Springer 1911 Loaded Having FTF Issues

Mrgunsngear · November 12, 2011, 01:01 PM

Here's the original review:

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=466370

I took it to the range for the first time after getting it back from springfield with Aguila 230gr FMJs, Federal 230gr FMJs, Fiocchi 230gr JHPs, 2 Wilson ETM mags, 2 Chip McCormick powermags, 1 7 round factory mag, and 1 10 round springfield mag to run it and see how would do. Well, terrible to say the least.

No combination of magazine or ammo would get the first round to feed. With every mag, the first round got hung up on the feed ramp (see pics). I downloaded the mags to only having 3 or 4 rounds to see if that was the issue--nope. I got one mag to feed with 3 rounds in it and when firing it felt extremely sluggish.

Nothing has changed (ammo/mags) since the first time I took it out when it ran 100% with 150 rounds except that I sent it back to springfield for the trigger and safety to be fixed.

My first thought was that I should just polish the feed ramp but that wasn't an issue before so I don't want to mess with it if that may not be the issue...

Please let me know what you think. Thanks in advance.

PeterTitan · November 12, 2011, 02:35 PM

http://www.americanrifleman.org/arti...r-reliability/

Kreyzhorse · November 12, 2011, 04:33 PM

Hate to say it, but I'd call Springfield first thing on Monday. It fed fine before they fixed the other issues so I'd talk to them and see what they suggest.

Mrgunsngear · November 12, 2011, 05:15 PM

That's a great article, thanks.

I plan on calling them for sure.

bacardisteve · November 12, 2011, 07:45 PM

Are you using the slide release to send the slide forward or are you you pulling the slide to the rear and letting it go?

Mrgunsngear · November 12, 2011, 08:53 PM

I tried both with no luck.

44 Deerslayer · November 13, 2011, 07:59 PM

My stainless SA Mil-Spec worked fine for 100 rounds out of the box. I took it home, cleaned it and put it away.

A couple of weeks later, I tried to shoot it again. I say tried because it hung up on the first round exactly like yours. I was shooting several other 1911's the same day so I tried 8 different magazines and they all failed to feed the first round.

Looking at the ramp with a magnifier I saw some pretty deep machine marks so I polished the ramp with 600 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. The marks are still there but I can't catch the edge of an empty cartridge on them any more.

Took it out again and it worked fine! It's been feeding fine ever since.

Mrgunsngear · November 13, 2011, 09:56 PM

I'll likely be polishing it up this week and trying again on Saturday (my range is only open on Saturdays...) I always polish my low end 1911s (RIAs, Auto Ordinance, ect...) but usually leave the better ones alone since they generally work fine out of the box but it looks like I'll be breaking my pencil and sandpaper out on this one too...

ep2621 · November 13, 2011, 10:10 PM

Does it do it if you push up on the bottom of the mag while releasing the slide?

KyJim · November 13, 2011, 11:00 PM

I would call Springfield again. Since it fed fine before sending it to them and now doesn't, it would seem something has changed. From the pics, it looks to me like the bullet in that round might be set back just a bit but since you tried various types of FMJ, I would suspect the gun.

Ambishot · November 13, 2011, 11:35 PM

Have the exact same gun and had similar problems while breaking it in. I had multiple FTF on gold dots. Winchester White box round ball feeds fine, but every once in a while a round will still get hung up when shooting federal round nose or other HP's. I'd recommend polishing the feed ramp and throating the barrel as the article pointed out.

One defense load that fed well was Hornady's XTP.

Mrgunsngear · November 14, 2011, 07:58 AM

The bullet is set back in the pic, you are correct. They were all getting set back when hung up which also led me to believe the spring is okay. Thanks again for the replies.

DBLAction454 · November 14, 2011, 08:17 AM

Thats very disappointing. My buddy has a loaded Springer and the only time hes had feed issues was with UMC ammo from remington. Other than that it feeds fine...

I would call Springfield since it only had feed issues after you sent it in...

Hope it all gets worked out. Hate to see a nice .45 malfunction

Good luck! let us know what happens

drail · November 14, 2011, 11:32 AM

I don't know how many times those rounds were slammed into the feed ramp before they started setting back but that is unacceptable quality from any ammo manufacturer. If the case neck tension is sufficient they should not set back like that. This seems to be very common with today's factory ammo. (just one more reason that I only shoot my own handloads). Any time you see this do not attempt to fire those rounds. In .45 ACP it's not quite as dangerous as with other calibers that run at a much higher pressure but it's still unacceptable and can cause really bad things to happen. As to your gun it most definitely has a problem and needs to go back to Springfield. They will find the problem and correct it. It doesn't need "breaking in". It has a problem with the breechface, extractor or feed ramp. Don't attempt to "fix it yourself" by polishing the feed ramp. No one can accurately diagnose things like this over an internet forum no matter how much they wish to help out or how much they "think" they know about 1911s. Please send it back.

Rugerismisticness · November 14, 2011, 02:52 PM

I agree, send this one back or try to use a snapcap. If a snapcap fails, then nothing will ever work and you may as well send it back.

Mrgunsngear · December 6, 2011, 06:27 PM

I got it back from Springfield today. As you can see, they replaced the extractor and did some polishing. I'll take it out on Saturday and see if we're good to go! Fingers crossed...

Kreyzhorse · December 6, 2011, 07:01 PM

Quote:

I got it back from Springfield today. As you can see, they replaced the extractor and did some polishing. I'll take it out on Saturday and see if we're good to go! Fingers crossed...

Good luck. Hope they got your fixed up and let us know how it runs.

November 12, 2011, 01:01 PM	#1
Mrgunsngear Senior Member Join Date: May 13, 2011 Location: Carolina Posts: 3,415	Springer 1911 Loaded Having FTF Issues Here's the original review: http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=466370 I took it to the range for the first time after getting it back from springfield with Aguila 230gr FMJs, Federal 230gr FMJs, Fiocchi 230gr JHPs, 2 Wilson ETM mags, 2 Chip McCormick powermags, 1 7 round factory mag, and 1 10 round springfield mag to run it and see how would do. Well, terrible to say the least. No combination of magazine or ammo would get the first round to feed. With every mag, the first round got hung up on the feed ramp (see pics). I downloaded the mags to only having 3 or 4 rounds to see if that was the issue--nope. I got one mag to feed with 3 rounds in it and when firing it felt extremely sluggish. Nothing has changed (ammo/mags) since the first time I took it out when it ran 100% with 150 rounds except that I sent it back to springfield for the trigger and safety to be fixed. My first thought was that I should just polish the feed ramp but that wasn't an issue before so I don't want to mess with it if that may not be the issue... Please let me know what you think. Thanks in advance.

November 12, 2011, 02:35 PM	#2
PeterTitan Member Join Date: June 7, 2010 Posts: 26	This may help http://www.americanrifleman.org/arti...r-reliability/

November 12, 2011, 04:33 PM	#3
Kreyzhorse Senior Member Join Date: April 12, 2006 Location: NKY Posts: 12,463	Hate to say it, but I'd call Springfield first thing on Monday. It fed fine before they fixed the other issues so I'd talk to them and see what they suggest. __________________ "He who laughs last, laughs dead." Homer Simpson

November 12, 2011, 07:45 PM	#5
bacardisteve Senior Member Join Date: September 5, 2006 Location: West virginia Posts: 653	Are you using the slide release to send the slide forward or are you you pulling the slide to the rear and letting it go? __________________ Kill em all and let God sort em out! USAF

November 13, 2011, 07:59 PM	#7
44 Deerslayer Senior Member Join Date: July 23, 2005 Location: MN Posts: 337	My stainless SA Mil-Spec worked fine for 100 rounds out of the box. I took it home, cleaned it and put it away. A couple of weeks later, I tried to shoot it again. I say tried because it hung up on the first round exactly like yours. I was shooting several other 1911's the same day so I tried 8 different magazines and they all failed to feed the first round. Looking at the ramp with a magnifier I saw some pretty deep machine marks so I polished the ramp with 600 grit sandpaper wrapped around a dowel. The marks are still there but I can't catch the edge of an empty cartridge on them any more. Took it out again and it worked fine! It's been feeding fine ever since. __________________ Ron NRA Life Member

November 12, 2011, 05:15 PM	#4
Mrgunsngear Senior Member Join Date: May 13, 2011 Location: Carolina Posts: 3,415	That's a great article, thanks. I plan on calling them for sure.

November 12, 2011, 08:53 PM	#6
Mrgunsngear Senior Member Join Date: May 13, 2011 Location: Carolina Posts: 3,415	I tried both with no luck.

November 13, 2011, 09:56 PM	#8
Mrgunsngear Senior Member Join Date: May 13, 2011 Location: Carolina Posts: 3,415	I'll likely be polishing it up this week and trying again on Saturday (my range is only open on Saturdays...) I always polish my low end 1911s (RIAs, Auto Ordinance, ect...) but usually leave the better ones alone since they generally work fine out of the box but it looks like I'll be breaking my pencil and sandpaper out on this one too...

November 13, 2011, 10:10 PM	#9
ep2621 Senior Member Join Date: January 8, 2010 Location: East Texas Posts: 199	Does it do it if you push up on the bottom of the mag while releasing the slide? __________________ When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished by how much he'd learned in seven years. ~Mark Twain

November 13, 2011, 11:00 PM	#10
KyJim Senior Member Join Date: July 26, 2005 Location: The Bluegrass Posts: 9,142	I would call Springfield again. Since it fed fine before sending it to them and now doesn't, it would seem something has changed. From the pics, it looks to me like the bullet in that round might be set back just a bit but since you tried various types of FMJ, I would suspect the gun.

November 13, 2011, 11:35 PM	#11
Ambishot Senior Member Join Date: April 29, 2011 Location: US Posts: 274	Have the exact same gun and had similar problems while breaking it in. I had multiple FTF on gold dots. Winchester White box round ball feeds fine, but every once in a while a round will still get hung up when shooting federal round nose or other HP's. I'd recommend polishing the feed ramp and throating the barrel as the article pointed out. One defense load that fed well was Hornady's XTP.

November 14, 2011, 07:58 AM	#12
Mrgunsngear Senior Member Join Date: May 13, 2011 Location: Carolina Posts: 3,415	The bullet is set back in the pic, you are correct. They were all getting set back when hung up which also led me to believe the spring is okay. Thanks again for the replies.

November 14, 2011, 08:17 AM	#13
DBLAction454 Senior Member Join Date: February 15, 2009 Location: Ohio Posts: 394	Thats very disappointing. My buddy has a loaded Springer and the only time hes had feed issues was with UMC ammo from remington. Other than that it feeds fine... I would call Springfield since it only had feed issues after you sent it in... Hope it all gets worked out. Hate to see a nice .45 malfunction Good luck! let us know what happens __________________ "If you show up to a fair fight, you're not prepared" -Unidentified Marine Sniper Instructor "The philosophy of gun control: Teenagers are roaring through town at 90MPH, where the speed limit is 25. Your solution is to lower the speed limit to 20." - Sam Cohen

November 14, 2011, 11:32 AM	#14
drail Junior member Join Date: February 2, 2008 Posts: 3,150	I don't know how many times those rounds were slammed into the feed ramp before they started setting back but that is unacceptable quality from any ammo manufacturer. If the case neck tension is sufficient they should not set back like that. This seems to be very common with today's factory ammo. (just one more reason that I only shoot my own handloads). Any time you see this do not attempt to fire those rounds. In .45 ACP it's not quite as dangerous as with other calibers that run at a much higher pressure but it's still unacceptable and can cause really bad things to happen. As to your gun it most definitely has a problem and needs to go back to Springfield. They will find the problem and correct it. It doesn't need "breaking in". It has a problem with the breechface, extractor or feed ramp. Don't attempt to "fix it yourself" by polishing the feed ramp. No one can accurately diagnose things like this over an internet forum no matter how much they wish to help out or how much they "think" they know about 1911s. Please send it back.

November 14, 2011, 02:52 PM	#15
Rugerismisticness Senior Member Join Date: December 22, 2010 Posts: 909	I agree, send this one back or try to use a snapcap. If a snapcap fails, then nothing will ever work and you may as well send it back.

December 6, 2011, 06:27 PM	#16
Mrgunsngear Senior Member Join Date: May 13, 2011 Location: Carolina Posts: 3,415	Update... I got it back from Springfield today. As you can see, they replaced the extractor and did some polishing. I'll take it out on Saturday and see if we're good to go! Fingers crossed...