs to go back. My 1911 has been flawless since I got it new.

[Snowgun]

If the gun doesn't work from the factory it's broken IMO and needs to go back. My 1911 has been flawless since I got it new.

The gun works, it just doesn't feed all the time with particular ammo.

Even when purchasing a car or a bike, there is some maintenance required to facilitate break-in. Even glocks use copper lubrication compound to lap the articulating parts.

If it truly ends up being an extractor issue, Yes, this is unacceptable and should be sent back. However, I have yet to see a mass produced 1911 that can't be made to run BETTER with a little manual break in. Every gun needs break in. Doing what I suggested is the extra $1k you pay for the custom guns.

[rugersol]

If it truly ends up being an extractor issue, Yes, this is unacceptable and should be sent back.

Unless you're offering to fix his gun ... fer the same price Remington is ... I think it's a moot point!

Ya don't know exactly what might be wrong with the gun!

Why not let him send it back ... give Remington a chance to make good on it!

... if they can't, then ya, either dump it, 'er go to a gunsmith?!

What yer sayin' ain't entirely incorrect ... but I don't think advising a guy ... who's otherwise seen fit to post such a question ... to take a dremmel to his new pistol ... is in anyone's best interest?!

[Snowgun]

If it truly ends up being an extractor issue, Yes, this is unacceptable and should be sent back.

Unless you're offering to fix his gun ... fer the same price Remington is ... I think it's a moot point!

Ya don't know exactly what might be wrong with the gun!

Why not let him send it back ... give Remington a chance to make good on it!

... if they can't, then ya, either dump it, 'er go to a gunsmith?!

What yer sayin' ain't entirely incorrect ... but I don't think advising a guy ... who's otherwise seen fit to post such a question ... to take a dremmel to his new pistol ... is in anyone's best interest?!

If Remington can do it fast and free go for it. If it takes 6 weeks and causes headaches, why not take some 800 grit to it by hand and a polishing wheel to it to see if that helps? Its hard to do anything wrong to it with those tools, and everyone has to learn sometime. It MIGHT not solve the problem, but my money is on it, and it can only help feeding and reliability in general. Win win.

And yes. If he wants to take a look at it, I would happily provide my services for one quality beer. Who knows, he might even get a trigger job thrown in if he wants it.

[grousemaster]

If the gun doesn't work from the factory it's broken IMO and needs to go back. My 1911 has been flawless since I got it new.

The gun works, it just doesn't feed all the time with particular ammo.

Even when purchasing a car or a bike, there is some maintenance required to facilitate break-in. Even glocks use copper lubrication compound to lap the articulating parts.

If it truly ends up being an extractor issue, Yes, this is unacceptable and should be sent back. However, I have yet to see a mass produced 1911 that can't be made to run BETTER with a little manual break in. Every gun needs break in. Doing what I suggested is the extra $1k you pay for the custom guns.

The first thing I do when I get a Glock is wipe that crap out, inspect the pistol, and go shoot it

[Eleanor08]

If it was me, it would go back to Remington..

The way I see it is, if you pay the money for a new gun, then it should work.. Bottom line.. People don't buy new things to have them not work. Yes he could do some polishing work, but why should he have to?

When I had my issues with the Sig, I could of done some work, polishing, and possibly adjusting the extractor. Being a machinist, I would have been comfortable doing it to, heck I've done some gun smithing at home with great results, would I offer my services, nope, but do I feel comfortable working on stuff, yes.

Anyways, I would feel like a dipschit if did some work on my new gun, and then had to send it in for work.. First I would be worried that my warranty would now be void.

The way I see it, if its new, it better work like new. And if it takes 6 weeks, then so be it.

Heck I'm still waiting on my holster to be made for that Sig.. LOL!

[cobb]

Just some food for thought.
I have seen a few guns ruined because someone thought they needed to polish the feed ramp, so they did it themselves with their dremel.

[Snowgun]

Just some food for thought.
I have seen a few guns ruined because someone thought they needed to polish the feed ramp, so they did it themselves with their dremel.

How they ruined a gun with a buffing wheel and a dremel is a mystery. I honestly doubt someone could do it if they tried.



This is what you use. You can't physically screw up a gun with this, or at least I can't think of a way you can, short of sticking it in your eye.

Bottom line.. People don't buy new things to have them not work.

I'm sorry but the issue here is nomenclature. "Not Work" is being used incorrectly. Almost EVERYTHING you buy that is mass produced works SUB Optimally. Especially guns. Even the magazines talk about what ammo a gun "likes to eat". A gun will eat practically any ammo if optimized. I also love it when people sell a gun after firing 25 rounds because they had a failure. You can buy that gun, break it in correctly, and it won't fail for 10 more years.

Machinery used to produce controlled explosions is not magic. If he is truly having some abhorrent issue with an extractor, then it has not been made to spec. The more probable scenario is that there is a hang up somewhere due to the finish. People constantly whine about their guns not feeding this hollowpoint or that hollowpoint as well. It's all usually a function of the geometry and material finish.

I know everyone is scared to learn how to maintenance a gun. Just like people are scared to change their own oil, change their own tire, etc. I'm not talking about performing a 1 lb trigger job. Do some research, the net and youtube is FULL of it, start small, ask questions if confused or stuck. OWN your GUN!! You will be much happier in the end.

[Eleanor08]

I'm rather sure that failing to feed = not working properly.. Thus "not working" being used correctly..

I understand what your saying about tuning a gun to run certain ammo, but what I don't understand is why SHOULD you have to resort to digging out the dremel to make a NEW gun function? You shouldn't have to in my book.

I have a Springfield RO that has never once had any FTF, FTE, anything with any ammo since day one, and that gun has over 4k round through it just this last summer. And I expect nothing less, why, because I bought it new, I do the maintenance on it, including complete tear downs and cleanings. It does what it was designed to do, just like any other new gun out there..

Just like buying a car, would you be satisfied with buying a new car, then having to go home and retune the computer to run different grades of fuel (premium ect)? I don't think so, if your new car doesn't work, it goes back to the dealer until it does. Thats why you buy new.

If you want to buy a gun, then tune the crap out of it to shoot matches then by all means, but thats not what we are talking about here. The OP has a gun that doesn't work properly out of the box, he has put enough rounds through it to break it in, and its still not right. No reason he should have to do any tuning to make it do what it was designed to do.

And I do think that most people on this board are rather smart when it comes to gun, and probably not afraid to do maintenance.

I do agree that the net is full of info and how to's when it comes to working on guns, and that people should not be nervous when it comes to doing work on their weapons, I also think that when you buy something new, you shouldn't have to..

[grousemaster]

Really, unless you're without any other guns, let Remington handle the issue on their dime and time. The gun should run with the factory mags from the factory, period. The "nose dive" is common in Kahr's and some 1911 mags I've seen. The Wilson Mags don't have that issue, some of the factory Colt's do. All you're going to accomplish taking the power tools to it is damaging your pistol (unless you're experienced), or doing what should be done by the mfg. I'm no 1911 expert, but I know most of these mfg's will tell you the gun should run without issue from the factory, and if it doesn't send it back.

[Snowgun]

I get beers if it comes back with a polished feed ramp.

[Eleanor08]

I get beers if it comes back with a polished feed ramp.

LOL...

[rugersol]

They'd save everyone a boatload of trouble, if they'd jest ship 'em with ramp'd bbl's!

[damian_mb]

I'm not going to polish my own gun. I know it's not much but I did spend nine bills on this gun and I don't think I will be doing my own work nor will my wife be happy if I did.


I am going to call Remington but I need to go back to the range tomorrow and shoot some WWB first. If it jams I need to take a picture of the issue and send it in with my claim so they see what I am talking about. This gun is going back one way or another becasue it will be my carry firearm, I want it to work with every single round as my holster doesn't hold extra mags.

[Le Pistolero]

Taking a close-up pic of the jam is such a great idea.

Love these new cameras!