Pushed into Case

[Broadsword]

When I chamber a round on my 1911, the bullet is pushed into the cartridge case. When I use the same cartridge over and over in chambering/loading it gets deeper into the case until the case mouth is fully exposed. I end up w/ an unusable cartridge. I do not reload and use only factory manufactured loads (230-Ball). The obvious thing on the gun that I could see is that the magazine catch is holding the magazine too low in the well (not fully flushed) and the cartridge may be chambering more vertically and pushing the bullet deeper into the case or is it that the ammo that i'm using needs a little more crimp. Did I diagnose it right or is it something in the feed profile of the gun?
Amateur Needs Help Old Timers, Many Thanks in Advance. :)

[Recon]

What brand of ammunition are you using? Has your handgun always done this or did it just start?

[Broadsword]

I use REM-UMC Ball, Armscor Ball,& Winchester SXT-JHP,all 230gr. I'm beginning to suspect the mag.catch since it holds the magazine way too low on the well( you can see the welds on the sides of the mag. when its pushed home onto the gun) and maybe this is causing the cartridge to rise a little bit more vertically in chambering and hitting the chamber roof w/ enough force to push the bullet into the case. Also there is no gap on the barrel & frame feed ramps. I am wary of cutting the barrel ramp back to 1/32 because the barrel & frame may be out of spec. and I want to know first what the standard specs are before I make any cuts, just to be sure I dont endanger myself,the gun, and others on the range with excessive headspace. Does anybody know where I can get these specs., especially the Army Ordnance Specifications for the 1911. I might also add that this gun is a Norc.1911A1 Govt. Breechface, both ramps, extractor & groove, mag.follower, mag.tube& lips are already deburred & polished. Never had any jams on this gun in firing in this condition w/o the 1/32 gap. Although I damage the ammo whenever I chamber it over & over again. Sorry I used too much space. ManyThanks in Advance.

[John]

Your problem happens to everyone, more or less. When chambering the round, the slide is pushing it on the feeding ramp. Now, depending on how well-polished the feeding ramp is, the -go-in-deeper-and-deeper issue can be more or less serious, but if you chamber a round ten times, you can expect to see the round being visibly shorter.

Rotating the rounds in your magazine is one way to avoid this. Not the same round gets to be fed manually, so not the same round gets banged on the feeding ramp again and again.

Rgds

[stans]

Jerry Kuhnhausen has two books on the 1911. The first is The Colt .45 Automatic, A Shop Manual and this one goes through most gunsmithing techniques for the 1911. His second book is The U.S. M1911/M1911A1 Pistols & Commercial M1911 Type Pistols, A Shop Manual and this one is jam packed with dimensional illustrations. I recommend both for the person who is serious about their 1911, care and maintenance and gunsmithing on their 1911.

[texasbatman]

Stans,

I got my two books this week. I am going to be very busy for a while. Nice books with lots of pics.

Jim

[harytaint]

No biggie it happens. I reload and make dead rounds to try and catch my flintch and after a few trips in the mags they get pushed down so bad i toss them and make more. The shock from the kick and trip up the feed ramp over and over again cause this. Either shoot the rounds or stop loading rounds in the mag over and over again. If you are using live rounds I am not sure why you would be doing this in the first place. If you keep this up your liable to get a boom instead of a bang.
Us reloaders know the consequences of over pressure and the importance of cartridge over all length. You are toying around in damgerous places doing this, and one day you might forget to inspect that bullet and blow up your gun.

This isnt a joke and I'm not trying to be but head but a live round that is that pressed into the case is a big issue. Take my advice and your gun and precious hands will thank me.
Go buy dummy rounds if you want to practice drills.

[stumbler]

Go buy dummy rounds if you want to practice drills.

I agree. Live rounds for fire, dummy rounds for drill practice.

[brickeyee]

Find some buddies to split them with and buy the large bag from Brownells. It is much cheaper than the little packs of 6-7 dummy rounds.

[Broadsword]

Thanks Guys, appreciate it. I rotate the ammo in my mags. Harytaint,I keep the gun in Condition2 at home, out of reach of kids(of course) :) . I leave the house, I unload & remove mags., put gun in safelocker, I come home, insert mags.,chamber. This is the reason I get bullet-into-case. Constant loading & unloading. Thanks for the advice too, you've been of much help. Thanks Stans for the book recommendations.

[John]

If you keep your gun in a safe, there is no point in unloading and reloading. I know, an old habbit is difficult to get rid of, but it's better if you get used to one condition, for example, the pistol is always in condition 2. Or whatever. And if you do not mind me saying so, I would prefer Condition 3 than 2 (that is if cocked and locked is out of the question of course).

Rgds