500 rounds 0 problems / 2 FTF in 60 last night

[Tom in Ohio]

Help. I have a Springfield Loaded which I have customized. I have put around 500 rounds through it in its current configuration. I have been shooting Winchester white box and Federal Hydrashocks exclusively. I have had zero malfunctions until last night. I fired 60 rounds of CCI Blazer Brass 230g FMJ and had two identical failures to feed. One happened when I was chambering the first round from a magazine and the second happened in the middle of a string of fire. The rounds only chambered about 1/2 way. It only took slight pressure on the rear of the slide to send it into battery and the rounds fired properly.

I took the pistol apart and could see nothing out of the ordinary except that the pistol seemed exceedingly dirty and had fouling on the breech face. It had been perfectly clean before firing.

I am using an EGW oversized firing pin stop which I have lightly radiused and a Wolff 14# recoil spring.

Is CCI Blazer poor ammunition or do you think there may be another problem?

I would appreciate any help. Thanks.

[Hunter]

Your recoil spring may be a little light as I have always been told that 16 pound is the standard but I cannot say that is the problem. I have also heard CCI is not top quality ammo that is dirtier than most and some guns do not like some ammo. The the 2 FTRB occur with the same magazine? Are you using a shock buffer? I would discontinue the CCI and see if the problem occurs with better quality ammo.

[Tom in Ohio]

Hunter, thanks for the reply.

I don't know if it was the same magazine as I was shooting an IDPA course and was quickly loading and firing through three different magazines. I didn't have the time to check.

No, I don't use a shock buffer.

I was wondering if the recoil spring might be too light. I considered putting the stock Springfield spring back in, but when I compared them, the stock spring was shorter than the Wolff spring, it didn't feel any heavier, and I had heard that Springfield springs are actually on the lighter side.

I plan on ordering a Wolff 16# spring and switching back to WWB ammo.

[Tap]

I work in a Wal-Mart sporting goods area and we do sell the CCI blazer brass and most people complain about it and will not buy it because its cheap crappy ammo, if i remember right its right around $8-$9 a box per 50 rounds which is cheaper than the Winchester white box of 100rnds that goes for $20.98 and they still dont buy it. The only 45 ammo Ive bought from walmart has been the Win. 100 round boxes, so I cant tell you for sure if the CCI is truely bad.

[garrettwc]

This almost sounds like an ammo problem to me. My Kimber hates the Blazer ammo. I would get 100 rounds of your previous ammo and try it to see if the problem persists. It sounds like you had some out of spec rounds.

[500 Magnum Nut]

I would go with a 16 LB spring. That way if the gun starts getting dirty the heavier (and recommended) spring will close the slide completely.

[garrettwc]

Totally missed the note on the underweight recoil spring the first time I replied. If my original guess about out of spec ammo was correct, the "too light" spring would have just made it worse.

Go to standard 16# spring if you have one and see if the problem persists, then check the ammo.

[Tom in Ohio]

Thanks everyone. I hope that's the problem.

[Tom]

Ammo or spring - either way, it is an inexpensive potential solution to the problem. I'd lean more towards the ammo than the spring, unless you switched springs between the Winchester and CCI ammo. But if you've been okay with shooting the Winchester with the #14 spring, then I'd go back to the Winchester stuff and try again to see if the problem "magically" goes away. ;)

[1911Tuner]

If the gun is right, it should function with any reasonable spring. One of my litmus tests is to cycle a magful of ammo through the gun one at a time from slidelock with an 8-pound spring...followed by pushing it to battery with my fingertip one at a time with the recoil spring removed.

Aluminum-cased Blazer sometimes causes a problem. Never tried the brass blazer, so I can't comment on it.

[Gammon]

Sounds like you have two problems: bad ammo and a new gun that hasn't been broken in. The first problem is easy enough to solve with quality ammo, and the second will take care of itself, just shoot. I have used springs as light as 8lbs in some of my 1911s and had no chambering problems, even when the gun was dirty (500 rounds without cleaning).

[Tom in Ohio]

I have tried the cycling w/out a recoil spring as 1911Tuner suggested and had no problems. I am pretty sure at this point it was an ammo problem, but I ordered a 16# spring anyway.

Thanks.

[44 Man]

I'll second that on the aluminum cased Blazer ammo. I had a Commander that would function with anything I fed it...........except aluminum cased Blazer. The aluminum doesn't seem as slippery as brass and just hangs up more. Couple that with the gun getting dirty faster and you have trouble. Had the same trouble with the 9mm aluminum cased ammo in some other guns. 44 Man

[warmrain]

Also had this problem caused by dirty magazines. This sounds like ammo to me though. You might clean the mag tubes though... And why such a light spring?

[Gammon]

Also had this problem caused by dirty magazines. This sounds like ammo to me though. You might clean the mag tubes though... And why such a light spring?

A 16lb spring is stock in a .45, but you can easily use a lighter spring depending on the gun and ammunition used. I use a 10lb spring in a Para P-16 with a bull barrel. The gun works fine and there is no excessive slide to frame impact with IPSC major loads (155gr lead at 1025 fps).

[John]

A dirty breechface can also contribute to the problem. I think you have a "too many small issues" together. Dirty breechface, light recoil spring, new gun, ammo.

[Paratus]

I don't think I could nock the cci ammo as I have fired 1500 rounds through a newly rebuilt combat elite with no problems what so ever, I'm not saying that the ammo is some of the problem with your guns set-up. we are talking 1911 here and I think they can be set-up to feed and function with what ever ammo we decide to feed it.