1911 feed ramp polishing

[dusterdude]

well i tried my new mccormick mag yesterday to see if it would help with my hollow point feeding issues,alas no luck.so it seems im going to have to polish the ramp on this thing.does anyone know of any books or videos i can peruse before i attempt this?thanks

[mete]

What gun , how old ? There's polishing and there's reshaping. Reshaping an older ramp requires some knowledge !

[Tom Servo]

What kind of failures are you having?

[Shane Tuttle]

Have you ruled out the Chip McCormick mags being the culprit?

[dusterdude]

its a springfield about 25 years old,it feeds ball rounds just fine,but the hollow points run straight into the frame of the pistol just below the ramp into the chamber.ill take a pic and post it later

[dusterdude]

shane,im sure the mag isnt the problem,first its brand new and i have had this problem for years with this gun,im just finally getting around to doing something about it.

[45Badger]

Be insanely careful to polish only. You do not want to remove material or change angles.

[dusterdude]

thanks,ill darn sure keep that in mind

[GURU1911]

I have 25 years experience working on the 1911 pistol. After reading the description of the problems you are experiencing, i can tell you what the problem is & how to correct it.

Problem: The lower edge of the barrel throat is protruding into the feedramp. This slight over-hang is what is catching the nose of the hp bullet as it is attempting to slide up the feedramp and into the barrel throat.

The lower edge of the barrel throat, must be reshaped to about 1/32" in front of the top edge of the feedramp. In other words, there should be a small gap between the edge of the barrel throat & frame feedramp. If you are not skilled enough to do this delicate piece of work, please take it to a local pistolsmith near you who can.

Please consult the american pistolsmiths guild for the closet to you.

[Tom Servo]

In other words, there should be a small gap between the edge of the barrel throat & frame feedramp.
Absolutely right. I've lost count of the number of 1911's I've seen reduced to paperweights because someone thought there shouldn't be a "shelf" there.

[Shane Tuttle]

Guru1911 stated it best. With the age of your 1911 variant, I'm willing to bet this might be your problem. Like you said, post some pics so we can get a better idea...

[a7mmnut]

You'll need a Dremel, some jeweler's rouge or similar compound, and a felt polishing wheel just slightly larger than the radius of your ramp. If you need to completely reshape the ramp or throat itself, take what these guys said in heed. Even 600 grit stones will ruin the throat if the angle is wrong. Send the pics of your barrel. There's plenty of experts here to help.

-7-

[Sarge]

From a Kuhnhausen manual, which I own and am sharing with friends.

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x187/SargeMO/Ramp68.jpg
http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x187/SargeMO/Ramp69.jpg

[RickB]

I wouldn't be polishing, reshaping, or otherwise altering anything until determining with certainty that there really is something wrong with the size, shape, finish, etc. of the parts in question. Too many people fiddle with 1911s apparently because they can. Is the feedramp rough with heavy tool marks? Does the barrel overhang the frame feed ramp?

[Sarge]

I had to wonder about that myself. I've 'fixed' several of them that wouldn't feed simply because somebody had 'tensioned' their extractor (or installed a new one without tensioning it) excessively and the hook simply wouldn't ride over the rim.

[GURU1911]

Thanks for enclosing the photos from mr. Kunhausen's shop manual. Hopefully this will give the gentleman having the feeding problems a better understanding of what is causing the problem & how to best correct it. Thanks !!!!!!

[dusterdude]

first off,thanks for all the replies and suggestions.i tried to take pics but they didnt come out worth a darn so that idea is out.i do think i will contact a gunsmith about this when i get around to fixing it.as much as i would like to take a whack at it im unsure if i should.thanks again guys

[Nnobby45]

Have you ruled out the Chip McCormick mags being the culprit?


Many a feed problem has been cured with #47 Wilson 7 rd. magazines.
I wouldn't overlook this tip, if I were you.


There isn't much of a trick to polishing a feed ramp with a Dremmel Tool---properly used.

I use #4 Foredom compound followed by Rey Green Rouge for high shine. Polish both the frame and bbl ramps. All you're doing is removing tool marks and making it smoother. I use a felt, bullet shaped tip.

For deeper tool marks, I go with fine Craytex tips to start--then, as above.

[guncrank]

If the barrel is overhanging ramp , check that the link is not wore or altered that is allowing it move back to far.
CEW

[dusterdude]

ill check into that also,thanks