Last Round Not Feeding

[Mike W1]

New at posting here so hope I'm in the right section. I've read through all the posts a couple times and have not solved my problem. Have a Colt SS 80 Series Govt and a Colt SS 80 Series Combat Commander. The problem I get with them is occasionaly the last round gets caught between the slide and the barrel. Never had it happen partway through a mag, always the last round. Have 8 different magazines and cannot pin it to any particular one. For a long time I thought it was my cast bullet reloads but finally bought some Federal hardball and it happens there also.

Going to try and do one gun at a time. The Commander has a 18# recoil spring which I understand is standard. Thought I might try a lighter one around 16-1/2# recommended by a smith I know and maybe order a McCormick extra power magazine at the same time. Does this seem like a logical approach?

The Govt. has a 18# also recommended to me but think I'll get a 16# for it. After a bit of reading I got the impression 16# is standard for the Govt. and 18# for the Commander and am surprised he suggested the lighter one for the Commander.

Doesn't bother me too much that the reloads acted up but find it not acceptable for the factory loads to do it. Until I get this solved I'll just carry my Chief's Special I guess. BTW the reloads are 6.2 Unique with a 200 gr. cast bullet (#452488).

Great board here and looking forward to spending more time learning on it!

[wichaka]

Welcome aboard!

Most often if it's the last round that causes problems, it's due to weak mag springs.

I would load each mag you have, fire and and mark the ones that are causing the problems.

If they are stock 1911 7 round mags, not an aftermarket type mag......I would order the Wolff extra power mag springs first. Cheaper than buying new mags.

I run 16-17lb springs in all my Commanders, and 14-16 in my ful size.

If it's the stock factory original spring, I doubt it's 18lbs. From the ones I've tested over the years, I aint had one yet that tested out to be what it was stated to be.......

PM me your address and I'll send you a wickaka-Tuner special Commander spring.

[John]

The Govt. has a 18# also recommended to me but think I'll get a 16# for it. After a bit of reading I got the impression 16# is standard for the Govt. and 18# for the Commander and am surprised he suggested the lighter one for the Commander.

If your gunsmith suggested a lighter spring for the Commander than for the Government, and they are both the same caliber, you'd better keep your guns away from him.

Oh and welcome on board.

[Hersh]

Mike,

Here are the Wolff mag upgrade springs Wichaka mentioned. All my mags are 7-rounders and the 11# springs have cured all my last round feed problems.

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=16584&title=1911+AUTO+EXTRA+POWER+MAGAZINE+SPRING

Welcome!

[wichaka]

Thanks Hersh......I couldn't find it at the time I was posting my reply.

[Mike W1]

Thanks for the replies, and I see I did manage to post in the wrong place. Going to try the magazine spring upgrade and go with lighter than the 18#s I now have in the gun. I know that's what they are because in my ignorance that's what I ordered. Obviously they can be a little lighter than that. I'll see what happens and post the results.
Thanks again.

[Hersh]

Thanks Hersh......I couldn't find it at the time I was posting my reply.

Glad to help Steve.



Mike W1,


Brownells carries a boatload of Wolff springs so you can get whichever recoil spring you want from them too!

[Mike W1]

Put a new 16# recoil spring in along with a Wolff 5% extra magazine spring into the Govt. today and had absolutely no failures. I may try the CC tomorrow with just that magazine and see what happens. Have a 18# recoil spring in it right now anyhow and maybe I don't need a lighter spring in there.
I'm going to order some more of those springs for my other CMC mags though.

[Mike W1]

Shot quite a number of rounds through the CC today with the new magazine springs and again functioning was flawless. Guess my problems are cleared up now other than purchasing some more springs. Appreciate your insight.

[1911Tuner]

For the record...What you were experiencing is known as a "Bolt-Over Base" misfeed. It's a magazine timing issue in which the slide literally outruns the magazine in its attempt to get the round into feeding position...and it almost always occurs on the last round, when mag spring tension is at minimum.
Sometimes referred to as "Rideover Misfeed" the rideover is actually a little different. The slide actually runs up onto the side of the case, and pushes the round hard into the feed ramp...and this one usually jams the gun up solidly, whereas the bolt-over only stovepipes the live round. The bolt-over can be dangerous, because if the case rim is trapped at the right place, the primer can pressure detonate...with a miniature fragmentation device firing 18 inches from the end of your nose. I've seen this happen twice.

Other things can make the malfunction more likely to occur. Overspringing the slide...short-cycling of the slide due to ammunition levels or overspringing...Disconnector exerting too much drag on the center rail due to overlength or excessive tension from the sear spring...but it's most often caused by insufficient mag spring tension.

[Mike W1]

That would be a disaster in the making which never occurred to me. While I'm thinking of it, with copyrights and that sort of thing being real, is it permissible to copy the previous message and pass that along to my gunsmith friend?

[garrettwc]

Better yet, invite him here. There's plenty of stuff to learn on this site. Especially if you like to tinker with 1911s.

[1911Tuner]

While I'm thinking of it, with copyrights and that sort of thing being real, is it permissible to copy the previous message and pass that along to my gunsmith friend?


Surely. Ain't nothin' that I write here copyrighted.